Pitching In NPL Midlands Division title-chasers Harborough Town have had six points deducted for fielding a suspended player.
Midfielder Connor Kennedy played in wins against Gresley Rovers and Bedworth United in January and February 2024 respectively, with the Bees in breach of rule 6.9 from the FA.
Town were top of the division and on a high after Saturday's 5-0 victory over Quorn, their third win and clean sheet in a row.
However this deduction has seen Spalding United move up a place and Harborough drop to third, four points behind the leaders with two games remaining.
A play-off spot is secured for Mitch Austin's side and barring any further deductions, they cannot finish lower than their current placing.
The Club confirmed that they also received a fine and a further sanction of a one game suspension for the involved player. The club assisted the FA in their enquiries and fully accepted their findings.
In a statement on the club website, they wrote:
“Harborough Town Football Club would like to sincerely apologise to the players, the manager, and the management team, who have been nothing short of brilliant, so far this season. We would also like to sincerely apologise to our fantastic supporters, and everyone connected with the football club for this clerical error.
“We understand that this will be extremely difficult to comprehend how such oversights can occur, and the football club can assure you all that measures have been put in place to ensure that a repeat of this error cannot happen again.
“Having already secured a play-off place and still chasing automatic promotion we truly hope that this will galvanise everyone to get behind the team on the pitch for the remaining fixtures of the season, to drive us forward and achieve our end goal.”
The Football Club will be making no further comment.
