OFFICIALS from Harrogate Railway and Nestl Rowntree are set to appear before members of two local FA committees to solve their dispute over the transfer of players.

Members of the West Riding and North Riding FA, who govern Railway and Nestl respectively, will convene in the next 28 days to hear the arguments from both clubs after Rowntree made a protest about the transfer of four players.

The players in question - Elliott Simpson, Jimmy Gore, Steve Hadden and Mark Watkinson - could also be asked to appear before the committee when the meeting is held in York.

Mark Jarvis, the secretary of the North Riding FA, confirmed he had received the protest but added: "It is up to the club to prove what they have written is correct.

"We usually get three or four of these protests a year and if the club is in default they will get fined and the player gets sent back to the original club.

"If the protest is not upheld, then the player goes and plays for the other club."

Updated: 12:11 Friday, January 04, 2002