Wrexham fined £75,000 by EFL after fielding two ineligible players but escape points deduction
Wrexham have been fined £75,000 ($99,800) by the EFL, with a third of it suspended, after naming Issa Kabore and Callum O'Hare in matchday squads when neither was eligible. The Championship club escaped a points deduction only because they lost the first game and O'Hare stayed on the bench in the second, and they are now looking to appoint a club secretary.
Wrexham fined over ineligible Kabore and O'Hare
The EFL have handed Wrexham the penalty after Kabore was included against Birmingham City on August 28 and O'Hare was named five days later at Millwall, with the relevant paperwork not filed correctly for either player.
According to The Athletic, Wrexham avoided a points deduction because the first fixture was lost and through the good fortune that O'Hare was left on the bench at Millwall. Phil Parkinson kept the 28-year-old out due to fatigue caused by his £7 million move from Sheffield United just 24 hours earlier.
Club statement explains the two registration breaches
Had O'Hare featured for even a couple of minutes in south London on September 2, EFL precedent suggests those three points could have been forfeited. Bury (2015-16), Rotherham United (2014-15) and AFC Wimbledon (2013-14) all suffered that fate after fielding ineligible players in league games they went on to win, while Cambridge United were only fined in 2023 when an ineligible player was an unused substitute in a League One defeat to Barnsley.
"The first breach relates to Issa Kabore's inclusion in the matchday squad and appearance as a substitute in the Championship defeat to Birmingham City on Friday 28 August, 2026," a club statement read. "The club held the correct right-to-work documentation for Kabore but did not properly submit it to the EFL, meaning he was ineligible for the fixture. The second breach relates to Callum O'Hare's inclusion in the matchday squad in the Championship victory against Millwall. O'Hare had not been registered in time to be eligible for the fixture. He did not feature in the match. The club is taking the appropriate steps to prevent such issues occurring in the future."
Michael Williamson explains his summer transfer role
The registration failures occurred before Steve Nickson arrived as sporting director on September 7 and had nothing to do with Parkinson or his coaching staff. Wrexham have been without a club secretary for around a year, amid a restructure designed to help off-field operations keep pace with three consecutive promotions from non-League to the Championship.
Director Shaun Harvey, who previously led most transfer negotiations, stepped away from day-to-day involvement on July 7, so chief executive Michael Williamson bridged the gap until Nickson arrived from Newcastle United. Speaking to The Athletic during the September international break, the American said: "I'm not a sporting director. I don't pretend to be one. That's why we brought one in. What I did was bridge the need for negotiations with the agents and the clubs. It's exhausting and very time-consuming. Everyone is trying to play a little game: we value the player at this, they value the player at that, and you have to go back and forth. Listen, I was there to deliver the final commercial terms and then turn it over to the administrative side to process and be papered. That was something I was very happy to turn over to Steve once he'd come in."
What next for Wrexham?
Wrexham are understood to be actively seeking to appoint a club secretary to stop a repeat.
On the pitch, Parkinson's side travel to O'Hare's former club Sheffield United on Friday sitting 17th in the Championship with 14 points from 12 games, six points adrift of the final play-off place and six clear of the relegation zone.
