West Ham United’s U21s have been docked three points from their Papa John’s Trophy Southern Group A total for fielding an ineligible player, meaning Town top the group and will play at home in round two.

It had appeared that the Blues had finished second behind the Hammers’ youngsters following last night’s on-penalties victory over Colchester, but this afternoon the EFL issued a statement regarding West Ham’s U21s.

“Having received yellow cards in each of the previous two group fixtures, Ajibola Alese was suspended from playing and unavailable for selection, though featured in the fixture which West Ham United under 21’s won 2-0,” the statement reads.

“In accordance with Rule 30 of the Papa John’s Trophy, following consideration of all available evidence, the EFL board has also determined that alongside the three-point penalty, Gillingham will now be awarded the £10,000 win bonus as compensation for the costs of hosting the fixture, though no further financial penalty will be imposed on West Ham United for the breach in light of mitigating factors put forward by the club.

“The EFL board has determined that West Ham United U21s will receive a three-point penalty from this season’s Papa John’s Trophy group standings, for fielding an ineligible player in the Southern Group A fixture against Gillingham on 26th October.

“The EFL board considered this matter by way of correspondence and reached a decision prior to kick-off in the fixture between Ipswich Town and Colchester United.

“West Ham United’s points tally for the Group stage will now total three points and the club will finish third in Southern Group A, with Colchester United now progressing to the next stage of the competition in second place.”

The draw for round two, in which the Blues will be at home having finished top, takes place live on Sky Sports on Saturday following the conclusion of the Port Vale-Bradford match which kicks-off at midday.

They will face one of the teams which finished second in the other southern groups with some to be settled this evening: Portsmouth, MK Dons, Charlton, Stevenage, Arsenal U21s, Walsall or Brighton U21s or Forest Green, Chelsea U21s or Bristol Rovers or Exeter.

Photo: Action Images

MaySixth added 17:27 - Nov 10 Great news. No need to travel now.
2

itfchorry added 17:58 - Nov 10 Slice of luck !
1

adamisablue2 added 18:10 - Nov 10 Im sure that everyone in the team knew that was coming and deliberately played to a nil-nill draw :P
3

Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 18:26 - Nov 10 Colchester in the final?
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NthQldITFC added 18:27 - Nov 10 Papa John's Trophy. No need to travel anyway!
3

ImAbeliever added 18:36 - Nov 10 We are topped the league…..
1

backwaywhen added 18:41 - Nov 10 An omen perhaps ……. Just saying
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WeWereZombies added 18:49 - Nov 10 That ten grand is going to help Gillingham keep their floodlights on...
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ArnieM added 19:19 - Nov 10 We play better away from home though ….
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breedalot added 20:00 - Nov 10 So why do we have 5 points then? Is that an error or is there a strange explication?
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AK74 added 20:10 - Nov 10 breedalot - you get an extra point for winning a penalty shoot-out.
2

Kickingblock added 22:01 - Nov 10 Did this news come to light after some administration checks, or were West Ham grassed up?
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Fatboy added 23:35 - Nov 10 I bet the Colchester lad who missed the final penalty is relieved.
4

JewellintheTown added 13:58 - Nov 11 Ipswich teams past & present to the next round then.
1

OliveR16 added 22:05 - Nov 11 Is it just my PC or is the group table in this piece a kind of ultimate eye test for fighter pilots? (One I failed)
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