A phone call to the Burton Fixture Secretary, Steve Harris, at 9.05 p.m. on Friday evening left Burton 1st XV high and dry without a game on Saturday afternoon. The call was a short message informing him that Longton would not be sending a side over to play Burton in the semi-final of the Senior Staffordshire Cup the following day.

The end result of this unsavoury action is that while Burton were given a walkover into the cup final, due to be played in April, both players and supporters were left to twiddle their thumbs having expected to be involved in an intriguing match against the current County champions. Both Burton and Staffordshire officials are expected to make representation to the Longton club about its behaviour in dealing with the fixture.

The next game for the Burton 1st XV is now an away fixture against Kenilworth in the National Three (Midlands) league on Saturday, 13th November