Club issues warning after child enters play
COVENTRY City are investigating an incident at Saturday’s match with Huddersfield Town when a child ran onto the pitch at the CBS Arena.
The brief incursion happened during a break in play while Michael Rose was being treated for a facial injury after an accidental clash of heads with fellow Sky Blues defender Kyle Mcfadzean, and saw the kid kick the loose ball into the goal before hopping back into the stands to join his dad in the seats behind the goal.
The incident is the second involving a child this season, the other occurring in the midweek match against Stoke City back in January, after which the parents were contacted by the club and warned as to their future conduct.
There have been a number of pitch incursions this term, the most notable being when a couple of adult fans disrupted play late on in the games against Preston
North End and Blackburn. Those incidents are still subject to a police investigation.
A football fan, meanwhile, has this week been banned for life after he “encouraged” his son to run onto the pitch as he recorded it on his mobile phone during Saturday’s Championship match between Middlesbrough and Stoke at the Riverside Stadium.
During the match, the child of a
Middlesbrough supporter got onto the field. The Riverside Stadium staff asked him and his father to leave the ground, but were subject to “abusive and threatening” behaviour by the dad. Following the final whistle, a further four children ran onto the pitch and their parents are also now facing banning orders.
A Boro statement read: “To enter the pitch at any time is a criminal offence as is abusive and threatening behaviour. “The father and child have been identified and, with immediate effect, the father is banned from the Riverside
Stadium for life. We will encourage the police to take further action.”
Coventry, meanwhile, are keen to strike a balance where children are concerned, not wanting to be too heavy handed over what appeared to be a light-hearted bit of fun at the weekend but, at the same time, the club are determined to clamp down on it.
The club have issued the following statement: “Coventry City takes the safety of supporters, players and staff extremely seriously. The club and the Coventry Building Society Arena will be investigating further the incident on Saturday and we re-iterate that fans, regardless of their age, should not enter the field of play.
“Ahead of next season, the club will be re-enforcing its policies regarding pitch incursions in light of recent trends this season.”
We re-iterate that fans, regardless of their age, should not enter the field of play. Coventry City statement