The most unusual giant-killing of the season comes without a ball being kicked

Horsham will be playing Sutton United in the Second Round of the FA Cup, after Barnsley shot themselves in the foot.

“We’ll take it” has become something of a mantra for those who’ve just got away with a result that their team’s performance didn’t really merit, but Horsham have taken that a step further by claiming a place in the Second Round of the FA Cup without having even kicked a ball.

On an otherwise slightly underwhelming FA Cup First Round weekend, their 3-3 draw at Oakwell on the Friday night—a fixture moved at the request of South Yorkshire Police because apparently the Greater Sheffield conurbation couldn’t cope with more than two matches being played on the same day—was one of the standout results, but their luck ran out in the replay, beaten 3-0 after Barnsley snatched two early goals to efficiently deflate the atmosphere inside The Camping World Community Stadium.

But in this season of off-field weirdness, perhaps there was something inevitable about the fact that the matter couldn’t be left there, and it has now been confirmed that Barnsley have been ejected from the competition and Horsham reinstated after Barnsley fielded an ineligible player in the replay.

So, what did happen here? Somewhat pleasingly, considering the absurd levels of complexity currently afflicting other parts of the game at present, in this case the answer seems to be fairly straightforward. The ineligible player has not been named but is understood to be Aiden Marsh. At the time of the first match Marsh was on loan in the National League at York City, but with a ten day gap between the first match and the replay he was recalled from York and started at Horsham in the replay. FA rules state that only players eligible for the original tie can appear in a replay. At the time of the first match, Marsh’s registration was still held by York. Oops.

To the credit of both clubs, the decision seems to have been greeted with a degree of surprised embarrassment. Barnsley have acknowledged their error and have confirmed that they will not be seeking any sort of appeal. When you’re caught out like this, there isn’t really much of a mitigation that you can offer.

The club has fully cooperated with the investigation and has accepted the FA’s decision. We have been in contact with Horsham FC and would like to thank the club and Chairman for their understanding and cooperation throughout this process. We would like to apologise to our fans, players and staff for this regrettable error.

This mistake - although unintentional - falls way below the high standards we set at this club and is simply not what you [the fans] deserve. We have already conducted a full internal investigation and have subsequently put safeguards in place to ensure this will never happen again.

And while Horsham are clearly within their rights to be delighted at having been reinstated into the competition—quite asides from anything else, this will all be worth an amount of money that is highly significant to a club playing in the Premier Division of the Isthmian League—their statement acknowledged, “the immense disappointment that this decision by the FA would be to both Barnsley Football Club and its supporters.”

Back in South Yorkshire, there is considerable anger at the way in which this has played out, but it’s not been directed at their opponents. With the draw for the Second Round having been made a couple of weeks ago and the tie to be played on the 2nd December, some Barnsley supporters had already made travel arrangements for the match. Whether this is an administrative oversight or not, supporters are entitled to be angry at this, as well as the small matter of their club becoming a little bit of a laughing stock over it all.

But how on earth did this even happen? Supporters have pointed out that they spotted when the teams were announced for the replay that Marsh probably shouldn’t have been on the sheet; proof, as if it were needed, that big accounts on social media never read the replies. But while there will be calls for the head of… someone over this, breaking such a fundamental eligibility rule for an FA Cup match hints at a wider problem. Was there really no-one within the actual club itself who could spot such an obvious breach?

If the way that football treats clubs who field ineligible players seems pretty harsh, there are good reasons for the rules being written in the way that they are. On top of the reducing the possibility of any form of cheating—and it should be added here that there is nothing to suggest that Barnsley’s little snafu was anything beyond an honest mistake—clubs at all levels of the game have public liability insurance, and an ineligible player taking part in matches could invalidate that insurance.

As for Horsham, well, it’s probably fair to say that they now have an abrupt change of plans. They were due to be travelling to The Pilot Field to play Hastings United in the League on the 2nd December, but now they’ll be off to Gander Green Lane to play the bottom club in League Two instead. And they may be forgiven wondering whether this is a winnable tie. Sutton have had a surprisingly dismal start to the season, although they have had a small recent upturn in a form with a win and two draws from their last three matches.

The moral of this story is to always dot your Is and cross your Ts. Clubs have become better at this sort of thing in recent years. The last EFL club to be chucked out of the FA Cup were Bury in 2006, again over a player registration issue. None of this means that Barnsley shouldn’t consider reimbursing those who’ve already paid for train tickets and hotel rooms that are now surplus to requirements.

And through the disappointment and anger of it all, Barnsley supporters can at least take pride in their own reaction to it all. Their reaction on social media yesterday afternoon was, after the venting of spleens at their own club, to wish Horsham all the best in the next round. You can’t control the mistakes your club makes, but you are responsible for the way you react to them, and though this may feel like the most gossamer-thin of silver linings, at the moment, it’s definitely something.