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Pardew heatbutt charges signal record ban

By on March 3, 2014

Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew has been charged with improper conduct by the English Football Association after appearing to heatbutt Hull City midfielder David Meyler during his side’s 4-1 win away at the KC Stadium.  Pardew, who has already been fined a full £100,000by his employers at Newcastle, is reportedly set to accept the charge, even if it will lead him facing record sanctions that the FA are expected to hand the Frenchman.

The FA have already described the incident as a “serious violent” and “non-standard”, a sign that a three-man Independent Regulatory Commission that is set to review the incident and dish out the decided punishment could leave Pardew with record sanctions for a manager.  These sanctions will only add to Pardew’s fine and warning Newcastle gave him, and could even top the five-match touchline ban and £4,000 fine that the FA handed to former Blackpool manager Paul Ince for “violently shoving” a referee last September.  In fact, Pardew is expected to mot only be given a touchline ban but a full stadium expulsion over the headbutt.

Pardew headbutted Meyler only after the midfielder pushed him aside to receive the ball to quickly take a throw-in in the seventy-second minute of Newcastle’s 4-1 Premier League win, a stupid move considering Newcastle had a two goal lead at the time, which they would even improve on by the end of the match.

While the manager was sent to the stands for the remainder of the match, he still argued his innocence after the match, saying:

“He was right on top of me and I wanted to just ease him away from me but I put my head in a forward motion. I want to apologize to him, everyone at Hull and obviously my own fans as well.

“I don’t think it was a head-butt. It wasn’t a motion that was quick. Sometimes when you’re on the sideline like that you can get involved in a moment like that. It was an incident that just flared up all around me. I just wanted to get him away, but with the forward motion. You can’t do that.

“Of course, I’m not stupid enough to accept there’s going to be no punishment. I’ll have to accept whatever comes my way. I believe my behaviour over the years has not resulted in too many fines and sitting in the stands, but this one probably will.”

It is no the first time that Pardew has been involved in controversial rows during matches, the most recent of which was only last January when the 52-year-old was made to apologize after yelling abuse at Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini in his side’s 2-0 loss to City.  The former Southampton, West Ham United and Reading manager was also fined £20,000 and handed a two-match touchline ban at the beginning of the 2012/2013 season for shoving a referee.

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.