Preparations for our fixture at Mulbarton Wanderers on Tuesday evening were interrupted at midday with our opponents unable to fulfil the fixture due to a shortage of staff and players because of a sickness bug, which we had been first alerted to 24 hours before kick off.
We, of course, offered to host the fixture to negate the need for volunteers but this was declined.
We also questioned why reserve and youth players couldn’t be used to supplement the squad (given there were 9 or 10 first team players available) and were told it would be unfair to throw young players into a “3rd v 4th game”.
All eyes will now turn to the league to sanction this postponement proportionately, in what will undoubtedly set a precedent for future call offs of this nature, at our level.
Whilst it is completely Mulbarton’s prerogative to call off any game they choose, I find the notion that we should be obliged to agree to it by the league to avoid any disciplinary action towards our opponents, to be somewhat farcical.
Whilst sickness bugs aren’t pleasant and nor would we wish them upon any opponent, I defy any manager asked the question ‘Would you prefer to play us tonight under strength or postpone until we will be stronger?’ to agree to the latter.
As managers we have a duty to our players and staff and will always put the club's best interests first on every occasion.
We hope that the league's stance on this is firm, not because we wish to see Mulbarton unduly suffer from what has already been a tough week, but because in failing to do so, we could see this type of postponement used for more unscrupulous motives.
It is of course very difficult to prove illness without adequate testing and if the consequences carried were to only be financial, then a ‘we will take the fine’ mentality may well become an option for some clubs to take.
Clearly not something we would ever consider or condone and something that could seriously undermine the integrity of the competition.
We have full faith in the rigorous governance and disciplinary processes of our league and I’m sure the right outcome will prevail.
Steve Eastaugh
Norwich United Manager