Former Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Tom Glover was at the centre of ugly scenes during an A-League fixture in Australia between Melbourne City and Melbourne Victory.
Glover was one of a number of academy players who were released by Tottenham in the summer of 2019 and after spending loan spells at Helsingborg and Central Coast Mariners and a trial spell at Hibernian, he headed back to his homeland to join Melbourne City on a free transfer.
The 24-year-old was between the sticks for the Melbourne derby at AAMI Park and was left bloodied after the match was abandoned for player safety reasons.
City were leading through Aiden O’Neill’s 11th-minute goal when trouble erupted in the 22nd minute of the match.
Both sets of fans had been throwing flares onto the pitch and the situation escalated when one appeared to hit a Network 10 cameraman, then exploded when Glover picked another which landed in his penalty area and decided to throw it back where it came from, in the stand where Victory’s supporters were located.
Some sections of the Victory fanbase decided to invade the pitch in anger and hurled a metal bucket, which had been used to dispose of flares, into the face of Glover which drew blood.
Referee Alex King decided to withdraw the players from the field before it was later called off.
The Melbourne Derby produced some tense scenes after fans stormed the pitch 20 minutes into the match.
The game was ultimately abandoned to ensure the safety of the staff and players. pic.twitter.com/oiz46Cntk1
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) December 17, 2022
(Photo by Tottenham Hotspur FC/Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images)
SpursWeb Opinion
This was certainly a dark day for Australian football, who have been working hard on building their profile around the world. Thankfully, Glover was not seriously injured and it could have been a lot worse, the A-League will certainly have to beef up security in the future to avoid these scenes being repeated.
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