NORTH Ballarat City president Steven Howard believes it would be "grossly unfair" for his club to incur any monetary penalty for playing an over-age player during the 2009 Ballarat Football League U/18.5 season.City is likely to come before the Victorian Country Football League Area Appeals Committee for its involvement in fielding the player for a number of home and away matches and a semi final. City was booted out of the BFL under-18 1/2 grand final on Monday after it was found that the player was ineligible.A senior club found guilty of using an ineligible and/or unregistered player, under section 1.3 of the VCFL Rules and Regulations, is subject to a fine of no less than $500.The rule, which includes loss of points and reversal of the match result, also states that the infringing club "may be subject to further penalty as determined by the Area Appeals Board."It is unclear how severe the fine would be due to the unusual circumstances surrounding the case."We (have) copped a fair old whack for these kids not playing in the grand final," Howard said.Howard said the club had accepted the BFL's decision and would not look to appeal, but believed the BFL should take some of the responsibility of the player being allowed to take the field.The BFL acknowledged that there were no system checks installed in the VCFL I.T. program used by the league, that would have picked up the player's ineligibility immediately, in a statement released on Monday."We won't be taking it any further," Howard said.Howard said club officials met with players and parents of the team on Monday night to formalise what had happened in the past few days.He said there was a wide range of emotions at the "fruitful" meeting.