Sheffield football teams branded "despicable" by league after arranging 'friendly' following Queen's death

All professional football was postponed over the weekend following the Queen’s death late last week, with the decision also extending to amateur and junior football under the FA’s umbrella.

Sheffield International FC’s Sheffield and District Fair Play League game against Byron House was subsequently postponed – with the club then announcing publicly on Twitter that they were aiming to play a friendly against Byron House instead on Saturday morning.

The original tweet went viral, with over 40,000 likes, and further tweets included plans to change the friendly to a training session after someone “snitched”, and photographs showing players turning up in their match kit and appearing to suggest Byron House had also arrived.

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Although there was no confirmation that a friendly match was played – the club’s account later referencing a ‘training session’ which saw a fight and a trial goalkeeper playing as their main striker – the whole episode was condemned in a strong statement issued by the Sheffield and District Fair Play League.

“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,” the statement, issued on Saturday, read.

“This is after we specifically and separately confirmed friendly matches could not be played.

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“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.”

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

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League chairman Danny Taylor added: "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."

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The plan to play a friendly divided opinion on social media, with some suggesting it was in bad taste and disrespectful to the Queen’s memory and others insisting that the games should not have been postponed in the first place.

Sheffield International FC have been approached for comment.

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