LONDON: A Chelsea fan pleaded guilty to assaulting Newcastle goalkeeper Martin Dubravka after invading the pitch to celebrate a goal at Stamford Bridge.
Jordan Chidley was involved in the incident with Dubravka in December after Chelsea’s Mykhailo Mudryk scored a late equalizer in the League Cup quarter-final against Newcastle.
The 25-year-old admitted assault by beating and unlawfully going onto a playing area at a football match.
District judge Neeta Minhas issued a three-year, football banning order and fined him £807 at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.
Prosecutor Malachy Pakenham told the court that Chidley climbed down onto the pitch after the goal and ran over to Dubravka.
“The steward tries to grab him, he then puts his arms out and grabs and touches the goalie who pulls away from him,” Pakenham said.
The prosecutor told the court the contact was “quite minimal.”
Chidley was later arrested and told police he was the person on the pitch, saying his behavior was “due to overexuberant celebrations” in a match eventually won by Chelsea on penalties.
The court heard there is no statement from Dubravka who “appears not to be too alarmed.”
In Chidley’s defense, the court heard what he did was not “malicious” but “it was just euphoria.”
It was said that Chidley is “not a football hooligan” and this was a “one-off incident.”
Chidley was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £323 and costs of £85.
Speaking after the incident, Newcastle boss Eddie Howe said: “I have always said the safety of the players, coaches, managers, referees, linesmen, that’s the priority in any football match.
“More has to be done to keep especially irate supporters away from anybody.”