Outcry over pitch invasions at British soccer matches

Three incidents in England and Scotland cause alarm

British soccer authorities are being urged to take strong action after three incidents this weekend involving fans getting out of the crowd to confront players.

The most serious was in Sunday's Championship game between bitter local rivals Birmingham City and Aston Villa. In the tenth minute, a home spectator shoved Villa midfielder Jack Grealish to the ground from behind, swinging an arm in his face.

Grealish, who did not react to the incident, played on and scored the only goal of the game in the second half. A 27-year-old man appeared in court on Monday charged with encroachment on to the pitch and assault.

Birmingham, owned by Hong Kong-based company Trillion Trophy Asia, and Villa, previously owned by Tony Xia, have a long-standing rivalry.

A statement issued by Birmingham called the incident "inexcusable" and the spectator's behavior "deplorable" and said "rest assured he will be banned from St Andrew's (the club's home ground) for life," adding "the club will also support any further punishment this individual may face in the eyes of the law".

A statement from Villa called it a "disgraceful attack" and "a cowardly on-field assault.To have a player's personal safety placed under such jeopardy is a serious cause for concern for the entire football community."

Also on Sunday, a fan ran on to the pitch during Arsenal's Premier League game with Manchester United and laid hands on United's Chris Smalling.

The defender escaped injury and the spectator was later arrested on suspicion of common assault and pitch invasion. Arsenal apologized to the player and the club and said the man would be banned from attending all future games.

The other incident occurred on Friday, during the Scottish Premiership game between Hibernian and Rangers.

A 21-year-old man was arrested after confronting and coming into contact with Rangers captain James Tavernier as he went to pick up the ball for a throw in. The incident came just days after Hibernian fans threw a bottle at visiting players in another game.

"They've embarrassed this club tonight again, it's completely and utterly unacceptable," said Hibernian Chief Executive Leeann Dempster after the game.

England women's team manager Phil Nevilletold the BBC that the toxic atmosphere of social media might be to blame, and said serious action was needed before something drastic happened.

"I don't want to over-dramatize things, but everyone remembers what happened to the tennis player Monica Seles, who was stabbed on court during a match in 1993," he said.

"All it takes is for one of these people who get on the pitch to have a knife or other weapon and it will be a footballer who is badly hurt next time."

Fellow former England international Alan Shearer was even more direct in his comments.

"If that means docking them (Birmingham) points, playing in an empty stadium, so be it. There cannot be a strong enough punishment. There has to be the right message here," he wrote in The Sun newspaper.

"Come down like a ton of bricks on Birmingham and punish so-called fans where it hurts, with bans and fines. It just proves we have a real problem. The authorities have to stamp it out now."