WE won the team of the round for FFS.

1500 fine suspended for a year.

What a fecking joke this micky mouse trophy is. stupid stupid

I suspect it's a desperate attempt to get teams to take it seriously, in order to try and gain some credibility for the competition.

I doubt very much it will succeed. Presumably there have to be some get-outs (what if you've got 7 first-teamers injured or suspended for example) and all that will do is mean that clubs will find a way round it by getting the Club Doctor to state that such and such a player wasn't available due to some minor injury.

Anyone seriously interested in the cup at this stage in any case? If we get to a regional semi it might be different but at the moment it's just a waste of space!

I have always wondered if the football league was run by idiots - this just about confirms it

We won a game and then got fined for fielding too WEAK a side?

Absolute joke.

So super rich clubs like Arsenal, Man United and Chelsea can drop their whole first team for a competition that is ultimately worthwhile (place in Europe, financial benefit and has a rich history) yet Pools get fined for making 5 or 6 (some of which were forced) changes for the most meaningless competition in football.

What a fucking disgrace.

I can understand their wanting clubs to take the tournament more seriously so they have to lay down some rules. But it's sure that when one of the only two clubs affected is the team of the round it makes them look extremely daft. I'm sure they'll revise and correct the rules for use on a future occasion.

Nevertheless, if both clubs field shite teams then the excuse "but we won" doesn't hold water (unless it's a team like Darlo of course where a shite team is par for the course ).

That will be because that is run by the Premier League, our competition is run by the Football League