Enfield Town boss Bradley Quinton insists no-one can take away the achievement of finishing in the Isthmian Premier Divison play-offs as the club prepare to appeal their points deduction.

The Towners were deducted three points by the Isthmian League after the FA found them guilty of fielding Aryan Tajbakhsh in two matches when he should have been suspended.

However, the FA are only responsible for passing guilty or not guilty verdicts on such matters and it is the place of the league to decide on any sanction against the club in question.

Therefore, Town must appeal the original guilty verdict before they can seek to revoke the three-point deduction which has seen them tumble out the Isthmian Premier Division play-offs to be leapfrogged by Metropolitan Police.

The appeal will take place on Friday and it is expected the outcome will be announced promptly.

“It is just very upsetting,” said Quinton. “The timing of when it was presented to us [was not right]. You expect to be told within a certain amount of days but this happened in January and we only found out a couple of days before the first hearing there was even an issue.

“It was so close to the last game of the season it was a joke; no-one knows what is going on. You have to feel sorry for Hendon, Margate, Dulwich Hamlet and Met Police.”

He added: “No-one can take where we finished away from us. I don’t care who you are, that is where we finished. No-one is able to take that away from me.”

A club statement released on Friday confirmed Town would appeal the decision and read: “Over the last few days the Enfield Town board has been considering whether or not to appeal against the both the FA’s decision and the Ryman League’s decision in relation to charges against ETFC and Aryan Tajbakhsh.

“The board has decided to proceed with an appeal against the FA decision. A date for this appeal has been set for May 8. The board will aim to make an announcement next week on whether or not the club intends to appeal against the Ryman League decision.

“In the meantime, the club would like to thank other clubs, supporters and commentators for the overwhelming messages of support for our stance. We would like to thank Lewes FC in particular for launching their ‘Call for support for Enfield Town Football Club’ campaign.

“We have been truly overwhelmed by these sympathetic messages, including some which have put forward some suggestions for fund-raising should we wish to pursue the issues further. The ethos of non-league football has been evident in every message.”

Enfield Independent: Aryan Tajbakhsh (right). Picture: Phil DavidsonAryan Tajbakhsh (right). Picture: Phil Davidson

The Towners have since announced they are looking to raise money for any further appeals, dependent on the outcome of Friday’s initial hearing.

The initial costs have been covered by funds allocated for the appeal but if further action is required, the club are seeking donations from the Enfield Town Football Club Supporters Society Limited (ETFCSSL) to cover the cost of continued legal aid.

Should the club not proceed with any further appeals then all donations will be returned to those who made the contribution. In the event of the amount donated exceeding the total required, contributions will be reinvested into club funds to be spent on other projects.

In the mean time, the Isthmian Premier Division play-offs remain on hold with no new dates set.