A FOOTBALL match was abandoned this afternoon after a bottle was thrown at the referee. 

The disruption happened at about 4.11pm during Banbury United’s game against Slough Town at the Spencer Stadium in Banbury. It is understood a bottle was thrown at referee Lee Sheridan. 

A police spokeswoman said officers were called and are now investigating. She added that no one was injured in the incident and so far there have been no arrests.

Banbury manager Paul Davis , who was standing next to the official at the time, said: "The referee went down, and I was able to help him to his dressing room.

"It hadn't been an ill-tempered tempered game, although they were afew decisions just before the reak, that led to the fans shouting abuse at the referee.

"There were about 150 fans of both sides around the tunnel at the time.

"At that time I didn't think the game would be abandoned. But apparently the referee had been sick in his dressing room.

"It's a disgusting thing to happen at any football match, but we will now have await the consequences of this action."

A statement on the club's website said: "The football club regrets that today's game had to be abandoned. The club will carry out a full investigation into the half time incident and co-operate with the relevant authorities. Supporters should retain tickets as they will be valid for the re-staging of the game."

Our top stories 


Do you want alerts delivered straight to your phone via our WhatsApp service? Text NEWS or SPORT or NEWS AND SPORT, depending on which services you want, and your full name to 07767 417704. Save our number into your phone’s contacts as Oxford Mail WhatsApp and ensure you have WhatsApp installed.