WARRINGTON Town goalkeeper Tony Thompson will serve a one-match suspension following the incident involving a Guiseley fan that saw him sent off at the weekend.
The club had appealed Thompson’s red card and the three-match ban, which was reduced to one following a hearing at the FA earlier today.
Club chairman Toby Macormac said: “While in some ways the reduction in suspension is welcomed, it is disappointing not to have had it rescinded completely. It makes it even more challenging for us in terms of considering what to do with our goalkeeper situation.
“Clubs are understandably reluctant to loan out another player for just one match; and we wouldn’t want to agree to a deal that requires a goalkeeper to play three or four matches with us, as that would then further impact on Tony, who has already been put through enough during this process.
“We are faced with potentially having to play young Kian Hall, who only made his first team debut at the weekend, in one of our biggest matches of the season as a consequence of an unprecedented incident.”
After an approach by Cheshire Police earlier this week, video footage and other evidence was shared with them, including the water bottle used in the incident, which was tested and confirmed to contain urine. Any further punishment and investigation in to the incident is now in their hands.
Video footage and eye-witness statements were also shared with Guiseley AFC, and we note their statement with regards to identifying a fan and his indefinite ban while they continue with their own investigations.
Regarding the outcome of the match itself, it was confirmed to the club by the FA earlier this week that even in light of an investigation, there were no competition rules that would affect the result of the match, meaning there was no chance of a replay being ordered.
Macormac added: “Obviously as well as the human impact on Tony, it is disappointing from a club point of view that the incident contributed to our exit from the FA Trophy.
“It’s particularly frustrating as the prize money associated with progress in the competition would have been much needed, given we’ve been forced to spend upwards of £8,000 in recent weeks on pitch works and protecting the pitch due to still ongoing attacks from crows, in a not too dissimilar situation to what was suffered by Grantham Town earlier this season.
“We must now move on from this incident and get our league campaign back on track with successive home games.”
The Yellows welcome South Shields to Cantilever Park this Saturday, before Stalybridge Celtic come to town on December 3. The next home game after that is against Marine on Boxing Day.
Striker Josh Amis, who was also sent off in the defeat to Guiseley, will serve a three-match ban – ruling him out of the South Shields and Stalybridge home games, as well as the trip to Morpeth Town on December 10.
