You’re not alone if you’ve never heard of Karl Colley or Goole, but a recent incident might change that.
Colley, a 30-year-old defender, was sent off in his English semi-pro club’s Evo-Stik South game against Coalville on Saturday at Goole’s Victoria Pleasure Grounds.
A few fans of visiting Coalville heckled Colley as he left the field, and the former Newcastle United player snapped. Colley charged into the stands and tried to attack one fan three times. He even managed to throw a punch at the fan on one occasion.
Thanks to the power of Twitter, Coalville was able to give the world live updates on Colley’s mayhem.
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Coalville won the game 3-0, and Goole cut Colley immediately afterward, according to the Guardian.
“After the deplorable incident at today’s game, we can confirm that the player responsible has been released,” Goole said in a statement on its website.
“We are a family club, and incidents of this nature have no place in football and will not be tolerated at the Victoria Pleasure Grounds. The club acted quickly and decisively and released the player with immediate effect, and as such, the player in question will never play for our football club again.
“We apologise to each and every supporter at the game today, and whilst as a club we can’t legislate for incidents of this nature, we will not tolerate them from anyone.”
Goole’s actions seemed to be good enough for Coalville. The teams will meet again next weekend.
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The Colley-Coalville incident occurred far away from the Premier League spotlight, but its timing ensured that it would make headlines. Colley’s attack came exactly 19 years after Manchester United legend Eric Cantona delivered a flying, kung-fu kick to Crystal Palace fan Matthew Simmons at Selhurst Park on Jan. 25 1995. Cantona also had just been sent off when he took on the heckling fan. Cantona received a nine-month ban for his act of violence.
The FA likely will sanction Cooley in due time, but he probably won’t play a competitive game anytime soon.
See Colley rage in the video below (warning: the video contains some foul language).
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