Concerns for children’s welfare as Horsham District Youth Football League refuses to cancel match amid player shortage

Under 16s boss for Rudgwick Junior Football Team Ed Poole, 54, said he approached the Horsham District Youth Football League (HDYFL) in July asking to move his match on Saturday October 9.

Ed has six of his 15 players taking on the Duke of Edinburgh bronze expedition this weekend and a further player has a family commitment, leaving him with just eight players.

He said: “[I] requested that no fixtures were allocated for my team on this day.

“In September and before any fixtures had been released the HDYFL were reminded of this date.

“I received an email from them stating that while the D of E was a recognised school event I still had over seven players available so the match would not be postponed.

“I was also told that if I did not play the fixture my team would be fined. The reason given was that if they postponed a match every time they were asked the season would not be finished.”

Ed claimed the Sussex FA backed his team at first, but he said both the Sussex FA and HYDFL later agreed the Duke of Edinburgh scheme is not a recognised event for which matches can be postponed.

He said: “I will be fielding just ten players, two previous members of the team have offered to return for this one match only to help out their friends. Of these ten, one suffers with asthma and others are carrying growing injuries, they are still only 15. So ten will not be finishing!

“The peer pressure on them is immense as they know the task ahead of them and what it means to their team mates should they have to come off.”