THURROCK Football Club are optimistic a new twist in the player registration saga will rescue them from relegation.

Fleet were docked three points, leaving them in the relegation places of the Ryman Premier League, and Tilbury docked 18 after the Football Association found both guilty of playing Joel Barnett while he was on a Yorkshire FA suspension list.

But both clubs have been sent registration forms by Wilton, a former Sunday league team in Yorkshire, which shows a different signature for Barnett to the one he used when he signed for Thurrock and Tilbury earlier in the season.

Thurrock are confident this means the case will be dismissed as the FA may be unable to prove Barnett ever played for Wilton, who had every player registered with the club put on a sine die list when they folded owing suspension fees.

Tommy South, the Thurrock chairman, is now calling on the Ryman league board to show “common sense” and re-award the points. He told the Gazette the whole episode had “devastated him” and that he had considered “folding the club”.

He said: “I don’t know if they have to wait but I can’t believe the league can’t just turn round and say the punishment doesn’t fit the crime.

“The FA fine you, it’s the league who dock the points. It’s now them who have got to show common sense.

“When all this first started, we were told he’d played three games and we’d lost all three. Then suddenly a team sheet for the game against Lewes which was lost by the league reappeared. The player was sent off for Tilbury, served a three match ban and then played again, why wasn’t it flagged up then?

“I don’t think it’s been handled well at all. In May, everything should be done and dusted. We had no chance to win those points back on the pitch.

“I’ve been devastated. It’s still in the back of my mind to fold the club up because these people are doing my head in.

“There’s so much uncertainty, for us, for Carshalton, for Sittingbourne. The league is talking about drawing up two constitutions, one with us in the Ryman Premier and one with us in the Ryman North. It’s crazy.”

But Alan Turvey, the Ryman League chairman, insists this is still a matter for the FA. He said: “The signature needs to be verified by a specialist. I’m not prepared to comment either way.

“The whole situation rests with the FA. It was the FA that decided the player played while being sine-die’d. After it made that decision, the league had to deal with the clubs. Our standardised rules say the clubs will be deducted points if found guilty of playing a sine die’d player. It doesn’t say “may”, it says “will”.

“We waited outside the hearing on the day, so that if the clubs were found not guilty we could all go home but if they were, it could be dealt with there and then so appeals could be lodged.

“We waited for three hours, those three people took a long time to decide. Because they found the clubs guilty, we had no option. We could have the deepest sympathies with the club and the situation, but the rules state clubs “will” be deducted points if found guilty.

“The clubs need to get the FA to overturn that decision. If the clubs believe the signatures are different, they have to prove it to the FA."

Responding to claims over mislaid paperwork, Mr Turvey said: "We have 66 teams playing in the league sending sheets in and every player that plays is checked to see if they are registered. It’s a laborious task. In this instance though, it doesn’t make much difference to the case.”