Vanarama National League chief executive Michael Tattersall says that Chester FC fans have ‘every right to be aggrieved’ following the late postponement of Saturday’s clash with Solihull Moors.

The Blues’ season opener at Damson Park was called off just 24 hours before kick off after it emerged that safety issues regarding Moors’ home stadium meant that the fixture could not go ahead.

The decision angered Chester and its fans, many of who had pre-paid for train tickets and were left out of pocket, not to mention the upheaval it caused for manager Jon McCarthy’s players who had been preparing for the game since returning to pre-season training in mid June.

In an interview with the Chronicle, Tattersall says that the anger felt by fans is not lost on the league and did not rule out possible disciplinary action against Solihull Moors, although stressed that the league was in the process of collating the necessary information to establish exactly how it was allowed to happen so late in the day.

“Chester FC fans have every right to be aggrieved and we understand their frustrations,” Tattersall told the Chronicle.

“We are all football fans and what happened was unacceptable as many of those fans would have paid good money on train tickets and also been looking forward to the season starting on August 5, as it should have.

“We acted as soon as we could over this. Once we found out my first call was to Chester to explain the situation and we notified them at the earliest possible opportunity. Had we been given more notification ourselves then we could have looked into an alternative solution.

“But given the lateness of the situation then Chester FC fans were let down and we fully understand their anger and their frustration over the matter.”

And Tattersall says that the League must now determine whether Solihull are in breach of rule 8.37.

The rulebook reads: “Where a match has been postponed for any reason, the two clubs must agree within seven days of the postponement a new date (which shall, save in exceptional circumstances, be within 42 days of the original date) and in default the Board is empowered to order Clubs to play on a date it considers suitable. The Competition Secretary shall determine a new date.

“Any Club without just cause to fulfil an engagement to play a Competition match on the appointed date shall for each offence be liable to expulsion from the Competition and/or such other disciplinary action the Board may determine, including the deduction of up to a maximum of three points from the offending Club’s record, any expenses incurred by their opponents, and a fine.

“In the event of a Club being in breach of the previous paragraph of this Rule then the Board may award points to the Club not at fault as if the match had been played and the League table shall reflect the position as if the match had been played with the result awarded by the Board.”

But Tattersall stressed that no decision had yet been reached over possible disciplinary action and that investigations were ongoing into what went on.

“It’s too early to say what, if any, action will be taken,” said Tattersall.

“We are not in possession of all the facts and it wouldn’t be right to make any assumptions. We are in the process of speaking to the relevant people to ensure we get to the bottom of this and find out exactly what happened. Only then will we be able to discuss next steps. We hope to make progress this week.

“Of the greatest importance at the moment is ensuring that Solihull Moors are able to host Barrow on August 15.”