Queen's Park face Scottish Cup expulsion after fielding 'ineligible' Hearts player

Queen’s Park are facing expulsion from the Scottish Cup after being charged with fielding an ineligible player in their rearranged fourth round tie.

Owen Coyle's side claimed a 2-0 win over Inverness on Tuesday night in a match rescheduled from January 21 with goals from Dom Thomas and Scott Williamson seemingly setting up a fifth round trip to Livingston.

However, the Spiders named Hearts loanee Euan Henderson in their starting line-up in an apparent breach of competition rule 12.5 which states only players registered before the date of the original game are eligible to be played in a rearranged fixture.

Henderson only joined Queen’s Park six days after the initial postponement and made his debut as a substitute in Saturday’s Championship fixture against Dundee.

Hearts loanee Euan Henderson in action for Queen's Park during the Scottish Cup fourth round win over Inverness Caledonian Thistle. (Photo by Simon Wootton / SNS Group)

The Scottish FA has served the club with a notice of complaint with a hearing scheduled for Friday, February 3. Possible penalties for breaking the rule include being kicked out of the competition – the same fate which befell Brechin City for fielding ineligible players in 2008.

Queen’s Park issued a statement on Wednesday that read: “Queen’s Park Football Club would advise that they are in discussions with the Scottish Football Association regarding the eligibility of a player in last night’s Scottish Cup tie at Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

“An internal review to establish the facts will be carried out and the club will be making no further comment until this is done.”

Henderson, a Tynecastle youth product, has previously spent time on loan with Montrose and Alloa Athletic. In total he has played 56 times for Hearts, mostly from the substitutes bench, scoring on four occasions.