League Two Grimsby Town have been fined for breaching the Carabao Cup rules in their clash against Manchester United.
The Mariners shocked the footballing world by beating the Premier League giants 12-11 on penalties in the second round of the competition last month, and had plenty of fun mocking the Red Devils afterwards.
Grimsby earned themselves a tie against troubled Championship side Sheffield Wednesday in the next round, with the fixture date yet to be confirmed but expected to take place in the weeks beginning on 15 and 22 September.
However, on Tuesday, the EFL and Grimsby released a statement revealing the Mariners had accidentally fielded an ineligible player against United.
Players of Grimsby Town celebrates victory during the Carabao Cup Second Round match between Grimsby Town and Manchester United
Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images
Grimsby fined £10,000 for fielding ineligible player
The EFL say they have fined Grimsby £20,000 for having ‘breached the rules of the competition’.
£10,000 of that punishment is suspended until the end of the 2025/26 season, providing they don’t field another ineligible player in any competition before the campaign finishes.
Grimsby owned up to the breach of fielding Clarke Oduor the following day, with the Mariners submitting the registration of him one minute past the 12:00pm deadline the day before the fixture.
In a statement, the club said: “Grimsby Town Football Club acknowledges today’s decision by the EFL regarding an error in the registration of Clarke Oduor ahead of our Carabao Cup Round Two fixture against Manchester United.
“The registration of Oduor was submitted to the EFL at one minute past the deadline and the issue was not immediately identified by the Club due to a computer problem being experienced at Grimsby.
“We accept the fine imposed and fully recognise the importance of adhering to competition rules and regulations. This mistake was not deliberate, and the Club acted transparently by self-reporting the breach as soon as it came to light.
“Since this incident, we have undertaken a thorough review of our processes and implemented strengthened measures to ensure it cannot happen again.
“We thank the EFL Board for recognising our co-operation and intent, and we remain fully committed to maintaining the highest professional and regulatory standards.
“The Club won’t make any further comment on the matter and now looks forward to focusing on preparations for our upcoming fixtures.”
Oduor was the only Grimsby player to miss in the penalty shootout.
Manchester United are yet to respond at the time of writing.
Barnsley were kicked out of the FA Cup for fielding ineligible player
Barnsley set the precedent for punishment for fielding an ineligible player when they were removed from the FA Cup in 2023.
They had played an ineligible member of their squad in their first round replay win against Horsham. The Tykes had won the replay 3-0 after drawing 3-3 in the initial tie at Oakwell.
Although Barnsley did not name the player, Football Association rules state only players who are eligible for the initial FA Cup tie can feature in a replay.
Non-league Horsham went on to play Sutton United, then in League Two, instead.