Rules are rules, but the system stinks.

Come the end of the National League One South season, Sutton United will have played 42 games of football.

Of those games, they have (so far) won 23, including an unbeaten run of 23 games – a new league record.

They will have racked up hundreds of miles travelling the length and breadth of southern England, with a horde of faithful fans in tow, and dealt with the adversity of injuries, suspensions and juggling a strict budget.

Behind the scenes, the club's drive to get more people through the turnstiles has worked wonders, with more than 1,000 fans at their past two home games.

They have chased down the leaders and overtaken them, and now they could go three points clear with victory over Ebbsfleet on Saturday.

But there is a dark shadow hanging over the end of season excitement, because United face the deduction of three valuable points.

An FA charge relates to Jamie Slabber’s appearance off the bench in the final throws of the 3-0 win over St Albans City in March.

I understand the National League had given permission for the loanee’s appearance, but the required copy of the paperwork was not faxed to the FA.

United have requested a hearing with the FA and they await the governing body’s response.

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Slabber appeared for 20 minutes – that’s 20 minutes out of, conservatively speaking, 3,780 minutes of football – so do United deserve this anxious ending to what should be a thrilling finale of football?

This is not an impassioned plea to the FA or the National League, because rules are rules, and every club has the long journeys, juggling the money and playing the same number games – United are no different.

My problem is this: Football clubs at non-League level are run in the main by hard-working volunteers, who have to deal with piles of paperwork and a minefield of bureaucracy.

And who uses fax machines these days? In this day and age, surely a red light/green light computer system can be developed to save reliance on yesteryear’s technology.

If a genuine mistake or a lack of knowledge over something as minor as a faxed piece of paper leaves the sword of Damocles over a club official’s head and perhaps the biggest moment in a club’s history – who is going to offer their services in the future?

Who wants the stress and pressure?

Like I say, rules are rules, and I suspect United will be deducted three points – but maybe the FA et al should consider the impact of their draconian system and their punishments on those who keep the game alive at grass roots level.