East Stirling have been expelled from the Scottish Cup.
The Third Division side, managed by former Celt Jim McInally, were found guilty of fielding an ineligable player in their fourth round win over Buckie Thistle.
Goalkeeper Michael Andrews, on loan from Falkirk, hadn’t had his registration completed in time to play in the tie.
A NAMELESS statement from the SFA said: “Following a breach of Cup Competition rule 39.1b, East Stirlingshire have been expelled from the Scottish Cup competition.
“The club were found to have fielded an ineligible player, Michael Andrews, in the above match. The club will also lose any fourth round sponsorship monies owed.
“All misconduct decisions from the original match stand. Buckie Thistle now advance to round five.”
Explaining the problem East Sirling chairman Les Thomson claimed: “All the documentation was sent through on 21 December.
“It is nothing to do with the SFA and ourselves – it’s the middle man who delivers the documents. They were put in the post as we normally do.
“Everybody knows what happened at Christmas time – there was a backlog of mail. Some of it reached its destination, some of it didn’t.
“We have acted 100% correctly as far as we are concerned. Both Falkirk and myself sorted the paperwork.”
Former Celt Kevin Cawley scored the only goal of the match against Buckie but it will be the Highland League side that take their hoops into a fifth round clash at home to Brechin City next Sunday.
Follow Video Celts on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube
[bet_365 type=’generic’ size=’468′ af_code=’365_050711′]