Portsmouth face FA sanction and police to investigate incident with object thrown at official

Portsmouth face receiving a sanction from the FA and police say they are to investigate an incident with object thrown at an official.

Pompey are being handed potential disciplinary action from the Football Association (FA) following an incident where objects, including a soft drink bottle, were thrown at an assistant referee during their Championship fixture against Derby County on Saturday afternoon.

The incident took place in the 74th minute of the 2-2 draw at Fratton Park, with a number of objects said to have been thrown from the North Stand.

Hampshire Police are investigating, and the club issued a public announcement condemning the behaviour, calling for witnesses to come forward.

This comes a previous FA fine of £50,000 in January 2025 for failing to control spectators during a League One match against Barnsley, with a warning about future conduct.

The club could face further fines or other sanctions, and any identified spectators risk significant club bans and potential criminal investigation.

Portsmouth FC are appealing for information from supporters after objects, including a soft drink bottle, were thrown by a spectator in the North Stand, towards the assistant referee, in the 74th minute of Saturday’s game against Derby County.#Pompey.

— Portsmouth FC (@Pompey) April 14, 2025

WHAT HAVE THE CLUB SAID:

Portsmouth FC are appealing for information from supporters after objects, including a soft drink bottle, were thrown by a spectator in the North Stand, towards the assistant referee, in the 74th minute of Saturday’s game against Derby County.

The fourth official made the stadium safety officer aware of the incident. The club immediately made a PA announcement condemning such behaviour, appealing for supporters who may have witnessed the incident to use our reporting text line. The incident has since been reported to The FA.

Objects thrown on to the pitch by any spectator, the use of discriminatory language, as well as entering the field of play, all constitute a criminal offence. Any spectator(s) identified as having thrown the objects will be subject to a significant club sanction, as well as a potential criminal investigation.

The club would also like to remind supporters that Portsmouth FC were fined by an FA Regulatory Commission last January and warned about future spectator behaviour. This was for ‘failing to ensure that its spectators conduct themselves in an orderly fashion whilst attending a Match and do not behave in a way which is improper, violent, threatening or provocative; and/or throw missiles and/or encroach onto the pitch, or commit any form of pitch incursion contrary to FA Rules E21.1, E21.2 and E21.3’.

We would like to thank those supporters who have already come forward with information. Our investigation continues and we appeal to anyone with any information about the incident to email us in confidence at info@pompeyfc.co.uk

Hampshire Police are also investigating the incident and they can be contacted with any information on 101, quoting the crime reference number 44250162818.

We are grateful to the vast majority of our supporters, who once again this season, have been outstanding ambassadors for the club, both home and away.

We will all continue to work together and protect the club from the consequences of such individual and unacceptable behaviour.

HOW HAVE FANS REACTED:

Social media users had their say as Portsmouth reportedly face FA sanction and police say they are to investigate the incident with an object thrown at an official…

@Will_Mason7: I saw the bottle fly over and i haven’t seen a throw like that ! Since Rory Delap was in the prem. was unreal

@ReadA89: Hope they’ve got their eye in for when Sam Allison’s at Fratton next week

@LukeDyks: Worth remembering that we are on a final warning from the FA…

@molloypete: Surprised he saw it tbh, didn’t see much else all game.

@originalfrostie: Ball didn’t even go out

@Iain_Macdonald7: Entering the field of play, constitutes as a criminal offence. On that basis then can I report some Individuals who entered the field of play on Saturday who were pretending to be professional footballers.

@Jman2507: classy as always

@Blu3army1899: @EFL dock them 10 points imo!! Need to make a clear stand on this! 😂

@PompeySPZL: Maybe you should have done something about the away fans that kept running through the netting to get towards the Pompey fans In the Milton end.

@Ruffy_Roy: Supposed fan throws something and potentially relegates the club with a point deduction 🙄🙄🙄 FFS, we got into hot water last season for the pitch invasion, and found to have had flaws, why risk further punishment? Even a fine is taking it from our transfer pot.

@foreverayellow: what is wrong with some people?! how hard is it to go to a football match and not be a total bellend throwing stuff at officials mid-game?! go take a course in anger management ffs. trust me, sounds like you badly need it if you’re that acting that pathetic, especially around children.

Ali Lance: The irony is that from my view point looking straight down the line from where I was sat in the FE then the whole ball never actually went out in the lead up to Derby’s second goal in which case the linesman was actually spot on and never even deserved any of the ridiculous amount of anger aimed at him in the first place.

David Leng: I implore each of you to actually referee a game and see what happens. Nevermind on a Sunday League pitch or youth game, but infront of 20k people when you have to make a split second decision. I will always condone abuse towards match officials; if they didn’t turn up, you wouldn’t even have a game to go to. No-one deserves to abused when they’re working.

Dean Mckay: Don’t know what’s worse, the person throwing the object or the ones on here that seem to think it’s OK. Whether someone gets hurt or not, is not the thing. The club ends up with the fine and if persistant offending, a points deduction. How can anybody who loves this club think it’s ok to make the club suffer

Andy Haydon: What about when Derby scored and they pulled up the cover thing and a load got in the pompey bit of the milion end and Pompey fans got ejected yet derby fans wernt even spoken too by the stewards? Works both ways

Elaine Brumfield: They should be looking at the Derby fans who breach through the stewards to have a go at the pompey fans in the Milton end. I would imagine that was quite scary, especially for people with children.

HAVE YOUR SAY:

Are you concerned of the amount of crowd trouble at matches? Did you see this incident? Let us know your in the comments or tweet us @fan_banter

Are you concerned at the amount of trouble by football fans at matches? #pompey #dcfc #dcfcfans

— Fan Banter (@fan_banter) April 15, 2025