Police have arrested a football fan after a firework exploded after being thrown onto the pitch during AFC Barrow’s 2-0 win over Carlisle United in the Papa John’s Trophy. The incident occurred within the first three minutes of the Cumbrian derby, holding the match up for 17 minutes, and it did not resume until it was confirmed that someone was in custody.
Carlisle goalkeeper Michael Kelly was the closest player to the pyrotechnic but luckily he escaped injury with the match quickly stopped afterwards in order to protect player safety. Talks were ongoing between match officials and police, causing the 17-minute hold-up, and Barrow fans were cleared from the home end while an arrest was made. The club have pledged to ban the culprit from the stadium for life.
Barrow eventually prevailed once the teams returned to the pitch with goals from Sam Foley and Josh Kay sealing a 2-0 victory for the home side.
Barrow’s dedicated police team quickly released a statement on their Twitter account following the incident confirming they had made an arrest.
It read: “Working alongside the club, Cumbria Police have now arrested 1 male in relation to the firework thrown on the pitch in the early stages of the match. I remind you, this is an offence and is extremely dangerous and will not be tolerated.”
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“Barrow Association Football Club must emphasise that we do not want to be associated with these people and they are not welcome at the SO Legal Stadium.
“As result of this, the Club will now be looking to implement measures to ensure this incident does not happen again.”
The investigation into the incident remains live and anyone with information regarding what happened is encouraged to contact PC Rickie Wallbank, the dedicated Police officer for AFC Barrow via the email address [email protected].
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