Expelled Bradford will have to wait for Cup appeal

The Bantams were yesterday booted out of the competition by FA disciplinary chiefs after fielding an ineligible player – Newcastle United loanee Curtis Good – in their second-round tie against Brentford on November 30.

Rules state that clubs must receive written permission by 12 noon on the day of a game to play a new signing in the Cup, something Bradford failed to do.

Chief executive David Baldwin appeared at a personal hearing on Thursday to state Bradford’s case, but the FA decided the breach warranted expulsion.

As it stands, Brentford, who drew 1-1 at Valley Parade eight days ago, will face either Bury or Southend United in the third round on January 5 with the scheduled replay at Griffin Park against the Bantams having been cancelled.

That could, though, change if City’s appeal, which will be heard on Monday morning at Wembley and will again be led by Baldwin, is upheld.

Club officials were unwilling to comment when contacted by the Yorkshire Post last night due to the matter being on-going.

Instead, a statement was posted on the Bradford website that read: “We can confirm that we will be appealing the FA’s decision to expel the club from this season’s 
FA Cup competition.”

Good, 19, made his debut in the 1-1 draw with Brentford and the Newcastle defender also played on Tuesday night at Port Vale in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy.

The matter has taken the gloss off an otherwise fine week for the Bantams, who became Yorkshire’s sole remaining representative in today’s draw for the Northern Area semi-finals by winning 2-0 at Vale Park.

Expulsion from the FA Cup would, however, have been even more catastrophic had Phil Parkinson’s men been handed a potentially lucrative FA Cup third round draw at one of the Premier League big guns as opposed to a trip to either Gigg Lane or Roots Hall.

As for Brentford, they first learned of a potential problem for Bradford last Monday and took the decision not to put tickets for the replay on sale until the matter was resolved.

Mark Devlin, Brentford’s chief executive, is now waiting to discover the result of the Yorkshire club’s appeal.

He said: “It is the FA’s competition and the FA make the rules which we all know about. Whether we feel sympathetic or not does not come into play really.”

If City lose their appeal they will face Barnet in League Two on the weekend of the third round.