Aston Villa Fined £100,000 for Crowd TroubleAston Villa Fined £100,000 for Crowd Trouble Aston Villa Football Club has been fined £100,000 by the Football Association (FA) for crowd trouble that occurred during their match against Manchester City on August 28, 2021. The incident in question involved a group of Villa fans throwing coins at City players during the second half of the match. The FA deemed this behavior to be a breach of its crowd control regulations. In addition to the fine, Aston Villa has also been issued with a suspended five-point deduction, which will be imposed if they incur a repeat offense in the next two years. The club has the right to appeal the FA’s decision. The incident has been widely condemned by both Villa and Manchester City, as well as the FA and the Premier League. In a statement, Aston Villa said: “We are extremely disappointed and embarrassed by the behavior of a small minority of our fans at the Manchester City match. This is not the behavior we expect from our supporters, and we sincerely apologize to Manchester City and their players.” Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said: “We don’t want coins or anything thrown at our players. We want to play football. We understand they want to win but that is not the way to do it.” The FA chief executive, Mark Bullingham, said: “Crowd trouble is completely unacceptable and has no place in our game. We will continue to take the strongest possible action against any club or individual involved in such behavior.” The incident is the latest in a series of crowd-related incidents that have occurred in English football in recent months. In December 2021, four Arsenal fans were banned from attending football matches for throwing objects at Manchester City manager Mikel Arteta. And in May 2022, three Chelsea fans were each jailed for eight weeks for their role in a pitch invasion during their club’s game against Liverpool. The FA is determined to crack down on crowd trouble and has warned that it will continue to impose strict sanctions on clubs and individuals who are found to be responsible for such behavior.
