An Aston Villa football fan who threw a coin which struck a linesman behaved “like a stupid, drunken lunatic”, a magistrate has said.
The linesman hit by the coin was no other than Phil Sharp, assistant referee of the World Cup 2002 final. After being hit by the coin during the second half of the match between Aston Villa and Portsmouth, Sharp contacted Mike Riley via their communication equipment and stopped the play. Sharp was able to continue after some treatment.
The fan received a £2,300 fine and a five-year ban from football in addition to the already life-time ban from Villa Park.
All reports:
Coin-throwing Villa fan gets ban
Fan admits linesman coin attack
Fan charged over 50p coin attack
FA probes Villa park coin attack
