• Football Association ban Colley from the sport until 1 October
• Player confronted fans and threw a punch after being sent off

Karl Colley, the non-league footballer who went into the stands to attack a fan Eric Cantona-style, has been banned from the sport at any level until 1 October after admitting misconduct at a Football Association hearing.

Colley’s punishment is one of the longest bans the FA has ever handed out for an act of violence but falls short of the nine-month suspension Cantona received for his kung-fu attack on a Crystal Palace supporter at Selhurst Park exactly 19 years earlier.

Video footage of Colley going into the stand after being sent off during a match against Coalville Town, then swinging a punch at one of the visiting fans, has gone around the world since the incident during an Evo-Stik South match in January.

The 30-year-old was sacked immediately after the match and the FA have also fined him £150.

• The FA
• Eric Cantona

Daniel Taylor

theguardian.com