We’ll ban coin louts for life

Fitzy’s warning to supporters

St Mirren chief Tony Fitzpatrick has blasted coin- throwing yobs and vowed to dish out lifetime bans.

He has pledged to hammer those responsible for the ugly scenes that marred Saturday’s clash with Rangers.

Ibrox striker Alfredo Morelos was hit by a coin thrown from the West Stand as he celebrated a late goal.

And Fitzpatrick revealed t hat police are also investigating claims that Saints’ keeper Craig Samson and forward Danny Mullen were also struck by missiles from a section of the away support.

It took the attention away from an otherwise impressive performance from the Paisley men in the week that Hibs boss Neil Lennon and Hearts goalkeeper Zdenek Zlamal were also caught up in controversy during the Edinburgh derby.

Fitzpatrick called on supporters to help the authorities in their efforts to find those who threw the objects while the Buddies board looks to ban the culprits.

He said: “We’re looking into it and so are the police.

“Steven Gerrard said the culprits should have lifetime bans – I agree. We will do all we can. It’s in the hands of the police but I’m sure with CCTV and all the things we have got these days we should be able to do that.

“As soon as we do, he or she will be banned.

“I can see the problem if you go over to other supporters. But Morelos scored a great goal and he just ran right across the park.

“And you should be able to celebrate. That’s part of it.

“You should be able to do that without anyone throwing anything at you.

“Do it verbally if you want to get your frustration out. We all do that in football. I’ve been at games with lawyers and doctors ... and they were the same.

“It’s an emotional sport. But it’s unacceptable when people start to throw stuff.”

Fitzpatrick added: “I was brought up in a place where you were taught not to grass. But with mobile phone cameras, why not? You could put on Twitter: ‘ This is the guy that did it’. A bit of selfpolicing.

“The supporters should point out people who have done it. It’s happening at other grounds as well.

“We’ve had it against some of our players as well but we’re looking into all that.”

Fitzpatrick, whose playing career was during the heyday of hooliganism, admits that yob culture appears to be creeping back not only into football but wider society.

He insists that the football club will do everything in their power to clamp down on poor behaviour inside their ground.

But the Buddies chief executive stressed that the Saints should not come in for punishment as they themselves aren’t to blame.

He said: “It’s not just football, and we need to start looking at it and asking why it’s happening. For a while it was under control so we need to ask what we’re doing for our young people and what’s causing it.

“It’s unacceptable and something has to be done.

“But what can we do? We’ve over 6,000 people here and one or two do something.

“There are thousands of people coming to games and we do everything possible.

“We have to look at society, at bigger things than just a football club.”

With coin- throwing Scottish football’s current hot topic, Fitzpatrick admits he has been through it all before in his playing career.

He slammed certain supporters for ruining an otherwise fantastic occasion, which included 17-year-old Ethan Erhahon making his Premiership debut, all in the name of notoriety.

Fitzpatrick added: “It was worse in the 1980s and at times you did fear for your safety. I played in games when people would come onto the park.

“I’m not trying to get off the subject but we had a 17-yearold boy making his debut on Saturday against Rangers and he was absolutely outstanding.

“It hurt me that we were talking about an idiot throwing a coin when this young kid was outstanding against a top team. He was probably one of the best players on the park. That annoys me.

“The people who did it will probably enjoy it being in the press. They need to be hammered as a deterrent.”

Fitzpat r i c k was speaking at the launch of his autobiography Fitzy: The Story of My L i f e , which chronicles his career on the pitch and the persona l heartache suffered off it.

 See www.fitzybook.co.uk for details.