THE manager of a Border Amateur League side has been banned from the touchline for a year, writes Kenny Paterson.
Daniel Strachan, now former boss of Winton, was given the 12-month disqualification at a Border Amateur Football Association executive meeting last week, for refusing to leave the pitch in his team’s abandoned Division B match with Jed Legion.
The East Lothian-based club were also found guilty of forcing referee David O’Donnell to call off last month’s game due to alleged intimidation of the match official.
The committee fined Winton £200 in total for the incident and awarded three points to Jed.
In a statement on the club’s Twitter page, Strachan said: “I am shocked and saddened by the BAFA executive committee’s decision to hand a one-year ban to myself for refusing to leave the field of play when asked to do so by the referee, during our recent match against Jed Legion.
“However, I have decided against appealing the decision through the SAFA (Scottish Amateur Football Association) and now consider the matter closed.
“I would like to take this opportunity to wish the Winton players, management and committee every success in the future, and express my thanks to the dedication of those individuals who have helped in the running of the club throughout my time in charge.”
TheSouthern understands there had been a call for Winton to be thrown out of the league due to the players’ and management’s behaviour, but the committee instead gave the club a final warning.
In a separate incident, Winton were docked three points for the late registration of a player, while the club’s Euan Patterson was banned until the end of the season for comments on a social media website.
Gordon FC’s Ian Russell was also suspended until the conclusion of the 2012/13 season for comments on another website, while the committee deducted three points from Division A side Hearts of Liddesdale for fielding a player still signed with Queen of the South.
In another incident, the SAFA have banned Gala Athletic’s Sean Tippin for five years for pushing referee Raymond Hume in a South Cup match with Lochar Thistle in October.