The Northern Premier League has released a statement confirming Mark Harris’ resignation after an email he allegedly sent to fans was published on social media.
Mark Harris sacked (Image: Northern Premier League Pitching)
A non-league chairman has been dismissed from his post after allegedly telling supporters to “fuck you”. The Northern Premier League sacked Mark Harris after an email allegedly sent by him was posted on social media.
Harris was embroiled in a bitter controversy over the decision to move the Northern Premier League Premier Division match between FC United of Manchester and Stockton Town. Due to repeated problems at FC United’s home ground, the NPL opted to move the match to nearby Curzon Ashton on 21 April.
The potentially important match had been postponed six times due to problems with the pitch at FC United’s home ground, Broadhurst Park. FC United supporter Aled Duckfield complained about the decision in an email to Mr Harris, who described it as “diabolical” and showing “incompetence”.
In a reply Duckfield posted to X, Harris allegedly wrote, “Thank you for the nice email. Now go fuck yourself.” A screenshot showed Harris signed the email with his name.
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Duckfield shared the exchange on X and said he was “shocked” by Harris’ response. “Is this an acceptable way for those in power to communicate genuine concerns to football supporters?” he wrote.
On Friday afternoon, the Northern Premier League said in a statement: “Following the Board of Directors, the Northern Premier League can confirm that Chairman Mark Harris has been dismissed with immediate effect pending a full disciplinary investigation.”
Harris has served as NPL Chairman since 2009 and also served on the FA’s National League Pyramid Board.
A spokesperson for FC United said: “The language used in the email attributed to the NPL chairman is clearly completely unacceptable, but it reflects the attitude of many involved in the management of the game towards supporters.”
“It also raises fundamental questions among supporters as to whether decisions involving FC United can be approached with the true impartiality that the role requires. This email will rightly raise concerns for many.”
An email from Duckfield, the FC United supporter who started the scandal, read: “Dear members of the NPL Board: Your own decision to move what will be our final game to a neutral venue is diabolical.”
The turmoil began with a change in FC United of Manchester’s match schedule (Image: Nathan Stirk/Getty Images)
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“We still have a chance to win the league in this game and depriving the supporters of that chance in their own half shows the incompetence and lack of governance in the NPL. We clearly have a problem. Maybe it’s because we know how to do things properly…
“At a time when non-league clubs are struggling for cash, your decision will harm our club and cost us regular matchday revenue. You are also making a mockery of the integrity of this competition. You are now giving Stockton an advantage and disadvantaging other competing teams heading into the play-offs.”
“You should all be ashamed of yourself and believe that you have started a fire for us FC United supporters. As you all know, that fire will never go out. The sooner you step down from the board and put proper governance in place, the better for the health of the competition.”
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