WHEN thousands of football fans travel to St Andrews in Birmingham next month one man will be absent.On Sunday, May 16 as AFC Sudbury seek to reverse last year's FA Vase final defeat, they will be without regular physiotherapist Barry Moult.

WHEN thousands of football fans travel to St Andrews in Birmingham next month one man will be absent.

On Sunday, May 16 as AFC Sudbury seek to reverse last year's FA Vase final defeat, they will be without regular physiotherapist Barry Moult.

Far from being sidelined by injury, Barry, whose day job is as the pastor of Sudbury's Grace Baptist Church, is sticking to his Christian principles and observing the Sabbath.

The game had originally been scheduled for a Saturday, at Upton Park, but the fixture was moved when it appeared that West Ham United might be involved in first division promotion play-offs.

“I wrote to the Football Association a couple of times to see if it could be moved to another ground on another day, but they wouldn't budge,” said Barry.

While others have suggested that a pastor could be brought in from elsewhere to cover for him, Brian said it was his own decision, and even if it were somehow possible to get to the game, he would not go.

“There was no decision really, I chose not to go. Sunday is still a special day, not just because I'm a pastor, but because I'm a Christian.

“I'm disappointed that the FA wouldn't change it, but I'm not too disappointed about missing the game, you can be sure that the team won't be far from my thoughts and you could say I've been praying for them all the way through the competition.”

Instead, Barry is happy to hand over the mantle to the club's former physiotherapist Brian Golding, who missed out on last year's cup final, when Sudbury were beaten 2-1 by Brigg Town.

The excursion to Birmingham will be the third time a Sudbury side has tasted the cup final experience as AFC Sudbury's forerunners Sudbury Town were runners up in 1989, when the tie was still settled at the now defunct Wembley Stadium.

Victory would clinch a welcome £15,000 cash injection to the club's coffers and see the FA vase brought home to Suffolk for the first time in the competition's 30 year history, and the journey so far has already proved lucrative with a £6,000 prize for beating Colne FC 4-3 on aggregate in the semi-finals.

Plans to stage the final at Birmingham's stadium on Saturday, May 15 were thwarted by West Midlands Police who will be busy policing the potentially volatile Premiership clash between Birmingham and Aston Villa.