Jail for Rotherham footballer who butted opponent

A SOCCER player who headbutted an opponent, sparking a riot involving players and spectators — during a match where one of the teams was called Punchbowl — has been sent to prison for six months.

After he kicked an opponent, Craig Haythorne, who was playing for Rotherham team AFP, was shown the red card then butted 23-year-old Matthew Savage.

As spectators from the home crowd waded into an on-pitch melee the police had to be called before the match was abandoned.

Referee Melvyn Scarborough told police: “In 18 years as a referee I have never witnessed anything so violent.”

Sheffield Crown Court heard that Haythorne received a six-month suspended jail term in June, 2009, after his late tackle left an opponent with a calf wound that required 56 stitches.

Trouble flared half an hour into the crunch Sheffield and Hallamshire Sunday Senior Challenge Cup match between Punchbowl and AFP last October, said Ms Stephanie Hollis, prosecuting.

The victim was taken to the Royal Hallamshire Hospital where a wound to his face was glued and he also suffered pain and swelling.

Haythorne, of Bowden Wood Drive, Waltheof, was arrested on the pitch by officers and admitted assault causing actual bodily harm.

Mr Dermot Hughes, defending, said Haythorne had been severely provoked and was guilty of “a momentary loss of control”.