By Andrew Warshaw
September 1 – Amidst all the talk of Lionel Messi leaving Barcelona and possibly signing for Manchester City for an eye-watering sum of money, spare a thought for Burton Park Wanderers as far down the other end of the footballing financial scale as you can get.
The tiny part-time English club, which plays in the United Counties League Division One, was due to have its big day in the limelight tomorrow, with its first ever game in the FA Cup, the world’s oldest domestic knockout competition, scheduled to be televised live by the BBC.
But the fixture against AFC Sudbury, part of the FA Cup extra preliminary round programme – the earliest stage of the competition for non-league teams – has had to be postponed after one of the Burton players tested positive for Covid-19, with Sudbury receiving a bye.
As a result Burton has had to withdraw from the tournament and the BBC forced to switch its coverage to a different match, heartbreak for everyone connected with the Northamptonshire club who play in the 10th level of England’s football pyramid.
Burton had sold all 150 tickets for the match and could not disguise its disappointment.
“The club committee have been working tirelessly and extremely hard over the last week putting things in place for this game, we are still trying to deal with what has happened,” said a Burton statement.
“We want to thank each and every one of you who reached out to help and support a small local football club try and achieve their dream.
“BPWFC would also like to wish AFC Sudbury all the best in their next round in the FA Cup. Please bear with us for ticket refunds.”
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