Picture: Alamy
By James Gordon
Warrington Town goalkeeper Tony Thompson was sent off after reacting to a fan who had allegedly urinated in his water bottle during their FA Trophy game with Guiseley.
Thompson squirted the bottle at the alleged perpetrator, who was identified by other fans behind the goal and was later ejected from the ground.
Guiseley secretary James Pickles told The NLP last night: “We’ve asked Warrington for a copy of the footage, which we’ll review when we get it and then take action where necessary.”
Warrington manager Mark Beesley labelled the incident “disgusting” and criticised the referee’s handling of the situation, which saw the Yellows reduced to ten men.
They went on to lose the game 1-0 to a 90th-minute deflected free-kick from Lewis Whitham.
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. 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.”
In a further statement, Guiseley said: “The club have requested match and CCTV footage from Warrington Town so we can investigate the incident involving a spectator entering the field of play and swapping Tony Thompson’s drinks bottle in the second half of the fixture.
“We are aware of a video circulating on social media which shows an individual swapping the bottles in the goal area, and that the replaced bottle allegedly contained urine. We unreservedly condemn this disgraceful action.
“Guiseley AFC is a family friendly football club with a core of regular and committed travelling supporters.
“Unfortunately we do not have any information as to the identity of this individual. We urge anyone able to help in identifying them to email [email protected]. This information will be used in our investigation alongside the match footage.
“We deplore the actions of the individual(s) concerned and we will work alongside Warrington Town and the police to identify them. If the individual(s) involved can be identified they will receive life bans from attending Guiseley AFC fixtures.
“No further comment will be made at this point.”
