4 days ago
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Grimsby Town have been fined £20,000 after fielding an ineligible player in their stunning Carabao Cup upset of Manchester United.
Ruben Amorim’s reign as United head coach sunk to a new low as the Red Devils were dumped out of the competition by their League Two oppositionin a thriller at Blundell Park.
The visitors had managed to claw themselves back into the second-round contest as a pair of late goals from Bryan Mbeumo and Harry Maguire cancelled out Charles Vernam and Tyrell Warren’s earlier efforts.
But Mbeumo missed a decisive penalty in a nerve-shredding shootout to send Grimsby into the third round, with fellow summer signing Matheus Cunha also failing from the spot.
Grimsby’s home support taunted Amorim with chants of, ‘You’re getting sacked in the morning’, throughout the clash and the despondent Portuguese admitted after the loss that ‘something had to change’ for his team.
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But on Tuesday morning, a week on from the encounter, it emerged that Grimsby had reported themselves to the EFL for fielding Clarke Oduor in the match.
Oduor – who joined Grimsby on loan from Bradford City this summer – came on as a second-half substitute for George McEachran and missed the hosts’ third penalty in the shootout.
It came to light that Grimsby had submitted the registration of Oduor at 12:01 pm on the day prior to the fixture, missing the 12:00 pm deadline by a matter of seconds.
A statement on the EFL’s official website confirmed that a ‘comprehensive review of all the evidence’ had determined that the mistake ‘was not deliberate’ and Grimsby had ‘no intention of deceiving or misleading’.
Grimsby will be required to pay £10,000 of the fine up front and the second installment will be suspended until the conclusion of the 2025/26 campaign.
The club will be liable for the suspended sum of £10,000 should they repeat the same mistake in any EFL competition between now and the end of the season.
EFL statement on Grimsby rule breach in full
The EFL Board, acting as the Management Committee of the Carabao Cup, has today fined Grimsby Town Football Club £20,000 – of which £10,000 will be suspended until the end of Season 2025/26 – for having breached the Rules of the competition.
The breach relates to the Club fielding an ineligible player against Manchester United in a Round Two tie on 27 August 2025. Grimsby Town progressed to Round Three following a 12-11 penalty shoot-out win at Blundell Park.
The circumstances leading to this transgression are that Grimsby Town submitted the registration of Clarke Oduor at 12:01 pm on the day before the fixture i.e. shortly after the 12:00 pm deadline required in accordance with the 2025/26 competition rules.
The Club self-reported the breach upon discovery the day after the fixture had been completed.
Following a comprehensive review of all the evidence and considering prior decisions taken in respect of offences in the League Cup, the Board determined that the issuing of a fine followed precedent.
The Board further noted the Club’s non-compliance was not deliberate with no intention to deceive or mislead. The Club has since implemented several actions to prevent a similar occurrence in the future.
The Club will be liable for the suspended sum of £10,000, if they were to again field an ineligible player in any League Competition between now and the end of Season 2025/26.
More to follow.
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