Birmingham keeper forced to cover his face after fans throw flares onto pitch

BIRMINGHAM goalkeeper Lee Camp had to cover his face after fans fired flares and threw them onto the pitch in a Championship clash against West Bromwich. It comes just a couple of weeks after a Blues fan run onto the pitch and punched Aston Villa ace Jack Grealish. Smoke engulfed the keeper’s goal at the […]

BIRMINGHAM goalkeeper Lee Camp had to cover his face after fans fired flares and threw them onto the pitch in a Championship clash against West Bromwich.

It comes just a couple of weeks after a Blues fan run onto the pitch and punched Aston Villa ace Jack Grealish.

Reuters

PA:Empics Sport

Smoke engulfed the keeper’s goal at the Hawthorns shortly after Lee Gardner gave the Blues an early lead.

Gardner beat Baggies keeper Sam Johnstone with a thunderous header that bounced off the ground to stun the hosts early into the game.

And exhilarated fans celebrated by setting off flares and throwing them on from the Blues section of the Smethwick End on the other side of the pitch.

Camp had to cover his mouth as thick smoke was spreading around the Hawthorns.

And the game had to be stopped so stewards could pick up the fireworks.

The FA will now look into the incident, as well as assess whether all safety procedures were followed when letting fans into the stadium.

It comes just a couple of weeks after a Blues fan assaulted Grealish in the Birmingham derby at St Andrew’s.

The Blues were charged by the FA – and the abuser ended up in jail for 14 weeks.

Birmingham have just also been slapped with a nine-point penalty for breaking EFL money rules.

The punishment could see the Blues drop within two points off the relegation zone, putting their Championship status in doubt.

Rex Features