After Concord Rangers disappointing defeat to Hungerford Town on October 17 in the National League South, more disappointment was to follow later on for the side from Essex.
That was because a decision was taken by the club to release Tom Day of his duties at the club.
The incident involving Hungerford Town player Kyle Tooze confused Concord Rangers’ media team as they didn’t realise the game was stopped entirely by the referee.
An update regarding @HungerfordTown player Kyle Tooze who was taken to hospital during this afternoons match. #YAMC 💛💙 https://t.co/OZbTyMOF3z
— Concord Rangers FC (@ConcordRangers) October 17, 2020
So, confusion reigned as tweets were time stamped by the media team not realising that the tweets were out of sync with what was the actual time shown on the referee’s stopwatch.
“I felt like I was just doing my job and that this was the best way to highlight what was going on with the incident regarding the Hungerford Town player Kyle Tooze”, Day insisted.
He went on to add: “I have been asked to leave as members of the club did not like the tone in which I replied to these comments, in which I and a few others have stated as to which I was spoken to in.”
Yes you read that right, fifty-eight minutes of injury time. We once again wish Kyle Tooze all the best and hope he can recover as quickly as possible. #YAMC 💛💙 https://t.co/ACjMkA4Zre
— Concord Rangers FC (@ConcordRangers) October 17, 2020
Understandably many people were confused with the decision of the club especially as no official statement was released, but as a result a lot of abuse was directed at media assistant Kian Ward and other members of the club.
Abuse which took its toll mentally on Ward and all others it was directed at.
Ward said: “It did have a rather negative effect mentally on a couple of people including myself getting called ‘c****’ and other abusive terms from random strangers was something I never thought I’d experience.
“It’s even more disappointing that a few months ago a lot of people would have been behind the #BeKind campaign yet still think its ok to send abusive emails to people.”
When reflecting on the decision, Ward thinks the club made the right decision in the end to part ways with Day.
“Do I think we made the right decision upon reflection- yes I do,” Ward adamantly admitted. “He (Day) had a couple of times where in our group chat it had kicked off and I think this situation was a climax of it all.”
Ward went on to add: “Luckily now we have a local college involved and have 3 local students involved helping us on a match day with twitter graphic design and YouTube.
“We are hoping to give them a stepping stone in their careers.
“If I was put in the same situation, I think I would make the same decision.
“Again, the whole scenario caused me a lot of stress which I didn’t appreciate at all.”
The club are looking to put this incident behind them and concentrate on footballing matters on the pitch. Rangers main aim will be to survive and avoid relegation in the National League South this season.
