A CARLISLE United fan has been banned from watching his team for three years after he celebrated a goal by running across the pitch.

After the stringent terms of the football banning were outlined in court, 34-year-old Mathew Read, who blamed his behaviour on 'emotion,' told magistrates the punishment was 'quite harsh.'

He pleaded guilty to going 'without authority' onto the Brunton Park pitch during his team's League Final play-off game with Bradford City on May 20.

Diane Jackson, prosecuting at the city's Rickergate court, said the incident came eight minutes into extra time when Carlisle United scored. "Home fans were celebrating around the stadium,” she said.

“The defendant was seen in the home area of the Pioneer stand.”

He was then seen running the full width of the pitch before clambering in the Paddock stand, where other fans attempted to hide him from match officials, but he was located.

“He said he was just excited by what took place,” said Mrs Jackson.

The incident came before the final whistle, which triggered jubilation among excited Carlisle fans and triggered a wholesale invasion of the pitch.News and Star:

The prosecutor then outlined why police wanted the court to impose a three year football banning order, describing Read’s offence as a “deliberate and flagrant act," which he knew was unacceptable.

Quoting the police’s designated officer to deal with football disorder, Mrs Jackson said: “[The defendant’s] actions could have had a detrimental impact on the fixture.

“They could easily have resulted in further disorder in the ground, with other fans copying his behaviour.”

There had already been heightened tension between the opposing fans, which included the use of pyrotechnics and the throwing of missiles, said Mrs Jackson.

The prosecutor then outlined in detail the restrictions involved in the football banning order requested, which includes a large exclusion zone around Brunton Park on match days, covering much of Carlisle.

The out-of-bounds areas include Botchergate, Warwick Road, Rickerby Park, the city’s railway station, and the Rosehill Industrial Estate.

Such exclusions come into effect five hours before any regulated match and continue for five hours after the final whistle. The ban also applies to away matches and any England games.

For games in London or Birmingham, the order bans defendants from going within five miles of the relevant football ground. Other away games involve the defendant being banned from being in that town or city at the relevant times.

Having heard those details, Read, who was not legally represented, said: “It’s quite harsh, to be fair. There were people throwing missiles who didn’t get banned. I know what I did was wrong.

“It was just emotion.”

A regular supporter of Carlisle United, he said he had gone to his first match with his father when he was four years old; and that he had recently started taking his own children to games.

His arrest and bail conditions led to him missing United’s victorious appearance at Wembley, he said. On the day of the incident, he had consumed only two pints and he insisted he was not drunk, he said.

The specialist police officer involved in the case accepted Read, of Lund Crescent, Carlisle, was not considered by police as a risk.

But of the defendant’s pitch incursion, the officer added: “His behaviour and actions could have been highly detrimental to the police operation, and it had the potential to escalate.”

Magistrates imposed a £300 fine, with £85 costs and a £120 victim surcharge. Approving the three-year banning order, they said they accepted the police view that what happened was an isolated incident.

They also noted Read’s previous good character. But football banning orders are there in part to show fans that such behaviour at regulated games cannot be tolerated and to act as a deterrent.  

The presiding magistrate accepted that emotions were running high during the game but said the offence had been a deliberate act.

United's 3-1 extra-time win over Bradford City was the result that sent the Blues to Wembley.

The game was watched by a record crowd of 15,401 - and the occasion ended with the pitch invaded from all sides of the ground.