Haringey Borough vs Yeovil Town: Tom Loizou hoping rearranged FA Cup tie passes without incident

The original match on October 19 was abandoned following allegations of racist abuse
PA
George Sessions28 October 2019

Haringey Borough boss Tom Loizou is hoping Tuesday's FA Cup fourth qualifying round match with Yeovil Town passes without incident and the club can get back to normal.

The long-serving manager still has a sour taste in his mouth after he was forced to walk his players off the pitch during the original encounter on October 19 following allegations of racist abuse.

Haringey defender Coby Rowe wrote on his Twitter account that he had been a victim while Borough chairman Aki Achillea said goalkeeper Douglas Pajetat was spat on and had a bottle thrown at him.

The Football Association has since opened up an investigation and two men have been arrested and released on bail, but the focus will turn to football on Tuesday when the teams replay the tie at Coles Park.

In Pictures | Haringey Borough vs Yeovil abandoned | 19/10/2019

1/5

"I just want it out the way now to tell you the truth. There is a sour taste in my mouth, I just want to get through it with no incidents and to get on with our lives," Loizou told PA news agency.

"If we win, it will be great. If we win and there is an incident, then it won't be great. If we lose, I don't really care anymore and if we lose and there is an incident it will be even worse.

"Don't get me wrong I want to win, the players do and we want to progress, but this has left a little bit of a sour taste in our mouth."

A replay could be required if the sides cannot be separated, which would take place at Huish Park on November 5, but Loizou is focused on this tie.

Haringey were due to play a few days after the first meeting, but that game with Bowers had to be rescheduled with the Borough manager insisting "no one was emotionally right or equipped to play".

It was a similar story on Saturday against Horsham in the FA Trophy with Loizou not selecting certain players.

Pajetat did feature in goal and saved a penalty in a 3-0 win, but Rowe was an unused substitute.

"There were still players on Saturday who were not ready to play so I made six changes. You could say we have got a chance of getting to Wembley and winning the trophy so to make six changes was a big thing," Loizou added.

"Valery (Pajetat) has dealt with it impeccably. He has played professional football, he is a decent human being and even saved a penalty against Horsham.

"It was a double save with the rebound and no bottles hit him on the head so he was able to concentrate on the penalty.

"I am talking to players, my coaching staff are talking to players so we will see when they turn up (how they feel). I will be able to tell whether they are up for it or not."

Loizou is unsure how many fans will be in attendance at Coles Park, but added: "The decent Yeovil ones who want to support their side, of course I want them back.

"They have done nothing wrong. It's the few who hurled abuse, chucked bottles and were spitting, they are the ones we don't want back."

Ahead of the tie, both clubs released a joint statement, which read: "Irrespective of which team wins on the pitch, on Tuesday we want the real winner to be football.

"The testing times after the first game have in fact resulted in a strong bond between the two clubs and we have been working hard together with the authorities to make sure Tuesday's game is safe and enjoyable for all, with increased stewarding being one of many additional measures.

"We welcome all true football fans to join us on Tuesday for a great FA Cup tie."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in