I WAS TRYING TO BREAK IT UP

A FATHER-OF-THREE in the middle of a wild brawl at GMHBA Stadium as a flurry of punches were unleashed says he tried to break it up by kicking a man who was beating another fan on the floor.

An image from the brawl shows Stuart, who did not want to disclose his surname, seemingly put the boot into another footy fan.

But yesterday he told the Geelong Advertiser it was a desperate attempt to rescue a fellow Cats fan caught in the path of flying fists.

“I didn’t go in with my hands because I thought I might get hit,” he said.

“I just sort of stood there looking at it and thought ‘geez he’s getting his arse kicked’ so I came forward and I went to push the bloke off.

It was no way putting the boot in. There was no malicious intent.

“It’s just a push sort of thing, it’s not a kick. The bloke on the floor was getting a pasting.

“It doesn’t look good because I sort of tried to push (the man hitting another man) with my foot. Then someone pushes me away thinking I am jumping in to fight.

“I went to the footy by myself. I’m just glad I didn’t take my nine-year-old because we would have been standing there together.

“I wasn’t sure who was on who. I saw a few blokes coming in who I thought would break it up but they came in and threw some punches.

“One of the videos (of the brawl) you can see me with my arms out trying to tell people to stay back and stop fighting.”

Stuart said there were other physical and verbal altercations on the Gary Ablett Terrace after the game but they broke up quickly.

“There was some tussling before (the brawl) and that got broken up.

“I’m originally from the UK and one of the reasons I like going to the footy is because of the atmosphere. I’ve got really into it. I just couldn’t believe what happened.”

Stuart said he had a few beers at the game but was not drunk.