The FA have upheld a three-point deduction handed out to Thurrock after they had fielded a player who had failed to pay a fine of £16 to West Riding FA. The player in question, Joel Barnett, shouldn’t have been playing for the Fleet as he was banned for failing to cough up his share of a collection of fines which his previous side had racked up before folding under financial pressure.

The FA initially punished the club with a three point deduction but despite an appeal, the punishment remains, with those points enough to drop Thurrock into the relegation zone and out of the division.