I’ve always wanted to republish the words, “incidents of this nature shall not be tolerated at the Victoria Pleasure Grounds”, and while non-league Goole AFC paid host today to an melee that wasn’t quite The Malice At The Palace, at least it occurred on the 19th anniversary of Eric Cantona’s attempts to merge top-flight soccer with Kung Fu Fighting. From the Guardian :
(Goole captain) Karl Colley, 30, was sent off in their Evo-Stik South game with Coalville at the Victoria Pleasure Grounds. As he left the field, video footage showed him make three attempts to confront a dissenting fan in the stand, appearing to throw a punch at him on the second occasion.
The FA said it would look into the incident, while Goole’s response has already been made with Colley told he will not play for them again.
“Straight after the game he was sacked,” said the Goole secretary, Andrew Morris, after a game that Coalville won 3-0. “This is a shame because we’re just a group of volunteers. It’s disgusting and embarrassing.”
A statement on Goole’s website backed up what Morris said, adding: “After the deplorable incident at today’s game we can confirm that the player responsible has been released.
“We apologise to each and every supporter at the game today and whilst as a club, we can’t legislate for incidents of this nature, we will not tolerate them from anyone.”