Crawley Town have been accused of breaking the Modern Slavery Act by a former employee.

The League One club’s former kitman Pete Reynolds alleges in a claim for unfair dismissal and age discrimination that will be heard by the London South employment tribunal that Crawley in effect asked him to work almost 100 hours a week without additional pay, which would have left him earning well below the national minimum wage.

The Football Association and English Football League are named as co-respondents on the claim form, which states: “Their failure to act and allow this practice to continue has allowed Crawley Town FC and others to exploit employees.” Crawley, the FA and EFL have until 11 February to respond.

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The FA declined to comment when contacted by the Guardian, but the governing body’s lawyers are understood to have provided internal guidance that as a private employment matter there is no legal basis for a claim against them. An application to the employment tribunal for the claim against the FA to be struck out may follow. The EFL declined to comment.

Crawley are understood to deny any wrongdoing, with sources at the club indicating they plan to defend the claim vigorously, although they have made one settlement offer to Reynolds.

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The FA’s position will be strongly contested by Reynolds’ legal team, who are set to argue that the governing body has a duty of care to prevent exploitative practices.

“The FA has a duty of care to those employed in their partner organisations,” a source with knowledge of the case said. “They are rightly proud of their safeguarding policies in some areas so can’t duck this issue. These sorts of things happen at lots of clubs so this is a massive test case for the industry.”

In his submission to the employment tribunal Reynolds cites the Modern Slavery Act and accuses Crawley of age discrimination. The 2015 Modern Slavery Act states: “Employees shall not be contractually required to work more than 48 hours per week and overtime will only be worked on an optional basis. Forced or compulsory labour is prohibited.”

In his claim form to the employment tribunal submitted last month, Reynolds says Crawley tried to force him “to work excessive hours without additional pay” and this would have meant “having to work below the minimum wage threshold”.

He also says: “These working practices are in line with [the] modern slavery act. Both the Football Association and English Football League are aware of these practice[s] … Crawley Town FC have also failed to follow both disciplinary and grievance procedure and have dismissed me both unfairly and without notice. I believe my age was a factor in termination.”

Reynolds worked for Crawley for nine years in a variety of roles including match-day hospitality, security and ground maintenance before spending the last two-and-a-half seasons assisting the kitman. At the start of this season a new kitman was appointed by Crawley, George Carney, with the pair told to share duties with each working an average of 48 hours a week.

Reynolds claims that on 27 November he received a phone call from Crawley’s head of football operations, Lewis Timms, who told him that Carney was leaving and he would have to take on his responsibilities without additional pay. After protesting that the workload would be impossible he says he received an email from Timms the following week stating the club had accepted his resignation.

“At the end of November they got rid of George – I’m not sure why,” Reynolds told the Guardian. “I just got a phone call on 27 November saying I’d be taking over. I was already struggling with the workload and doing the job on my own would be impossible.

“It was 12-hour days, seven days a week, with lots of travel. And no extra money. I’m 62 and couldn’t do it physically. So I told the club I couldn’t do it, and didn’t hear anything from them.

“The only contact I’ve had was an email saying they’d accepted my resignation. I contacted the club, who said the owners had told him I’d resigned. But I never did. I’ve not heard from them since. I can’t get a job and I’ve got no money. Part of me wishes I said yes, and done the extra work for no extra money. It’s turning into a nightmare.”

Reynolds claims that in his phone conversation with Timms it was made clear that if he did not accept the changes to his working conditions he would be forced to leave. Reynolds has raised a formal grievance procedure but says he has not heard from the club, other than being paid his final month’s salary and nine days’ outstanding holiday pay. He says he did not receive a redundancy payment and has yet to be sent a P45.

After he submitted the unfair dismissal claim Crawley are understood to have contacted Reynolds offering a settlement of less than one month’s salary, which he declined.

Crawley are understood to be contesting the claim on the grounds that Reynolds voluntarily resigned while sources at the club also claim he rejected an offer from Timms to reconsider. The club declined to comment when contacted by the Guardian.

Crawley are owned by a group of American cryptocurrency investors, who bought the club three years ago under the banner of Wagmi United, following a failed takeover bid of Bradford City, where they had aimed to use non-fungible tokens [NFTs] as their ownership model.

Wagmi – an acronym for We’re All Going To Make It – launched a Crawley NFT three months after the takeover. In 2022 they became the first English club to release a kit only available to fans who had bought an NFT.

The new owners have employed six different managers in less than three years, but have had success on the pitch, winning promotion to League One last season.