Updated 22.13
THERE WERE TROUBLING scenes tonight during a Championship game, as a Leeds United fan managed to evade security and strike Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper Chris Kirkland at Hillsborough.
The incident took place just as Leeds were celebrating a second-half equaliser, as the fan in question violently struck Kirkland with a two-handed shove in the face.
The individual then managed to escape back into the crowd without being caught.
Speaking after the game, which ended 1-1, Leeds manager Neil Warnock expressed his outrage at the incident (see video below).
“I’m absolutely embarrassed – absolute disgrace,” he said. “I’m not proud to be Leeds United manager when I see that.“Our crowd was fantastic tonight – we had one moron.
“I’m very sorry about that.”
Meanwhile, Wednesday manager Dave Jones echoed Warnock’s statement:
“Vile. Animals. Whatever you want to call them.“That’s an absolute disgrace. I thought that had gone out of the game.
“If Chris had stayed down, I wonder what would have happened.”
In addition, Jones also condemned Leeds players for applauding the away support after the game had finished.
There had been tension between the two sides’ supporters throughout the night, as Leeds fans threw bottles onto the field, while Wednesday supporters sung songs in reference to two Leeds fans who were killed in Turkey in 2000.
The Leeds support also angered the opposition by singing songs alluding to criminal charges that Jones had faced, before they were ultimately dropped, while also seeming to chant in a positive light about the late Jimmy Saville, the former children’s presenter who is currently the subject of a criminal investigation for child abuse.
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