Foden’s will defend their National title at the Royal Albert Hall on Saturday without Mark Wilkinson to lead them as principal cornet.

Due to a severe lip problem which flared up in the last few days, Mark has been advised that the only solution is a complete break from playing for at least two to three weeks.

Tried everything

Foden’s Chairman John Barber told 4BR, that both Mark and the band had tried everything they could to try and ensure that he maintained his remarkable record of not missing a major contest appearance in over 20 years as top man with the Sandbach Band.

"The problem really stopped Mark in his tracks on Saturday. Although he has tried to work around it, he has reluctantly accepted professional advice to stop playing to help it heal and to prevent further damage.

As you can imagine, he is heartbroken that he is unable to lead the band in the defence of our title."

Accepted rules

John also stated that the band fully accepted that under the present contest rules Foden’s could not bring in a last minute replacement.

"A player of Mark’s calibre is so rare at the highest level of banding, so getting in a top class dep wasn’t a viable option under the present rules and the time frame involved.

Foden’s has enjoyed such a settled line up of players over the years that we haven’t required any unwarranted additional signings. It’s unfortunate that a totally unexpected problem such as this has arisen, but we are determined to take to the stage with our usual line up of players."

One short

4BR understands that under the current Rule 9A, Foden’s would have been unable to register a new player in time to appear at the contest. They will now play with one less cornet.

The rule states: “All players taking part in the Contest must be registered with only ONE accredited Registry at least 7 days before the Friday of the contest weekend and may only compete with the band that holds their Registration.”

A player of Mark’s calibre is so rare at the highest level of banding, so getting in a top class dep wasn’t a viable option under the present rules and the time frame involvedFoden's Chairman, John Barber

Force majeure

John added that although the band did enquire about the implementation of Rule 9, they fully appreciated that no change could be made.

"Perhaps some sort of ‘force-majeure’ amendment could be considered to help all bands in the future in extraordinary circumstances," he added.

"However, we accept the current rules and we are determined to defend the title at the Albert Hall with everything we’ve got under the baton of Allan Withington."