Portsmouth and Birmingham City charged following mass confrontation at Fratton Park
Pompey and Birmingham City have until Tuesday to respond to charges brought against them by the FA
Both Pompey and Birmingham City have been charged following the mass confrontation that occured during their game at Fratton Pompey on the final day of the season.
The Football Association’s regulation and disciplinary committee has ruled that both sides failed to ensure their players didn’t behave in an improper and/or provocative way in the 80th minute of their Championship fixture on Saturday, May 2.
The two outfits have until tomorrow (May 12) to provide their respective responses.
What happened during the Pompey v Birmingham game at Fratton Park?
Pompey and Birmingham players had to be pulled apart as tempers flared during their dead-rubber end-of-season game at PO4,
Members from both sides, including substitutes, had to be separated 10 minutes before the end as individuals squared up to each other following a shot on goal by the Blues’ Adrian Segecic that sparked anger among the City ranks.
The visitors were infuriated after the Pompey forward made the most of a mix-up between keeper James Beadle and defender Bright Osayi-Samuel after Birmingham were handed possession back following a injury to Christoph Klarer.
Both Brum players appeared to want the other to take control of the ball and as they dithered. Spotting this, Segecic ran onto it before firing a shot narrowly over from an accute angle.
His intervention, though, didn’t go down well with the visitors, with Beadle among those who angrily confronted the Croatia under-21 international.
That led to most players on the pitch descending towards the corner of the field infront of the Fratton End and South Stand, with some having to be robustly separated as tempers boliled over.
After the interuption to play and the dust had settled, match official John Brooks booked both Segecic and Osayi-Samuel for their roles in the incident.
Up until that point, the game was very much an end-of-season affair with little excitment apart from the two first-half goals scored by Segecic (eight minutes) and August Priske (19).
However, the scuffle showed the players still had plenty of passion left of them as they had one eye on their summer holidays.
In the end, though, it didn’t spark the game into life in the final 10 minutes, with the score ending 1-1.