IT’S not only Old Firm clashes attracting violence on the pitch as a mother revealed this week that she was head butted by another woman for enthusiastically cheering a goal.
Heather Clarke claims she was celebrating a goal scored by her son’s under-15s team on Sunday morning when another mum marched over to her and “ploughed” her head into her face.
The 43-year-old says her daughter Kim, 17, was also punched by the attacker.
The John McConnell Cup fixture between Edinburgh City and Inch Colts at Double Hedges Park in Liberton had to be abandoned towards the end of the second half as police were called, arriving just as parents were holding each other back.
Before the incident, a player and coach had been sent off during the game.
Ms Clarke, a pharmacy worker whose son Scott plays for Edinburgh City FC, says she has been involved with club for seven years and is now recovering at her home in the Carrick Knowe area of the capital.
She said: “It was about ten minutes before the end and we had scored a fourth goal.
“My friend said that there was a woman staring at me.
“That was the first I’d ever seen of her.
“I didn’t hear but my friend said she’d shouted some awful insults.
“She started walking around the pitch and as she approached I said ‘oh god, I think she’s coming for me’.
“She shouted something like ‘what is it you’ve got to say for yourself mouthy, because I’m going to shut you up’.
“She came up and put her head against my face, drew it back, and ploughed it straight into my face.”
One neutral spectator said: “This woman squared up to Heather, drew her head back and went boosh right in her face.
“Her nose was burst open.
“Heather had been overdoing it with the goal celebration, but just supporting her own.
“I didn’t see any abuse.”
Ms Clarke insisted she did not blame the opposition side, only her attacker.
Details of the confrontation come just days after First Minister Alex Salmond hosted a summit in Edinburgh to address last week’s Old Firm violence.
