League 2 side Bury found themselves unwelcomed visitors to the national football headlines in late December 2006 when they fell foul of the Football Association rule-book.

All seemed well at the Gigg Lane club when they disposed of Chester City in an away FA Cup Second Round replay to earn a home tie with Championship side Ipswich Town in the Third Round. However Bury then realised that they had fielded on-loan Stephen Turnbull in the replay at the Deva Stadium without the necessary clearance and they reported the error to the Football Association.

Turnbull had joined Bury on loan from Hartlepool United and Bury manager Chris Casper had been given verbal permission by his Hartlepool counterpart, Danny Wilson, to play Turnbull in the FA Cup replay.  Danny Wilson told Casper that Hartlepool would send the confirming paperwork to Bury and Casper assumed that all was in order. However nothing was sent which meant that Bury had selected Turnbull without receiving the required permission from Hartlepool United and lodging that permission with The FA. Bury also failed to comply with the required timescales for registration of players for the FA Cup

Bury admitted the charges and were expelled from the competition - a punishment upheld on appeal - and Chester City were re-instated.

It was a hard lesson for the 31-year-old Bury manager - the youngest in the League at the time. Casper had offered his resignation to the board, which they did not accept, but was clearly upset by the FA punishment. "If that's justice, then the FA can keep their justice" was his parting shot.