FA Investigating Boundary Park Pitch Invasion

As part of usual protocol the FA are investigating Oldham Athletic over the pitch invasion during the weekend defeat to local rivals Wigan Athletic in the Football League Trophy. In the latest of a long line of protests against their controversial owner, Abdallah Lemsagam, a pitch invasion which included numerous scuffles with stewards caused a stoppage in play.

Footage from the stands shows stewards clashing on the pitch with fans and some supporters being dragged out of Boundary Park during the game. Oldham went on to lose the game 6-0, only adding to the Oldham fans’ seemingly understandable frustration at their current owner. The investigation is in line with FA policy, with the association looking into almost all crowd management issues, with investigators generally asking for representations from the clubs involved and sometimes the police. Disciplinary charges could well follow if The FA concludes that the club did not do enough to prevent the misconduct of spectators.

Many Oldham fans are involved in a long-running row with Mr Lemsagam, who recently tried to ban three people from the stadium for simply 'promoting dislike' of him. Whilst there will definitely be sympathy from many corners for the fans regarding Oldham’s current plight, this just simply isn’t the way to go about protesting, and the stewards present on the day appeared to acquit themselves professionally considering the threatening behaviour faced by a minority. A range of ages of fans were led away by stewards, which caused further harassment from fans involved, before order was restored and the game continued.