Pitch invasion supporters fined

THREE Coventry City fans have been fined for invading the pitch at Northampton Town in protest at club owners Sisu.

Adam Howells, Paul Sulley and Dean Thomas took to the Sixfields pitch during the League One game against the Cobblers in January, with Howells pictured waving a flare.

The invasion was part of the pals’ ongoing protest against London-based hedge fund Sisu and afterwards they said: “We’d rather be banned than not be heard.”

The three friends were immediately handed three-month football bans by the police, which meant they couldn’t leave their homes when the Sky Blues were playing at home as they all live within a three-mile radius of the Ricoh Arena.

Howells and Sulley appeared at Wellingborough Magistrates’ Court on Monday when they were both fined but avoided being given a further football banning order.

Howells, 38, was fined £700 plus costs, while Sulley’s fine was £690 plus costs for entering the playing surface at the game without lawful excuse.

Thomas had appeared in court at an earlier hearing, where he was unrepresented, and was handed a three-year football banning order, as well as a fine and costs.

Speaking to the Telegraph today, Howells said: “It was great in a way that we got (what was happening at Coventry City) in to the news.

“I was contacted by people from all over the country after it happened.

“But the financial penalty I now have, having spent £1,500 on legal help plus the fine, maybe we could have done it another way in hindsight.”

The fixture against Northampton on January 28 – which the Sky Blues lost 3-0 – was dis- rupted on a number of occasions as anti-Sisu sentiment spilled over from the travelling Sky Blue Army.

The actions of Howells, Sulley and Thomas – plus other fans who also took to the field that day – saw them described by some as “heroes”, while others said “these people are not heroes, they are halfwits”.