Teens fined for Crystal Palace pitch invasion during Portsmouth match

TWO teenagers have been fined for disrupting Crystal Palace's clash with Portsmouth – and face a ban from Selhurst Park.

Jack Warren, 18, of Crowborough, East Sussex, drunkenly removed his shirt and ran the length of Selhurst Park in front of 13,000 fans during the Championship match on November 1.

His actions were taken objection to by Palace fan James Hackett, 19, of Abbey Road, Croydon, who gave hot pursuit.

Both were bundled off the pitch by stewards and later, when they appeared at Croydon Magistrates' Court, pleaded guilty to going onto the playing area of a football match.

But chairman of the bench Howard Cohen took the unusual step of not handing them the customary three-year match bans.

He told the teenagers: "We don't feel a banning order would help prevent violence and disorder.

"We regard this as a one-off case and I'm quite confident it's not going to happen again.

"Don't make mugs of us by going and doing it again."

The court heard Warren, who had been sitting in the away end with his Portsmouth-supporting friends, had been chased across the turf by Hackett.

Prosecuting, Sebastian Sayer said: "Just before the end of the game Warren, who was with the Portsmouth fans, took his top off and ran the length of the pitch. On seeing this Hackett, who was in the home supporters' end, ran onto the pitch because he'd 'got a bit annoyed'."

Warren, from Wadhurst Road in Mark Cross, told the court: "It wouldn't have happened if I hadn't had a couple of drinks.

"It was out of the ordinary for me, and it's not likely to happen again."

Mr Cohen said: "If this is what happens when you drink, the best thing to do is not to have one."

He added: "You've both done the right thing by admitting it was wrong – that was the grown-up thing to do."

Warren and Hackett were fined £150 each, plus £85 costs and £15 victim surcharges.

Despite the lack of a ban imposed by the court, Crystal Palace FC is considering taking its own action.

Club spokesman Terry Byfield said: "As a club we do not condone any form of pitch invasion which breaks our ground regulations, and upon receipt of further details of this incident the club may consider imposing a stadium ban on the individuals if deemed necessary."

Outside the court, Warren's father George said: "He was egged on by a friend in the Portsmouth end. He's only been to three football matches in his life, so a banning order wouldn't have mattered."