Pre-match Burnley gaffe nearly had Clarets disqualified from FA Cup

A gaffe from Burnley almost saw the Clarets disqualified from the FA Cup before a late intervention saw them having to make a correction.

The Premier League outfit were minutes away from getting kicked out of the competition ahead of their fifth round tie against Bournemouth at Turf Moor.

Sean Dyche had a relatively strong line-up for the cup clash – and included left-back Erik Pieters in his starting 11.

However what they failed to somehow realise is that the player had already picked up a yellow card in each of the previous two rounds of the FA Cup, this then meant he was suspended for the game against the Cherries.

Incredibly, it was only after Burnley were alerted to the error by BBC Radio Solent Sport reporter Kris Temple that they made a drastic late change to the starting line-up, replacing Pieters with Anthony Driscoll-Glennon just before kick-off.

Speaking about the incident, BT Sport commentator Paul Dempsey said: “It was a very late change to the Burnley team selection tonight.

“We’re all very indebted to out stats man, Joel Miller, who correctly pointed out that he believed Erik Pieters, named in the original team, was in fact suspended for this game.

“The consequences of that for Burnley could have been very severe.

“Driscoll-Glennon went onto the team sheet after our reporter, Natalie Quirk, made the enquiry of Burnley.”

In the end they were knocked out anyway with Bournemouth picking up an impressive 2-0 win thanks to goals from Sam Surridge and Junior Stanislas.

Nonetheless, it really would have been even more embarrassing if Burnley were kicked out of the FA Cup for their gaffe pre-match.

Speaking after the game about the selection mix-up, Dyche said: “It was an oversight. We did notice it, Bournemouth noticed it and we managed to sort it before kick-off. Bournemouth, very gentlemanly, said they thought we had a player who was not eligible.

“You would like to think if it doesn’t happen in a sporting manner there could be a story the other way but fair play to them.”

Burnley boss Sean Dyche spoke with the media: “We gave two soft goals away. We were chasing the game when we conceded the penalty. We made so many changes but it wasn’t for lack of effort or desire.

“We missed a golden chance through Jay Rodriguez and asked a few questions but not enough. The difference in the performance is sometimes just a collective edge.

“Our keeper has hardly had a save to make. It didn’t quite work out for us.”

Bournemouth caretaker manager Jonathan Woodgate said after th egame: “It went exactly as we wanted it but you need the players to execute it, and they did that.

“Every single one of them was very good, especially behind the ball and on the counter-attack. I thought we could have been a couple up at half-time.

“I said to the lads before the game, the more games you win the more confidence you’ll get. It breeds confidence when you start winning back-to-back games.”

FANS REACTION:

No one like a grass 😂😂😂😂 if he’d played and Cherries lost they could have pulled out the banned player card https://t.co/qWZCGEBqGL

— Alex Bourne 🔶 (@alexgbourne) February 9, 2021

@RN_Claret: Unprofessional on and off the pitch. Consistent.

@traversfreddyy_: “administrative error” hahaha sure

@UTFCIAD: shit club trying to cheat

@KevinH1505: Someone who works for BT had to let Burnley know Pieters was suspended for the game so we had to change our line up just before kick off…. How does that happen?

@TomJordan21: Burnley claiming it was an ‘admin error’ to say they were starting Pieters. Shithouses trying to shithouse us early doors. Lets just hope they aint got VAR in their team also..

@StanhillClaret: How come the club didn’t know he was suspended?

@CGoreham: Amazing stuff. Well done Kris. Good dilemma though. One team is about to field an ineligible player – do you speak up? I’d like to think I’d do the same…

@notjohnneptune: Boo, should have kept quiet, let him score first minute and gone through on a technicality.

@jkisthe1: That’s just amateurish

@SCFCJosh96: Sean Dyche trying to get Burnley kicked out of the FA Cup for fielding an illegible player because he was scared they may actually have a cup run this season. Proper commitment.