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A GROUP OF 250 to 300 “Newcastle United fans” have been blamed for disrupting two local Sunday league matches ahead of their ill-tempered fixture against Wigan.

Goalposts, nets, and corner flags were damaged in the incidents which affected the South Lancashire Counties Premier Division games last weekend.

Footage posted to YouTube shows fans storming the pitches adjacent to the car and coach park where away supporters arrived ahead of the Premier League clash between Wigan and Newcastle.

One of the teams involved, the Wigan Cosmos, released a statement detailing the scenes which Newcastle say are now under investigation by Wigan Police.

(Images via Wigan Cosmos website)

After about 15 minutes of the game, at approximately 2.15 pm, several coaches arrived at the car park. As the supporters spilled out of the coaches, which were not managed by the club or police officials, they proceeded to watch the game from the touchline. Some fans then chose to run onto the field of play, dropping their pants, causing the game to be stopped. The situation then magnified as a crowd around 250 – 300 Newcastle United fans followed suit. Although good natured at first, the fans then started to rip out corner flags as they ran over the pitches and also took the match ball. We never recovered the ball, though we did manage to recover the corner flags.

The so-called fans then decided to charge over to the adjacent pitch where Goose Green Reserves were entertaining Olympic AFC in another South Lancashire Counties Fixture. They again began by ripping out their corner flags. The fans then charged into the goalmouth, jumping onto the goalposts in an attempt to snap the crossbar with the sheer numbers clambering on them. They then started to rip the nets from the posts, tearing them and trying to take them. Our players helped to retrieve the nets. After spending quite some time singing and hanging on the goalposts the fans then ran back over to our pitch whilst singing “we’re Newcastle United, we’ll do what we want.”

They then charged our goals, jumping on the goalposts again actively trying to tear the nets and rip them off the goalposts and take the nets. The nets were actually ripped, with pegs taken and net clips also ripped off. These fans again took corner posts for a second time, ripping off the flags and actively trying to snap the posts. Eventually the posts were taken and thrown and later retrieved but are now, without flags and the posts, unusable.

Read the Wigan Cosmos’ statement in full here >

Caroline Wozniacki in a Rory McIlroy wig looks really like… erm, Rory McIlroy