Reading FC women disqualified from the Women's FA cup

19 February 2015 04:56

Reading FC of the Women's Super League Two, have been disqualified from the FA cup after fielding two ineligible players in their third round tie against Crystal Palace.

The club claim the team that played on the 8th of February and beat the Eagles 3-0, included two unregistered players due to an “administrative error.”

Palace will now play Charlton on the 8th of March after being reinstated by the FA.

The Royals attended a requested FA hearing on Thursday 19 February 2015 at Wembley Stadium. The appeal put to the FA Hearing was considered and rejected by the committee and the decision was made to remove Reading FC Women from the competition.

Crystal Palace will now look to reach the fifth round of the competition for the first time in their history.

A statement on Reading’s website reads, “Both the Club staff and players are disappointed with the decision and apologise to the supporters for this mistake. We wish Crystal Palace Ladies the best of luck in the 4th Round.”

Palace’s response to the decision expressed their sympathy to Reading who “played very well and deserved to win on the day”. However they did make it clear “whilst it is through the misfortune of others” they will now be working very hard in planning for the game at Charlton – a fixture that has the potential for incredible rewards for the club.

Other fourth round fixtures include Aston Villa vs. Yeovil Town both of the WSL 2, Bradford City of the Premier League vs. cup favourites Doncaster Rovers Belles, and Sheffield Ladies vs. giant killers Radcliffe Olympic. Olympic knocked out WSL side Durham Ladies in the previous round and are now the only side from the 4th tier still left in the competition.

Source: DSG