Don't know what the outcome is going to be following the incident at the match between Birmingham and Villa but as bad as it is, it could have been tragically worse.
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/mar/10/aston-villa-jack-grealish-attacked-by-spectator-birmingham-city
I hate to think how it might have ended if the thug had a knife.
It remains to be seen how the EFL and/or FA deal with this and I'm not going to speculate. All I will say is if the authorities impose a fine on Birmingham, in addition to any other sanction, how that fine will compare with £200k for Spygate. Some are calling for a points deduction and stadium ban. An incident like this puts into perspective the hysterical reactions of people like Lansdown and Jenas regarding observing a training session from a public road for which no rule exists.
Apparently, over 400 professional players sought help for mental health issues in the past 12 months. We don't know what kind of demons these players face day to day. I suppose a lot depends on their strength of character, but away from the limelight and glare of publicity, good or bad, who really knows. We're all human and have our own personal limits.
Ultimately, thank God Grealish is OK and the thug was restrained and arrested very quickly, and I hope this doesn't adversely affect Grealish mentally in the long term.
No-one should be subjected to this kind of behaviour in any walk of life.
He has my best wishes.
Horrifying
posted on 11/3/19
comment by Stevie Dee (U10061)
posted 13 hours, 26 minutes ago
Whilst it could be argued that there was little the club could do, simply banning the idiot for life isn't going to address the problem.
Stewards are often recruited by third party contractors, perhaps more governance around this area and cancellation of contracts would focus the mind more.
I think a hefty fine with the threat of either points deduction or playing behind closed doors is the way forward.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
did you want us to be deducted points when than prat pushed kirkland over?
posted on 11/3/19
People saying points deduction against teams, you couldn't without bringing back fencing stop this sort of thing happening!..
The best thing would be the Government setting out a law with say a min 2yrs stint for this sort of crap, and even longer the more serious the action was!..
posted on 11/3/19
The punishment should be aimed at the person committing the act, not those in the stands who 99.99% are powerless to do anything about it. He's assaulted another person, in public view, so should get dealt with on that basis. A footballer doing his job, or an paramedic being assaulted by a drunk - why is a footballer on a greater pedestal?
What doesn't help at most grounds is having stewards who couldn't run, tackle or stop a slug. I'm not sure, bar higher barriers, that you can stop the odd moron doing it.
posted on 11/3/19
14 weeks in prison. I think Cawley got slightly more, 4 months.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwil3P-FtvrgAhVIgxoKHeo9AV4QzPwBegQIARAC&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.birminghammail.co.uk%2Fnews%2Fmidlands-news%2Flive-updates-paul-mitchell-appears-15953653&psig=AOvVaw3OIGdgGUvzMh81Y3QugXDy&ust=1552405168090640
posted on 11/3/19
comment by Mattyp (U8926)
posted 22 hours, 24 minutes ago
comment by Lorralorimer (U18994)
posted 1 hour, 12 minutes ago
Let's not get hysterical about what happened. Spend a Saturday night out in Halifax town centre and there's a good chance you'll suffer much worse than a scuffed punch on the side of the head. Unless we want a return of the bars and cages of old, there will always be a risk of this happening. We live in an age of knee-jerk reactions but let's take a step back, look at all the really bad sh!t that goes on in our society, then make a considered call on how serious – or not – this incident really was.
—————
I’m sorry but that is exactly the srong action to take.
You have to take this seriously if you don’t want a return to cages and fences.
Today we have had two pitch invasions and if it’s not dealt with then we are going to see more of it.
Add to that all the instances of behaviour up in Scotland this week and youbcant say it’s not getting worse.
If that guy had a knife then right now the clubs would be getting ready to put up fencing
And if it’s not got on top of they would be more than right t do it
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Mattyp, I totally get your point about the knife, but that's a risk posed to every man, woman and child who walks our streets every day. We're getting murders on a daily basis in our towns and cities – how often do sportsmen and women suffer serious assaults? I will admit there's been a recent increase in this kind of thing in football, but let's hope severe sentencing helps nip it in the bud. Having said that, I don't think you can ever safeguard against this kind of thing happening – bringing back cages certainly isn't the answer.
posted on 12/3/19
Need to look at stewarding.
Do they have enough of the right people for the job?
posted on 14/3/19
Birmingham have now been charged over the incident at St Andrew's Stadium.
The FA said in a statement: "Birmingham City FC has been charged with breaches of FA Rule E20(a)and (b).
"It is alleged the club failed to ensure that its spectator[s] conducted themselves in an orderly fashion; refrained from improper or violent conduct and refrained from encroaching onto the pitch during the EFL Championship fixture against Aston Villa on Sunday [10/03/2019].
"They have until 22/03/2019 to respond."
https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11694/11665446/birmingham-charged-by-fa-over-jack-grealish-attack
posted on 14/3/19
"Guilty as charged your Lordship."
What else can they say?
posted on 14/3/19
comment by JonnyLosAngeles (My Dad was made in Leeds) (U9756)
posted 57 minutes ago
"Guilty as charged your Lordship."
What else can they say?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I had a quick look at the rules and I think they can try a defence of due diligence. Not sure how they'll get on with that though.
posted on 15/3/19
I expect Leeds United and WYP will be very prepared for Saturday’s huge derby.
Were Birmingham City and their plods as ready? The evidence in the stadium is no. I suggest it goes back to the points I made about stewarding - enough and the right sorts?