Bury thrown out of FA Cup

Shakers boss Casper ‘hurting like hell’

Dearden returns to Stags hot-seat

—– After hearing two hours of evidence, a three-man Football Association panel take five minutes to reject Bury’s appeal against their expulsion from the FA Cup.
The FA Cup winners in 1900 and 1903 were thrown out earlier this month for fielding an ineligible player in their Second Round replay win against Chester City on 12 December.
Their team included Stephen Turnbull, who is on loan from Hartlepool United, but the young midfielder played without the Shakers seeking permission from their League Two rivals to play him in the competition.
The FA reinstate Chester City who will now face Ipswich Town in the Third Round on 6 January.
The expulsion means Bury will lose the £24,000 in prize money for beating Chester plus 45% of the gate receipts from the game at Ipswich.
Bury manager Chris Casper earlier offered his resignation but the club’s board turned it down.
The 31 year-old former Manchester United, who is currently the Football League’s youngest manager, finds little comfort in the FA’s thinking though: “If that’s justice, the FA can keep their justice as far as I’m concerned.
“When teams lose, fielding an ineligible player, nothing happens basically. Is that right?
“We also got the same punishment as people that don’t come clean.
“On a personal level my feelings for the players and the supporters, I’m hurting like hell.”
It won’t help that the FA’s decision appears to go against earlier precedents.
As far as we are aware, the most recent similar case in the proper rounds was the Kettering Town v Tilbury First Round tie in November 1977.
The Kettering team included the ex-Leicester City winger Len Glover who had recently returned from playing in the NASL with Tampa Bay Rowdies.
Following protests from the Tilbury officials, it was established that there was a technical error regarding his registration.
Kettering won the original game but, rather than expel the Poppies, the tie was ordered to be re-played. That was drawn 2-2 then Tilbury went through after winning the replay 3-2.
We believe that Bury are the first club to be expelled from the proper rounds of the FA Cup since Everton fielded ineligible players against Bolton Wanderers in the First Round of the 1887-88 season.
Would the FA have come to the same conclusion today if a Premiership club had committed Bury’s oversight?

—– Bill Dearden returns to Mansfield Town for his second spell in charge of the Stags.
The 62 year-old, who was previously manager at Field Mill between June 1999 and January 2002, succeeds Peter Shirtliff who left on 19 December.
Caretaker boss Paul Holland reverts to his role as assistant manager.
The Stags are currently 19th in the League Two table but the former Sheffield United striker is looking forward to the challenge: “I have fond memories of Mansfield Town and the good young players I had - and I think that the boys here now are similar. I believe that they can be even better than they are now.”
Apart from Crewe Alexandra’s Dario Gradi, Dearden becomes the Football League’s current oldest manager.