The Football Association has confirmed that it won’t move Harrogate Town’s FA Trophy final in May so fans can attend, despite a fan petition and the issue being raised in Parliament.
Last season’s postponed FA Trophy final between Harrogate and Concord Rangers will take place behind closed doors at Wembley on May 3, just two weeks before fans can return to stadiums.
It means Town fans will be cruelly denied a trip to the home of English football for the second time in 12 months.
Phil Holdsworth, the club’s fan liaison officer, set up a petition that called on the FA to move the date. It received over 1,000 signatures and support from all over the world.
He said fans were “disappointed and angry” with the decision but said due to a busy summer at Wembley, which will host several European Championship fixtures, it was always going to be a tough ask.
“All of us are disappointed and there’s a lot of anger at the FA’s treatment. But it was always going to be difficult to rearrange it with everything that is going on at Wembley over the summer.”
Harrogate & Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones backed his petition and asked Prime Minister Boris Johnson at PMQs earlier this month if he would ask the FA to move the date.
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An FA spokesperson said it was unable to move the date due fixture congestion at Wembley.
They said:
“Despite our best efforts to accommodate limited spectators at these Buildbase FA Trophy and FA Vase Finals, a suitable date was sadly not available and both fixtures will be played behind closed doors. Fans are the lifeblood of our game, so we held detailed discussions with relevant stakeholders and explored all the potential options available to us.
“Unfortunately, due to the pandemic creating a large amount of fixture congestion, EURO fixtures being held at Wembley Stadium and other events after the tournament, the window to accommodate our showpiece events is particularly small this season. We want to make sure that as many fans as possible can enjoy these fixtures, so we believe it is very important that they are broadcast live, and are pleased that it has been possible to ensure they will be available to watch on BT Sport.
“Any other possible dates ahead of the autumn are mid-week but they would potentially create issues for the participating clubs and their fans as many would need to take time off work. A final option would have been to move these fixtures to the autumn, but this would mean playing them after the 20/21 competitions have been completed, create fixture challenges for the 21/22 season and was not preferable for all relevant stakeholders.”
