EFL officially issued an announcement that Greensby's club was fined £20,000 due to the use of ineligible players against Manchester United.
Grinsby officially issued a statement saying that due to the team's computer problems, the registration application of player Odo was submitted successfully one minute after the deadline. The club took the initiative to report the violation and accepted a fine. In the second round of the League Cup, Manchester United lost to the English League Two team Greensby in a penalty shootout and was eliminated. Player Odo came on as a substitute in the 73rd minute and conceded the team's third penalty in the penalty shootout (he was the only player in Greensby to lose the penalty).
EFL Official Announcement:
EFL Committee, as the Management Committee of the League Cup, today fined Greensby Town Football Club £20,000, of which £10,000 will be suspended until the end of the 2025/26 season because it violated the rules of the game.
The violation involved the club using an ineligible player when they played against Manchester United in the second round of the match on August 27, 2025. Greensby Town won the 12-11 penalty shootout at Brundell Park to advance to the third round.
The situation that led to this violation was that Greensby Town submitted Clark Odo's registration at 12:01 noon the day before the game, which was a little later than the 12:00 deadline required by the 2025/26 season game rules. The
club discovered the violation the day after the game and took the initiative to report it.
After a comprehensive review of all evidence and considering previous rulings on League Cup violations, the Commission found that the fine was in line with precedent. The
Committee further pointed out that the club's violation was not intentional and had no intention of deception or misleading. The club has since taken several measures to prevent similar incidents from happening again.
If the club reuses an ineligible player in any league match between now and the end of the 2025/26 season, a £10,000 fine will be paid.
Grinsby Official Announcement:
Grinsby Town Football Club accepted the decision made by the English Football League (EFL) today on our registration error before our second round of the League Cup against Manchester United.
Odo's registration was submitted to the EFL one minute after the deadline, and the club failed to immediately find out due to Greensby's computer issues. We accept the fines imposed and fully recognize the importance of complying with the rules and regulations of the match. This error was not intentional, and the club immediately reported the violation.
Since this incident, we have thoroughly reviewed our processes and implemented enhanced measures to ensure that such incidents do not occur again.
We thank the EFL Committee for recognizing our cooperation and intentions, and we remain fully committed to upholding the highest professional and regulatory standards. The
club will not comment further on this matter and now look forward to focusing on the preparations for our upcoming matches.