Rushall Olympic suffer points deduction and fine

The Pics were handed the penalty by the Football Association after playing Dominic Dell in 17 fixtures when his registration had not been approved.

A storming second-half of the campaign had seen Liam McDonald's finish eighth in the table.

But the points deduction has seen them tumble to 18th.

Alongside the fine, the club has also had to pay £120 in costs.

A club statement said: "This breach was the start of a drawn-out series of related charges that have resulted in our club losing 12 points from last season's playing record plus a fine, being removed from the Walsall Senior Cup Final and being reinstated following a successful appeal to Staffordshire FA and being charged by the FA Cup and FA Trophy Committees, which has resulted in our club having to return all prize money gained from the competitions last season, totalling £6,250.

"It has been a very difficult time for our club, alongside our recent devastating robbery and malicious damage inflicted at Dales Lane and we thank our Manager, Liam McDonald and his staff and our players for the fantastic run of form that has brought a real positivity and has ultimately helped us to avoid potential relegation and also for winning the Walsall Senior Cup and also sincerely thank our staff, volunteers and our fans for their loyal support.

"We are unhappy with several elements encountered along the way, but we blame no one individual and face both the good and bad times as a club and we accept our punishment.

"There will be no further comment regarding this statement and we look forward to next season in the Evo-Stik Southern League Central Division."

The full statement can be found here.