It has been confirmed that the Spireites have withdrawn from this season’s Buildbase FA Trophy.
The decision was taken following the postponement of Saturday’s tie at Aldershot Town and the subsequent return of a positive PCR antigen test, forcing the first-team players and management to isolate for ten days.
Under FA rules, a rescheduled tie has to be played within five days of the original fixture and the possibility of playing an Under-19 team was considered before the decision was made to forfeit the tie.
A club spokesman said: “We are very disappointed that we have been forced to take the decision to withdraw from the competition when we were potentially just two games away from an appearance at Wembley.
“We feel that we were forced into a corner and were left with no option other than to give up the chance of progressing in the competition and we have made our feelings known to The FA.
“Fielding an Under-19 team would not have been the correct option for the development of those players, considering they haven’t been training in the last two months due to the pandemic.
“Ultimately, while we are very disappointed with the outcome, the safety of everyone is of paramount importance.”
