Pitch-invading idiots are a problem for society, not just football
TAKE a long, hard look at yourselves, guys.
This is what we have created. Yes, us. You, me, him, her and them.
A catalogue of shame engulfed our game after passions spilled over and showed a rotten underbelly of society.
Behaviour at football reflects all of us – and that view back from the looking glass is not a pretty one.
To recap, we’ve had the following this week:
A Luton fan in his 80s left with blood pouring from his head after being hit by a coin during Huddersfield’s play-off semi-final victory. Hatters boss Nathan Jones accosted afterwards by a mum and her son.
Nottingham Forest season-ticket holder Robert Biggs, a £55,000-ayear electrical engineer, jailed for 24 weeks for butting Sheffield United player Billy Sharp as a massive pitch celebration turned sour. United’s Oli Mcburnie allegedly stamped on a fan – the FA and police are investigating.
Mansfield’s Jordan Bowery barged during their victory over Northampton – before the culprit turned his attention to confronting the bench. He then probably saw Stags goalkeeping coach Andy Garner and decided against it. Big lump is Andy, bless him.
Crystal Palace boss Patrick Vieira goaded, provoked or just generally annoyed at Everton by another moron, who was given a boot up the backside for his trouble. Good.
Port Vale and Swindon fans lobbing heavy bits of plastic seating at one another before the Robins players fought – yes, fought – their way back to the safety of their dressing room.
It’s a potent cocktail.
If you add alcohol, temperate weather, packed stadia and heightened football excitement together, what do you get?
All hell breaking loose by the look of it.
Whether the world has gone mad following a couple of years of a Covid-inspired lockdown or not, the fallout from these antics have to be given context.
And warnings about ‘next time’ have rained down from every responsible angle. But we never seem to learn, do we? Only three years ago, a man ran onto the pitch during the Birmingham derby and was brought down by stewards (below) after swinging a punch at Aston Villa’s Jack Grealish.
He was sentenced to 14 weeks and served four of them.
We heard the same grave words after his assault. Nothing has changed. And yes, I’ve not named the guy deliberately. He doesn’t deserve the notoriety.
After this week, whether it’s a review of policing, stewarding or punishments, something has to be done.
The bottom line is that bad behaviour cannot be tolerated.
And before there’s another fatality at a match, we need to look at ourselves and our society and decide whether we really want to do something about it.