You must give your employer 28 days’ notice if you want to change your start date.
You do not have to give a precise date when you want to take leave (for example 1 February). Instead you can give a general time, such as the day of the birth or 1 week after the birth.
Yeah that was my take on it. I'd imagine footballers don't take it. They generally miss a game at most, so whilst it looks ridiculous to punish him for wanting to see his child, it was still insubordination.