Grimsby Caught Playing Ineligible Star, Yet Manchester United's Carabao Cup Dreams Remain Crushed
Manchester United will not be brought back into the Carabao Cup even though Grimsby Town has been found guilty of using an ineligible player during their stunning second-round triumph over the Red Devils last month.
In what stands as one of the darkest moments of the Amorim tenure so far, United had to recover from a two-goal deficit to push the League Two side to a penalty shootout, where they eventually suffered a loss that confirmed their earliest elimination from the tournament in 11 years.
Grimsby's loan player Clarke Oduor entered the match as a substitute for the closing 17 minutes and was the sole player from his team to fail in the penalty shootout, but it has now been revealed that he was not eligible to participate in the first place.
The EFL has confirmed that Grimsby voluntarily reported that they accidentally failed to meet the registration deadline for the match by merely one minute when adding Oduor to their roster, with a "thorough investigation" by the governing authority ultimately concluding there was no deliberate wrongdoing in Grimsby's conduct.
Consequently, the EFL has chosen to impose a £20,000 ($27,000) penalty, with half being suspended, but Grimsby will remain in the tournament, leaving United with no possibility of reinstatement.
"After conducting a thorough examination of all available evidence and reviewing previous rulings regarding similar League Cup violations, the Board concluded that imposing a financial penalty was consistent with established precedent," the official statement declared.
"The Board also acknowledged that the Club's violation was unintentional with no desire to deceive or mislead. The Club has subsequently put in place multiple measures to avoid a similar incident occurring again."
During the 2023–24 campaign, Barnsley were expelled from the FA Cup for using an ineligible player in a first-round replay against Horsham. Striker Aiden Marsh participated in the replay despite being loaned out from Barnsley during the original match—violating tournament rules. Barnsley maintained their error was accidental but were still eliminated from the competition.
Importantly, though, that situation occurred in the FA Cup, not the Carabao Cup, and was decided by a different regulatory authority.
United will continue to be excluded from Carabao Cup action this season, but the Red Devils still have an opportunity to claim domestic honors through the FA Cup. The third-round draw, which sees Premier League teams enter the competition, is set for early January 2026.