Five arrests were made by Lancashire Police during Blackburn’s defeat against Burnley on Tuesday.
One man was arrested under suspicion of ‘assault and pitch encroachment’, having come onto the pitch to confront a couple of Burnley players, allegedly assaulting both and a steward.
Another, which wasn’t related to this incident, was detained for throwing a flare from the stands towards the pitch. However, this hit a child, who suffered ‘minor injuries.’
Three others were placed under arrest for other incidents inside Ewood Park.
Lancashire Police Chief Constable Terry Wood was quoted by Sky Sports: ‘I am truly appalled at the behaviour of these few, including the one believed to be from the Blackburn fans who encroached the pitch and thought it acceptable to assault a steward doing his job and two players there to partake in the match.’
Blackburn boss Tony Mowbray said he hadn’t seen the incident, when the fan entered onto the pitch, but the Rovers boss has been critical of this and, rightly so, says this doesn’t reflect well on the club.
‘It doesn’t do anything for our football club and I’m pretty sure the authorities will deal with the people who were involved. I’m sure the vast majority if not all the rest of the supporters will be disappointed with the supporter who came on the pitch. It’s not what we want to see, it’s not what this club’s about.’
Despite a heavy police presence the fact this and the stewarding didn’t prevent the intruder getting onto the pitch, confronting Burnley captain James Tarkowski before being taken down by his teammate Ashley Westwood, didn’t please Clarets boss Sean Dyche, which is fair enough.
He said: ‘It seemed a long time before anyone did anything and then our players had to eventually defend themselves, and that can’t be right anywhere in football. We were going to go on because I can’t have that. Not to do anything ridiculous just to say ‘this can’t happen’. To think you go to the extreme [of escorting fans] and then someone just wanders onto a football pitch is a bit bizarre at least. The safety of players is paramount.’
I think we’ll all agree this ISN’T something we want to see from any club, at whatever stadium and against any side.
