Grimsby Town were fined £20,000 after fielding an ineligible player against Manchester United in a Carabao Cup tie.
The English Football League (EFL) imposed the sanction on Tuesday while stating that the League Two team failed to register Clarke Oduor before their penalty shootout victory against the Red Devils in the penultimate round.
Grimsby Town was required to submit Oduor’s registration until 12pm on the day of the match.
But these were submitted a minute after deadline.
Luckily for the giant killing squad, the EFL made a decision that only a £20,000 fine will be imposed regarding this breach and this will be half suspended until the culmination of the season rather than be expelled from the tournament completely.
The rest of the £20,000 fine would be applicable only if Grimsby plays an ineligible player again this season.
EFL and Grimsby Town respond to ineligible player saga
It was conceded in an EFL release that Grimsby self-reported the violation a day after they had beaten United in a penalty shootout.
“It was further observed by the Board that non-compliance was unintentional and no effort was made to mislead or deceive,” the statement added.
Grimsby Town issued a statement of their own and blamed the clerical error on ‘a computer problem being encountered’ at the club.
“We accept the penalty and acknowledge fully the necessity to observe rules and regulations about competition,” the Grimsby statement read.
“It was not an intentional breach, and the Club has acted transparently to self-report the breach as soon as it was uncovered.”
‘We would like to take this opportunity to express our appreciation to the EFL Board for acknowledging our cooperation and
Grimsby Town will travel to Sheffield Wednesday in their Carabao Cup third round fixture.
Grimsby is where Oduor’s nightmare begins.
Oduor was substituted in last weekend’s 1-0 loss to Bristol Rovers after United’s incredible victory.
He signed for Grimsby on loan from Bradford City in League One during the season 2025/26.
Unfortunately Kenya international could not make a good impression since he was the only Grimsby man who could not make his mark from the spot in the marathon shootout against United.
Luckily for the Leeds United product it did not matter much because Bryan Mbeumo struck his second penalty against the bar to bring about a Blundell Park pitch invasion.
