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Football

12th Feb 2022

Steward goes onto pitch in the middle of Birmingham-Luton game

Callum Boyle

Things you didn’t expect to see

A steward came onto the pitch to retrieve a tennis ball during the middle of a Luton Town attack during their game against Birmingham City on Saturday afternoon.

Nathan Jones’ side were on the edge of the Birmingham box at St Andrews as Elijah Adebayo held the ball up before searching for an option.

As he got the ball under control, a steward walked onto the pitch to pick up a tennis ball which had been thrown onto the pitch by a supporter earlier in the game.

This resulted in Adebayo stopping the attack, where he threw his arms to the side as he visibly (and rightly so) looked angered. The Birmingham players didn’t seem too amused either.

https://twitter.com/jazzanovaboat/status/1492519064731852801?s=21

Supporters of the Blues were protesting the club’s ownership and threw tennis balls onto the pitch in the 14th minute of the game – forcing referee Darren Bond to pause play to allow the pitch to be cleared.

Many of the club’s fans have become disillusioned with their Hong Kong owners and have staged several protests in a bid to get them to sell the club.

They include marches to the ground, endless chants of “stand up if you hate the board” and demonstrations in front of the directors box.

Lee Bowyer’s side currently lead 3-0 in a must-win game for both sides, who have aspirations at different ends of the table.

Goals from Juninho Bacuna, Lyle Taylor and Onel Hernández have Birmingham comfortably in the lead as they continue their quest to move further away from the relegation zone.

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