Football rule change bars Cardiff girl, 11, from team

Parents of an 11-year-old said they were "gobsmacked" after new rules barred her from playing for her football team.

Lucy Bunn had been playing for Barry Town United Ladies FC - Cardiff.

Players must live within five miles and the club said its Cardiff training ground should be considered its home rather than where it plays in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan.

The Football Association of Wales said there were three teams closer to Lucy.

Lucy lives in Cardiff and the club trains in Leckwith but play home games at the Colcot Sports Centre in Barry.

She began training with them last spring and signed this season.

The residency rule was introduced in the summer to stop better teams poaching players from further afield. Players already officially registered were not affected.

Lucy said: "I go every Sunday to watch still and I just want to go on the pitch and play.

"Sometimes they do not even have any substitutes and once they did not have a full team and I was just standing on the side and watching. I thought that was a bit unfair."

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The FAW said the club should have been aware of the rule change before allowing Lucy to train and play with them.

The club and Lucy's parents failed in an appeal to the FAW.

The time limit for another appeal has lapsed, but a spokesman said another one could be made to the South Wales Football Association for next season.

Lucy's parents and the club support the rule change in principle - her club voted in favour of it - but believe an exception should have been made.

Her father Richard said: "It seems completely unfair that they are sticking to their guns and saying the rules are the rules with no thought process that these are 11-year-old girls."

Barry Town United took over the old Cardiff-based Vale Ladies and Girls Football Club two-and-a-half years ago and renamed it Barry Town United Ladies - Cardiff.

Barry secretary Gino Esposito said: "We do not believe there has been consistency.

"We had two players in a different age group - under 16 level - who were in similar circumstances, they actually lived in the Port Talbot area, and we appealed successfully."

Mr Bunn has written to FAW chief executive Jonathan Ford, calling on him to reconsider.

Despite training in Cardiff, Lucy's former team play their matches at Colcot Sports Centre in Barry