Having secured our Championship place for next season on the pitch on Tuesday night, the Board has decided not to appeal against the decision to deduct us three points. We still believe the decision to deduct three points for fielding a player as a result of an honest human error, where there was no intention to gain an unfair advantage, was disproportionate. Our mistake did not affect the integrity of this year’s competition, but if we had been relegated in the place of a team that had secured fewer points on the pitch over the season, that would have been a gross injustice.
As the appeal is now academic we have decided to support others who feel that it is time to change this particular rule rather than go through the appeal process. We would like to thank all of those at other clubs who offered us their support and sympathy during this process.
Now we wish to draw a line under this matter and look forward to next season.