FA dish out a TWELVE match ban
THE FA have slapped a 12-match ban on a League One striker who smashed an opponent with his elbow in an horrific off-the-ball clash.
Rochdale’s Calvin Andrew, 29, will not play again until January after being caught on camera launching an astonishing assault on Oldham’s Peter Clarke during their match last week. Referee Tony Harrington and his officials missed the incident but former Luton and Crystal Palace player Andrew was charged on the basis of video evidence.
And while Andrew admitted violent conduct, the FA considered the attack so serious that it warranted more than the standard three-match ban which would follow a red card.
Andrew, never previously sent off Shocking: Calvin Andrew’s elbow in more than 320 games of a 12-year career, contested the FA’s claim that the normal punishment was ‘clearly insufficient’.
But an FA commission ruled against him, handing down a punishment equal to that given to Joey Barton, who clashed with Vincent Kompany and Sergio Aguero after a red card for QPR against Manchester City in 2012.