Forest Green annoyed by Chester

Following our article yesterday about last night's game between Forest Green Rovers and Chester City having to be called off, Colin Peake has issued a statement on behalf of FGR.

"I was aware that Chester City met with the Football League this morning in Preston, seeking to have discretionary payments made to them from their time in the Football League. This would have allowed them to make interim payments to their players but unfortunately for them this request was declined.

In light of that information I sought an assurance from Chester City that they would still fulfill their fixture this evening and this was confirmed to me at 2pm.

In light of rumours from the Chester area then circulating I could only respond to enquiries with the assurance given that they were travelling. At 5.11pm I received notification by telephone from Chester City that they were unable to fulfill the fixture due to lack of players and since then staff and I have been working hard to minimise the impact such a late cancellation causes to everyone. May I thank them for their response and offer sincere apologies to all sponsors and supporters. Cancelling any fixture causes major problems and this has been the worse one due to its timing.

It would be remiss of Forest Green Rovers to pass further comment at this time, other than to say this loss of the fixture will cause serious consequences financially, when you consider the loss of other fixtures due to the FA Cup and the possible loss of other income Saturday week, dependant on the FA Trophy results this evening. Added to that we also have had an issue over money from Notts County and the knock on effect with Inland Revenue payments. The club will now be seeking to recover loss of revenue from those sources it feels it can claim against.

No doubt the Football Conference will now be seriously looking at Rule 8.6 and the possible expulsion of Chester City under this rule. If such action ensues this will not help us for obvious reasons but again I believe it is right we keep our counsel at this time and await a speedy resolution so we can adjust accordingly to protect the long term interests of the football club and the Ltd Company"

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