Man banned from football matches after incident at Forest Green Rovers match

A man has been banned from attending regulated football matches after he threatened and threw punches at stewards last year during a Forest Green Rovers match.

Tomas Coxe, aged 46 and of Swift Road in Farnham, Hampshire was given a three-year football banning order after pleading guilty to a Section 4 Public Order offence.

Coxe, who is an Aldershot Town fan, came to the attention of police after he was involved in an altercation over the ejection of two other fans during an away match at Forest Green Rovers' The New Lawn on Saturday 21 December 2024.

As well as receiving the banning order, Coxe was ordered to take part in 140 hours of community services and pay £200 in compensation to his victims.

Dedicated Football Officer PC Adrian Tuft from Gloucestershire Constabulary said: “We will always take action against anyone who thinks they can assault stewards, be it physically or verbally, and get away with their actions.

"Our aim is to always ensure that staff working at and fans watching football games can have a safe and enjoyable time.”

Mark Smith, Safety Officer at Forest Green Rovers, added: "We employ stewards to ensure that fans can have an enjoyable and safe match day experience; it is not acceptable for a member of our staff to be assaulted whilst at work.

"We have an excellent CCTV system that operates in all areas of our ground and which captured the whole of this deplorable incident.

"We will continue to provide our full support to the police to ensure that offenders can be prosecuted when necessary."