Ex-Leeds United player involved in transfer issue as League Two club fined £20,000 after Man Utd triumph
Former Leeds United prospect Clarke Oduor was involved in the historic win last week.
A Leeds United academy graduate is at the heart of a registration issue that has seen Grimsby Town charged following last week’s dramatic Carabao Cup win over Manchester United.
Clarke Oduor, who came through the ranks at Thorp Arch and made one appearance for Leeds before leaving in 2019, came off the bench for League Two Grimsby as they knocked out Premier League Manchester United via a 12-11 penalty shootout victory. The Mariners were 2-0 up at the time of his 73rd-minute introduction before two late goals took it to penalties at Blundell Park.
In what was his first game for Grimsby, Oduor then missed an early penalty but watched on as his new teammates dispatched their efforts to record an incredible win. The third-tier side have been celebrating their momentous performance all week but have now been slapped with a fine surrounding the Leeds academy graduate’s involvement.
Grimsby only confirmed the signing of Oduor on loan from Bradford City the day before last week’s Carabao Cup clash, and it has since transpired he wasn’t officially registered in time to feature against Manchester United. And now the EFL have confirmed the punishment for David Artell’s side.
A statement from the EFL read: “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 12:01pm on the day before the fixture i.e. shortly after the 12:00pm deadline required in accordance with the 2025/26 competition rules.
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“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.”
Thankfully for Oduor and Grimsby, their place in the next round of the Carabao Cup remains and their historic night has not been tarnished. The League Two side are due to face Leeds’ second-round opponents Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough.
Oduor spent close to a decade coming through the Leeds academy and signed his first professional contract in 2017, aged 17. The midfielder made his one and only first-team appearance for the Whites off the bench in an FA Cup defeat to Queens Park Rangers during Marcelo Bielsa’s first year in charge.