Burgess Hill Town could issue legal proceedings if they are not compensated by Hollands and Blair, says chairman

The Kent side refused to travel to Burgess Hill Town after the Mid Sussex club revealed they had players test positive for Covid-19.

Newell said the club took every step to make sure that it was safe to host the FA Cup Preliminary round tie after they following the FA guidelines.

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And despite Hollands and Blair saying they would fulfil the fixture on Friday night, the Hillians received an email at 10.45am on Saturday from Hollands and Blair saying they would not be coming.

Speaking to Kent Online, Blair club secretary Laurence Plummer: “We refused to go on the basis that they had positive Covid tests. We contacted the SCEFL league for advice and decided as a duty of care for players and supporters that we wouldn’t travel.”

But Newell knows there were no safety concerns from their end and now is seeking compensation for the costs that the club shelled out for in preparation for the game.

Newell, who has put his case forward to the FA in a report, said: "I know we did everything properly.

"My biggest concern, and I am waiting for the FA to come back to me on this, is who is paying for this?

"They have not followed the guidelines. If they had they would have turned up and played. They didn’t, they opted to not play the fixture.

"The cost to us at a minimum net loss is £2,000. It probably could have been more. We paid out £160 to register eight new players to make sure we had a team that could play.

"We spent all that money, but who is going to pay for it? It is within their [The FA] power to order Hollands and Blair to compensate us for the loss.

"If they don’t I will feel extremely aggrieved. We have done nothing wrong, in fact we have done everything right. In fact we have gone over the top with it."

And Newell, who is on the Isthmian League board, believes the FA should support them in their request for compensation. He said; "If the FA don't support us, what signal does that send out to anyone who does not want to fulfil a fixture? If it was a league game, the league would order the team who did not turn up, to compensate the other for their losses.

"This was a choice they made to ignore their obligations. When you enter the FA Cup, you sign to accept the terms and conditions of the FA Cup. They have decided not to comply with that for reasons that have no justification on health or Covid ground.

"People have to remember it’s not the ground or club that have Covid, it’s the players and they were nowhere near the ground for 10 days.

"This is unprecedented and whatever the decision the FA make sets a yardstick for the future. If they [Hollands and Blair] get away with this and don’t have to pay anything, I think it sends a very wrong signal.

"Why should we bear that loss? This is a serious competition. We are only at the early stages of it. I am hoping the FA can see the point about awarding compensation.

"But I have not ruled out issuing legal proceedings if we do not get compensation from them because we have suffered a loss from their actions and they had no justification for those actions.

"I don’t want to do that because that will stir things up in the football world quite a lot.

"If they decided to award us the winners and losers prize fund I would probably take that as fair. I certainly can't see Hollands and Blair being awarded the loser’s prize money. That would be outrageous."

When football was given the green light to return, Burgess Hill Town set up a Covid risk strategy, appointed a Covid officer to deal with everything properly, and they reviewed everything they had in place.

And despite letting Hollands and Blair know they had taken all the steps to ensure the game could go ahead, it was not enough for the Kent side. But if they had turned up, they might have had a nice surprise.

Newell said: "We got the info about our players being positive and we, out of courtesy - and we didn't have to - let them know. It’s just ironic that if we had not told them they would have turned up. Because of what we had to do and put all players in isolation even though they tested negative.

"The team who would have turned out for us would have been a surprise to most of our supporters. We registered eight emergency registrations including Jay [Lovett, manager] and his assistant Steve [Sutherland].

"Hollands and Blair missed a trick because if they had turned up, they would have had a very good chance of beating us. But that’s their loss."

Middy Sport approached Hollands and Blair for a reply, they said: "The club has submitted its case to the FA and will make no further comment at this stage."