The Birmingham City steward who shoved Jack Grealish is going to be fired.
The steward who got into a fight with Jack Grealish at St Andrew’s is expected to be fired by Birmingham City after the Aston Villa player walked into the stands to celebrate his goal.
Sportsmail can confirm that Paul Fellows works for the team and that he faces a severe risk of losing his position due to his violent shove of both Grealish and teammate Conor Hourihane.
Birmingham has declared that they would examine all of their “stewarding, safety, and security procedures as a matter of high importance” and that they have launched an investigation into the incident, which was captured on camera.
After Grealish scored in the 67th minute, Sky Sports broadcast a longer clip of the incident, in which Fellows appears to have kneed the 23-year-old in the back to get him over the advertising hoardings. It is undeniable that he pushes Grealish forcefully and needlessly and then goes back to barge, despite some reports claiming he was merely attempting to gain his footing on a step Hourihane.
Although stewards are requested to help players who attempt to infiltrate the crowd, Birmingham’s administration acknowledges that Fellows’ actions were inappropriate. Video captures Hourihane and Tyrone Mings responding aggressively to Fellows before the police escort him away. Although he was only spoken to by cops rather than detained, he is now the focus of an investigation that could lead to his departure from the club, but sources emphasize that no decision has been made as of yet.
In the meantime, it has come to light that Jack Grealish’s family was concerned about a pitch invader before Sunday’s Second City Derby.
Considering that Grealish was a childhood supporter of Villa and this was his first game at St Andrew’s, many close to him were worried that something would catch fire.
They knew of past situations where fans had surged onto the field and how hundreds of Birmingham fans had hurled clappers at Villa players during the encounter the previous season.
Before the game, family members expressed their unease to friends. They were reported to have been extremely distressed upon realizing their worries when Paul Mitchell dashed to attack Grealish from the rear.
Due to the incident, Mitchell received a 14-week jail sentence, a 10-year ban from football stadiums, and a life-long prohibited from Birmingham. Grealish expressed his shock and fear to the police, saying, “I can’t help but feel how lucky I was.” Had he been armed, things might have turned out far worse.
He did recover from the incident to score the game-winning goal, and on Monday and Tuesday he was at Bodymoor Heath exercising as normal. On Wednesday, he will lead Villa against Nottingham Forest.
Birmingham has taken action against misbehavior. A campaign called Stop and Think was started in May 2016 to promote safe drinking and to warn of the consequences of entering the pitch uninvited. The club ratified the EFL Charter in November 2017, which imposes three-year bans for offenses involving fireworks.
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