Football fan receives jail sentence for assaulting player at Northampton match

A football fan receives a jail sentence this week for assaulting player at the League Two playoff match between Northampton and Mansfield.

Mansfield’s Jordan Bowery was involved with an altercation with a fooligan with the game was stopped for a number of minutes as the culprit ran onto the pitch during stoppage-time, threw a flare at the players, and attempted to throw punches at coaching staff.

31 year old Paul Alexander Moss, of Northampton, ran on to the pitch at Sixfields during a the fourth tier fixture on the 18th May.

He was charged with common assault, throwing a missile onto a football playing area, and for possessing a flare at a sporting event, going onto the playing area at a football match and obstructing a constable in the execution of their duty.

Moss appeared at Northampton Magistrates’ Court and was handed a 16-week sentence and ordered to pay costs totalling £128.

He was also given a six-year football banning order, meaning he cannot attend matches.

What happened to the pyrotechnic detection dogs? I did not see any dogs on entry, no one was being searched which meant that this happened… I hope this gets looked into. pic.twitter.com/egqsO1QCxZ

— GΣΟRGΣ™ (@JustTweetGeorge) May 18, 2022

A Northamptonshire Police spokesman said: “All football fans, stadium staff, officials and players should be able to attend football matches in a safe environment.

“They should not be subjected to the behaviour that Paul Moss showed that night and I hope this case shows the seriousness with which we take incidents such as these.

“We will continue to work with Northampton Town FC to ban individuals who behave in this way.”

The incident involving Moss came towards the latter stages of the game in which the Stags won 3-1 on aggregate.

The club tweeted at the time: “Embarrassing scenes at Sixfields as a number of Northampton fans run onto the field.”

Play held up by pitch invaders and flares at Cobblers tonight. The proper stuff on the pitch did not produce the result though that was hoped for by the Shoe Army. Good luck to Mansfield in the play-off final. pic.twitter.com/yK8zO6AyU4

— Jon Smith (@jonsmithUC) May 18, 2022

Commentator Joe Shennan said: “That is disgraceful. Jordan Bowery has just been shoved by a supporter.

“He calls himself a supporter, he’s no football fan, we need people like him out of the game.

“He’s still trying to get at the Mansfield players, these are disgraceful scenes.

“He is a disgrace to the club and a disgrace to the game. There are Northampton fans who are standing up in disbelief.

“There’s a flare and a bloom of orange smoke making its way across the pitch, the idiot is being led across the touchline.

“Hopefully he’ll never be back again. And it’s getting worse now, there are fans trying to attack the pitch invader.

“A bottle was thrown at the fan – he’ll surely be arrested. These are very ugly scenes and a very sad end to Northampton’s season.

“After the scenes we saw at the City Ground, it’s time to acknowledge that there is, not necessarily a major problem, but certainly a problem with spectator encroachment that is getting worse.”

Co-commentator Adrian Clarke added: “That was horrendous to watch. It was ugly. A complete thug.

“He throws a flare at players, it’s very lucky it didn’t hit a player.

“He shoves Jordan Bowery, he wants to fight members of the coaching team, his own fans have booed him out of the stadium.

“What an idiot! What is wrong with these people?”

@josh837_2 Mad last 5 minutes at sixfields 😂🟤 #football #groundhopper #league1 #league2 #foryoupage #playoffs #groundhopping #fyp #foryou #northampton #mansfield #pyro #flares #pitchinvader #trending ♬ original sound – Josh837_2

talkSPORT 2 presenter Dan Windle claimed footballers aren’t safe anymore following the trouble seen at matches lately.

He said: “Once more, we have to speak about the behaviour of football fans.

“However small that minority is, whether it is one fan or several more, is the game going to continue to deal with these issues retrospectively?

“The game has to take a long, hard look at itself. Football fans need to take a long, hard look at themselves.

“Our players, simple as this, are not safe anymore.

“If you were sat in your office, would you expect somebody to come in and assault you? No.

“If it takes heavily reduced crowds, proper measures, long queues, weaving around so everyone gets checked… that is what the future could look like.”

Mansfield issued a tweet saying: “Embarrassing scenes at Sixfields as a number of Northampton fans run onto the field.”

Nigel Clough told talkSPORT the recent disorder “all stems from the Euros final at Wembley last summer”.

He said: “This is very concerning.

“It is very important that security is stepped up now at football matches.

“This has got to be dealt with and sorted out now. It is becoming a problem.

“Arrests and disorder are up at matches since January.

“Supporters are not allowed on to the pitch at any time.

“Only the 22 players and the officials should be on the pitch. So stay off it.

“Luckily none of my players have been injured, they are all fine.

“But this sort of incident has got to be nipped in the bud now.”