A 69-year-old man who was celebrating his birthday ended up in hospital after allegedly being assaulted by Sheffield United fans last night.
Spurs fan Craig Pankhurst and his dad attended the FA Cup game between Sheffield United and Spurs at Bramall Lane last night.
The attack allegedly took place minutes after the match finished 1-0 after the Blades scored in the 79th minute, winning a place in the quarter final.
Craig, a stroke survivor and founder of the A stroke of Luck charity, took to Twitter to share photos of his dad with a bloodied and swollen face and himself with a red mark on his head outside the stadium.
He tweeted “Thank you for such a lovely welcome @SheffieldUnited. This is me and my Dad on the way out of the match this evening. Now in an ambulance on way to hospital. He’s a 70 year old man. This is what some of your ‘fans’ thought was appropriate.”
The thread has since attracted more than 2,000 comments and nearly 3,000 retweets.
Craig also posted photos of his dad in hospital as well as an image of their return to the Premier Inn hotel six hours later where they had booked to stay last night.
Fellow football fans have took to Twitter in droves to show their support for the father and son.
Craig and his father had been out for dinner earlier at Browns restaurant in the evening to celebrate his dad turning 70 in a couple of weeks time.
Police say they are investigating the incident and have urged any witnesses or anyone with information to call 101 and quote incident number 1,062 of March 1.
It happened on the same day police issued an appeal and images to find two men they want to speak to following disorder at another Sheffield United match last year.
After the Blades’ fixture against Birmingham City on October 1, a number of incidents of disorder were reported to have taken place in the London Road and Hill Street area between 5pm and 5.45pm.
A number of men were reported to have been punched and bottles and missiles were thrown. Police say anyone with information can call them on 101 quoting incident number 236 of 01/10/2022.
