PERSISTENTLY poor discipline has led to a football team in the Worcester and District League being fined more than £800 this season.

Katy O’Ryans have racked up the bill following a string of offences ranging from bookings to failing to control their fans.

The Saturday League Division Two side, based in Stourport, have picked up 31 yellow cards and 15 red, five of which have been for more serious instances of misconduct.

They have so far accumulated 73 penalty points from the Worcestershire Football Association and are just two bookings away from reaching the third and highest level.

That would carry a further £75 penalty on top of the £50 they have already been hit with for reaching level two.

County FA discipline manager Chris Dale said: “We constantly monitor when any club nears, or exceeds, the third disciplinary threshold.

“Of particular concern to us would be clubs that have gained points for Respect-based issues such as cases that involve dissent or abusive behaviour.”

Back in February, Katy O’Ryans had five players sent off in just 42 minutes for offences ranging from violent conduct to improper and insulting behaviour towards opponents in their Division Two home match against Malvern Hills.

It also forced the game, which was goalless at the time, to be abandoned by referee Darren Amor although the three points have since been awarded to Malvern Hills.

Both clubs were charged with failing to control their players but the visitors were exonerated at an FA hearing.

Katy O’Ryans, who play at Wilden Village Cricket Club, were found guilty and fined £75 as well as given a severe warning as to their future conduct on top of an automatic multi-player misconduct charge, which carried a warning for a first offence.

Steve Edwards was banned for four matches while team-mates Dan Annis, Steve Preece and Paul Edwards were given three-game suspensions and Daniel Godsall two matches.

In a seperate incident last month, the club were fined another £75 for failing to control their spectators in a Division Two game against Foregate, a match Katy O’Ryans won 4-0.

The team are still top of the table, and are due to play Worcester Anchors in the Phipps Cup final at St George’s Lane on Monday, May 6, but have resigned from the league for next season.

A league statement on the Malvern Hills match said: “The management committee are satisfied that the match was abandoned owing to the conduct of one team or its member(s) and have decided that the three points for the match in question will be awarded to Malvern Hills.”