A team has been forced to resign from the Islington Midweek Football League after one of its players attacked an opponent during a match.
The league’s chairman, Ken Knightly, described the resignation of Times Athletic, which was formed from the borough’s amateur boxing club of the same name, as “regrettable.”
The Times Athletic player attacked a rival team member in a heated moment during a February fixture. The player was disciplined by the referee and the league’s managers and their opposing team were willing to treat the incident as resolved.
However, it has been claimed that the team’s secretary refused to let them play in the league after the attack.
Mr Knightly said: “Times Athletic decided to leave the league a couple of weeks ago. There was an issue that we were unable to resolve, and we had to accept their resignation. Despite us talking to them and the other team talking to them, they decided to leave the league.”
The decision to resign from the league has led to a change in the fixtures for March, in all four divisions. Despite the amateur boxers’ decision to drop out, the league has more teams than ever. Peter Panayiotou, results secretary said:
“We don’t normally get clubs leaving because of stuff like this, normally it will be because of financial issues. In the last few years you’d think that the league would have got smaller because of the credit crunch, but it’s grown.”
There are now 35 teams in the leagues. Panayiotou explained: “The World Cup this year means that more lads are getting together and deciding to start a football team when they’re in the pub.”
