Chester FC awarded £1,000 after Solihull Moors sanctioned over postponement

Chester FC have been awarded £1,000 in compensation from Solihull Moors after the West Midlands club were sanctioned by the National League for the last-minute postponement of the scheduled opening-day fixture between the teams.

And Blues chief executive Mark Maguire says the club will now use the compensation it has received to attempt to pay back some of the money lost by their supporters.

The National League has also confirmed that Solihull have been fined £4,000.

A statement from the league reads: "The National League has sanctioned Solihull Moors following the postponement of their National League home match against Chester on 5 August 2017.

"The club admitted the charge and were found to have caused the postponement by failing to demonstrate that safety systems were in place to the satisfaction of their Safety Advisory Group.

"The club has been fined £4,000 and will pay £1,000 in compensation to Chester FC."

The Blues were scheduled to travel to Solihull on the opening day of the Vanarama National League campaign on Saturday, August 5.

But the eagerly anticipated clash was called off the day before after the Solihull Safety Advisory Group raised concerns over Moors' Damson Park home.

The late postponement left a number of Chester fans, who had already arranged their travel, out of pocket.

Following the league's decision to sanction Solihull, the Blues said in a statement that they were 'pleased with the conclusion of the National League's investigation' and thanked the league 'for understanding the impact this postponement had on Chester FC, particularly the fans'.

CEO Maguire added: "For us, it has been important to represent the fans of Chester FC who were left inconvenienced and out of pocket.

"During the last few weeks we collected information from a large number of fans who suffered financial loss and I am delighted that this decision will mean that we can look at paying them some money back. We will be in touch with all of them next week.

"I'd like to thank fans for their patience and Michael Tattersall at the league for keeping me informed.

"We hope now that fans will turn up in their numbers for the rearranged match and of course our forthcoming Cheshire derby against Macclesfield. We need your support."

The rearranged match at Moors will take place on Tuesday, September 5 (7.45pm kick-off).

The issues at Damson Park have been resolved and Solihull have since played two home games, a 3-3 draw with Barrow AFC and a 1-0 loss to FC Halifax Town.