Wexford F.C. error costs three points

WEXFORD F.C. needs all the help it can get in order to attract more support from the people of the area. It’s a tough struggle getting supporters to visit Ferrycarrig Park when the team has been wallowing at the foot of the First Division for two successive seasons.

In that regard, they certainly did themselves no favours last week when the three points from the 1-0 win away to Athlone Town were forfeited.

The reason? Wexford had introduced a substitute, Thomas Croke, who was supposed to be serving a one-game ban after incurring five yellow cards.

The list of suspensions was submitted in the usual efficient manner by the FAI, so it remains a mystery how this mess could happen.

An official club statement stated that ‘we as a club had been advised of this but due to human error, this message was not picked up by team management, and the mistake was made’.

‘As a result, the club has lost the points and will receive a fine. ‘To say that we are deeply disappointed is an understatement. In a season when wins have been few and far between, it is a crushing blow to lose this one off the field of play.

‘However, the issue was due to an internal communications breakdown and we wish to apologise unreservedly to players, supporters, and all who love Wexford F.C.

‘We are taking steps to ensure no such communications breakdown can happen in the future.’

That last line of the statement is interesting, given that the club also lost points last season for fielding an unregistered Under-17 player in a draw with Shelbourne.

The lesson wasn’t learned from that, so why should there be any confidence that it will be different this time around?

Spare a thought for in particular for Danny Doyle and John Morgan, both of whom scored their first goals for the club in those two games.

They have been wiped from the official record as a result of this bungling though, with a 3-0 win awarded to Athlone Town similar to Shelbourne’s stroke of good fortune in 2017.