Sheffield and District Fair Play League – 2022 Statement on Two Clubs “Disrespectful Behaviour”

The statement made by Sheffield and District Fair Play League on 10 September 2022.

It has been brought to our attention that, despite our clearly informing all clubs that football matches this weekend should be cancelled as a mark of respect for the passing of Her Majesty the Queen, two teams within our League have chosen to play a friendly match anyway. This is after we specifically and separately confirmed friendly matches could not be played.

The SDFPL Management Team would like to put on record that we absolutely do not condone this disrespectful and despicable behaviour. There will be an investigation into this matter, in conjunction with the Sheffield & Hallamshire County FA, and these two teams will be dealt with in the strongest possible terms. Our league has honesty, integrity and fair play as cornerstones, and we will not accept such behaviour from within our ranks.

Chairman Danny Taylor stated:

“Queen Elizabeth II ruled, served and led with integrity and humility for more than seven decades. It is a terrible shame that these two teams could not emulate this even for a single Saturday, despite our clear instructions. We may or may not agree with the mass cancellation of football, but this was decided as a mark of respect and should therefore have been adhered to. This sort of behaviour is disrespectful, unacceptable and flies in the face of the core values of our League. It will not be tolerated.”

We would like to thank our 37 other clubs that followed the instructions and showed their respects with honour.