West Ham midfielder Declan Rice has joined the list of players to condemn the unprovoked attack on Aston Villa player Jack Grealish by a Birmingham fan
Rice took to Social media to say “Absolutely disgraceful what just happened to Jack Grealish
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Grealish was attacked by a spectator who ran on to the pitch in the Championship match at rivals Birmingham City on Sunday.
It happened in the 10th minute when a man wearing a cap came on to the pitch from the home section before swinging his arm towards Grealish’s face.
The man, who was wearing a Birmingham City jacket, blew kisses towards the crowd as he was led away by stewards.
West Midlands Police said a man has been arrested following the incident. A 27-year-old man is being questioned on suspicion of encroachment onto the pitch and assault, the force said. “An attack on a player is completely unacceptable and outrageous,” said match commander, Supt Nick Rowe.
“The vast majority of people were well behaved but unfortunately the occasion has been marred by this.”
Grealish told reporters: “I was just unaware of it (the incident) at the time, I think we had a throw-in in the corner. I was walking into position and I felt a whack around the side of the face.Obviously there’s rivalry and stuff in football but I don’t think there’s any place for that really. But I just tried to get on with my job in the end and I think I did, scored the winner and we’ve come away with three points. It was unbelievable (to score the winning goal) in front of our fans.”
😡 – “An absolute disgrace!”
A fan has run onto the field and attacked Jack Grealish from behind. pic.twitter.com/PI1Wf3qXfP
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) March 10, 2019
A disgrace the guys a p…k !