The situation came to light when the Nottinghamshire FA contacted the club on Monday 2nd February 2026 , stating they had received notification that we played two ineligible players in our 4th Round tie against Selston, which we won 5-4 on penalties after finishing the 90 minutes at 1-1.

The County FA simply asked for our observations, with no formal charge for a breach of competition rule 12d, which is;
“To be eligible to play in a re-arranged tie (owing to postponement/abandonment) the player must have been eligible to have played on the original match date. The only exception to this is if a club requires dispensation to play a replacement goalkeeper who is a registered player, but was not before the original match date. Any such request must be made to the NFACG by email to cupcompetitions@nottinghamshirefa.com together with evidence substantiating the reasons for the request, and received no later than 24 hours before the re-arranged match date. Dispensation will be at the complete discretion of the NFACG.”

On investigation we can confirm that both Travis Vintin and Callum Foster were registered after the original scheduled game date of 03/01/2026. The fixture was cancelled on that date and also on the 10th, 17th and 24th January 2026.

Due to the multiple cancellations the County FA instructed both clubs to resource a different ground, ideally a 3/4G pitch for 31/01/2026, with Eastwood Towns ground resourced for the game last Satutrday.

Prior to the game Kev Newton, club secretary revisited the rules and read 12a, b and c and judged all players in the squad where eligible to play;

12. Qualification of Players
a. To be eligible a player must have been registered by the Club with their league by 12 noon on the day immediately prior to the fixed match date. This is for all rounds except for Semi-Finals and the Final (please see 12b).

b. For semi-final and final ties, the player must have been registered by 12 noon the day before the original date of the previous round, i.e. a player must be registered by 12 noon the day prior to the original date of the quarter-final to be eligible for the semi-final, and registered by 12 noon the day prior to the original date of the semifinal to be eligible for the final.

c. A player may also qualify for the semi-final if they have played a minimum of three bona-fide fixtures (friendlies, postponements and abandonments do not count) for the competing team, but were not registered by 12 noon the day prior to the original quarter-final tie. The same applies to the final, in that if a player was not registered by 12 noon the day prior to the original semi-final tie they will be eligible if they have played three bona-fide fixtures for the competing team.

Kev explained in his observation response to the Notts FA as requested with the following informal and summarised plea in mitigation;

“We did review the rules and we thought we had complied with these as 12a stated registered by 12 noon the day before the game, except semi-finals and final.

With “b” and “c” of the rule stating Semi Final and Final and being the end of that page of the rules on the County FA webpage click here to find full 2025-26 Saturday Senior Challenge Trophy rules, we overlooked “d” as it went onto the next page, and didn't envisage any further restrictions than that imposed by 12 a, b and c. Simply on the basis “a” complies to all rounds with “b” and “c” only complies to the final stages, so logically didn’t expect further rules that applied to all ties to follow these three rules”. This therefore was and administrive error and not done for betterment or any other reason anyone may wish to think. To add both players were used as second half subs.

On the back of the protest allegeable submitted by Selston FC, and our observations, we expected to be charged by the County FA and receive the full details of the protest (as per rule 22e), but this hasn’t happened and instead received an email from Notts FA today (04/02/2026) stating,

“I am reaching out to you on behalf of the Nottinghamshire FA Cup Group (NFACG) in respect of the Saturday Senior Trophy match between Teversal FC Firsts and Selston FC on 31st January 2026 where it appears Teversal FC included two ineligible players within the matchday squad.

Unfortunately, based on the outcome of NFACG's investigation, Teversal FC First will be removed from the 2025-26 Saturday Senior Trophy, with Selston FC reinstated in the competition and awarded a Walkover for the tie. This will be reflected on Full-Time shortly”.

Kev stated, he can only apologise for the oversight to all involved with the club and specifically to the first team players and management for being in this situation and the removal from a competition we had high hopes in.

However, Kev expanded further, stating questions have been raised with the County FA for clarity on how they have managed the case and come to a decision when we haven’t been charged with playing an illegible player, so therefore have been denied the opportunity to make a formal plea in mitigation in writing or in person.

Depending on the response from Notts FA, a decision will be made to act further under condition of rule 23.

23. Provisions Concerning Appeals
a. A club that is expelled from a cup competition may appeal against that decision to an appeal board in accordance with the procedures for FA appeals.