Father wins £3k from football club after son was substituted

A FOOTBALL club has been ordered to pay £3,000 compensation to a tenyearold boy who was substituted during a match.

His father sued Winnersh Rangers claiming his son suffered emotional harm and was a victim of racism.

Directors at the amateur club in Berkshire say the first they knew of any complaint by the family was when a letter arrived from the local county court.

They were stunned to learn that the club had been ordered to pay £3,000 compensation after a judge found in the father’s favour.

They said they had not known about the case and so had not been able to defend the action but will challenge the ruling.

The details of the allegations put before Reading County Court are Winnersh Rangers boys’ team not known because the full judgment has yet to be released.

But the boy’s father, a shopkeeper originally from Syria, said the team’s coach had been ‘unfairly selecting [his son] for substitute’ during five- a- side matches and also accused him of ‘indirectly blaming [the ten-yearold] for the team performance’. The man, who asked not to be named, added that it was ‘unequal treatment’ and that he was upset he had been excluded from a team WhatsApp group. Coaches at the club had also broken promises of a place in the side made to his son, the father claimed.

The boy was substituted during a pre-season football tournament last summer while playing for the club’s Aztecs youth side.

The father took his son back to training at the beginning of the new season, before suddenly removing him from the team in September and accused the club of victimising him.

Club secretary Phil Chick said Winnersh Rangers were disappointed to lose the player and conducted two investigations alongside Berkshire FA, who cleared the club of any offences.

The boy’s father had initially reported the club to the local council’s child protection department, alleging the youngster had suffered emotional abuse and racism, he said. They were not informed about the court case which ended with the order for damages.

Mr Chick, who is also a manager of an under-10s team at the club, said: ‘ The player in question played with us for about two seasons. The most important thing for us as a club is the children, we want them to enjoy playing football. If they are a good player that is purely a bonus for us. Last summer the under-10s teams played in a pre- season tournament and the manager substituted this particular player.

‘His father didn’t take well to the decision, but substitutions are just a part of the game and the manager wanted to give everyone a fair chance and even playing time. The parent then brought the player back at the start of the new season in September but quickly removed him and asked to be refunded for his signing- on fee, which of course we refunded.

‘ We were told he contacted Wokingham Borough Council’s child protection scheme. We didn’t hear anything else for a few months but then we received a letter from Reading County Court saying we had missed a hearing and had been fined £3,000.’

Mr Chick said he is confident the club will win their appeal, which is due to be heard at Reading County Court on May 2.

‘Losing thousands of pounds is a big hit for a local club like ours,’ he said. ‘So far we haven’t seen any documentation so we don’t know the full facts of the allegations.

‘All we know is that the parent has accused the club of emotional abuse against his son. It’s a shame because it feels like the child has been forgotten in all of this, he can no longer play football for his local team because of this.’

‘The manager was trying to be fair’