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Accrington Stanley have been fined £12,000, half suspended, for fielding ineligible players in the Football League this season.
In a statement on their official website, the club say they are satisfied with the outcome. They claim that the law under which the first player, Chris McGrail, fell foul was not in the actual Football League handbook but only in a guidance note, and that the second player, Martin Fearon, was signed last year under Conference terms for the PASE scheme (as operated by Hereford United with Pershore College) and was not eligible to play for a Football League side despite the current year's recruits to the scheme being acceptable.
The club also take a swipe at an un-named club, also at the lower reaches of League Two, that pushed for a points deduction when the news broke.
