Non-league side Warrington Town goalkeeper Tony Thompson was sent off for spraying a fan who he claimed had urinated in his water bottle before he drank from it.
Thompson was playing in goal for Warrington as they took on Guiseley in the FA trophy.
However, Thompson was shown a red card in the 61st minute after an incident that has been labelled as ‘disgusting’.
Warrington tweeted during the match: “Just managed to catch Thompson on his way back in [to the changing rooms] - an away fan has apparently urinated in his water bottle, and then when Thompson has squirted it at said 'fan' after finding out, he's been sent off.”
Thompson later expressed his discontent over the incident on social media. He tweeted: “Today I fell out of love with the GAME! I’ve been called many names but for someone to p*** in my bottle, for me to drink it and then to be told I wasn’t allowed to react because I’m a player is outrageous.
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“That person has put me and my family’s health at risk and knocked me sick.”
Players started to confront the fans behind Thompson’s goal when the incident happened. The referee then gave the Warrington goalkeeper his marching orders and the fan was asked to leave the ground.
After the match, Warrington manager Mark Beesley said: “I don’t think I’ll ever be involved in anything like that again. The Guiseley staff apologised – it was disgusting and there’s no place in life for things like that.
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“I think the referee has completely lost control after that – if someone urinates in my bottle and I drink it, I’m going to throw it away. To send him off for throwing the bottle away is a disgrace.
“It’s hard to talk about football when such a big incident like that happens. From our point of view, the welfare of our players is paramount and what Tony was subjected to was disgraceful.
“Whoever did it should hang their head in shame and never be allowed into a football game again. The referee has to see common sense – I can’t understand it.”
Topics: Non-League, Football
Marcus Chan