EFL to impose further sanctions on fans encroaching on the pitch

The play-off semi-finals were marred by problems, most notably with a Nottingham Forest fan jailed for 24 weeks after he attacked Sheffield United’s Billy Sharp and there are further police investigations for other play-off games.

PNE themselves put out a statement in April to warn fans that encroaching onto the pitch was an offence after supporters were running onto the field post match to try and get a player’s shirt multiple matches in a row.

With the completion of the football league season on Sunday, following Forest’s win at Wembley, EFL chief executive Trevor Birch put out a statement on updates to punishments for fans breaking the rules.

He said “There can be no blurring of the lines or ambiguity with this matter. Simply put, the pitch is for participants and the stands for spectators.

“The EFL will be working with the various authorities on a series of measures during the close season to help reinforce that message and address the challenge that is being presented to the game.

“As part of this work the introduction of tougher but proportionate sanctions will now also have to be considered with your respective club in the early part of next month.

“For our part, we will need to discuss what further measures could be introduced for the new season, including the potential use of capacity reductions, financial penalties, or other similar mitigations.”

The EFL board is due to meet on June 8, with the league’s annual general meeting scheduled two days later.

Birch praised the majority of fans for supporting their clubs in the right way throughout the 2021-22 season.

“In the opening months of the season, you dealt with the uncertainty of Covid protocols, Covid passes and Covid postponements through the winter, yet despite those challenges, you have returned to show up for your clubs in huge numbers once again,” he said.

“Together you have been through the turnstiles almost 20 million times across our competitions and your support has been crucial to clubs as they continue to rebuild their finances following a difficult couple of years.”