Livi No.2: Fine fans for pitch invasions
Livingston assistant manager Marvin Bartley has called on fans to be fined for entering the pitch.
The 35-year-old was speaking on ITV’s Good Morning Britain on Monday, following a spate of recent unsavoury incidents during pitch invasions south of the border.
Last week a fan was jailed for headbutting Sheffield United captain Billy Sharp following the loss to Nottingham Forest in the Championship play-offs, while Aston Villa keeper Robin Olsen was hit in the head by a fan at the end of their game with Manchester City.
Livingston have also seen numerous incidents of opposing fans entering the pitch to celebrate goals this season and Bartley believes the best deterrent is to fine clubs, who then in turn pass that fine onto spectators who enter the field of play.
He said: “I think there needs to be a blanket policy where the club are fined, say £2500, for each individual that goes onto the football pitch.
“The clubs need to then pass that onto the supporters. For example, if I buy tickets for me and nine mates, I’m responsible for those 10 individuals.
“If any of them enter the field of play – which they shouldn’t, we’re there as consumers to watch from the stands – then that fine’s brought to me.
“If I can’t give the name and addresses of the people who have gone on the pitch, then the fine sits with me.
“I think only when the deterrent is high enough will people stop entering the field of play. It has to be a blanket policy, it has to be set out from the
start of the season.”
He added: “The Premier League are meant to set an example. What happens if it’s a non-league ground and fans start to see Premier League fans running onto the pitch and they start to do the same when you have two, three, four stewards? It’s uncontrollable.
“Also, if you have two rival sets of fans and the home fans run onto the pitch what’s to say the away fans aren’t going to run on there and you have a full on brawl in the Premier League?
“That’s not what anyone wants to see so I think the deterrent needs to be a lot higher. I would punish the clubs first then the clubs have to pass that on to the fans. It’s not the club’s fault.
They can’t stop the fans from getting on there (the pitch).
“We saw at Manchester City, one of the biggest clubs in the world; there’s not enough stewards out there to stop fans getting on the pitch.”
The former Bournemouth and Burnley player, who has spent the last seven seasons north of the border with Hibs and Livingston, added that deducting teams points for pitch invasions is ‘too dangerous’ and would lead to rival fans attending games with the intention of getting another club deducted points.
He said: “I think it’s far too dangerous to start doing point deductions. If you had a situation like Sunday where it’s Manchester
City and
Liverpool at the top of the league, what’s to stop a bunch of Liverpool fans – say 100 or 200 – going on social media, getting tickets to a Manchester City game and running on in the 89th minute knowing Man City will be deducted points? I don’t think that’s the way to go.
“A financial implication that will be with the clubs, passed on to the supporters. If it’s £2500 if I go on there, that’s too much money. It makes you think twice. The FA need to set out these rules at the start of the season so it’s black and white and you know what it is.
“If you go on the pitch, the fines will be handed to the clubs and the clubs will then in turn hand it on to the supporters – each individual – CCTV is good enough to do so.”