Jonty Banks

Sat 13 May 2023 21:40, UK

Gabby Agbonlahor and Jamie O’Hara have hit out at the “shocking” scenes at Elland Road that saw a fan shove Eddie Howe during the 2-2 draw between Leeds United and Newcastle on Saturday (13 May).

Cameras caught the moment a member of the capacity crowd in West Yorkshire clambered over the fence, made his way up the touchline and confronted the Magpies manager in his technical area.

Leeds United are set to face a Football Association investigation into the incident, and the fan has already been given a lifetime ban from the club. [The Guardian, 13 May]

“He’s got to be punished,” Agbonlahor said on talkSPORT The Phone-In [Saturday, 13 May, 18:26].

“Like we said Jamie, when we saw it, he could have had anything on him.

“He could have hit him, you saw the incident with Grealish in the Villa against Blues game and there’s got to be a big punishment for the fan.

O’Hara replied: “This was shocking and Leeds obviously need to have a bit more security around the dugout.”

Shocking scenes indeed.

The fact that a fan managed to make it all the way into Howe’s technical area without being stopped is a terrible look for Leeds United.

Players and fans should always feel safe on the field when playing, and the security has obviously been found wanting in this instance.

Elland Road was an emotion-packed stadium on Saturday during the crunch clash, and quite rightly so, considering the relegation threat the club are currently in, but this doesn’t give fans the right to do as they please and act in such a manner.

As Agbonlahor stated, this instance was similar to the fan who punched Jack Grealish in the Second City derby in 2019, and hopefully it was just a one-off.

The fan has been rightly given a lifetime ban for his moment of madness at Elland Road, and hopefully, the relegation run-in won’t be clouded with anymore controversy such as this.

In other Leeds news, Big Sam has reintroduced something to training that Gracia and Marsch axed and the players are loving it.