A COLLINGWOOD supporter has been banned from attending matches for the rest of the year after leaning over the fence and grabbing a West Coast player on Sunday afternoon.
Late in the fourth quarter of the match at Marvel Stadium, the Magpies member leant over the fence and grabbed at young Eagles Harvey Johnston before patting him on the head and taking the football from him.
While the League says the incident was "innocuous", it has nonetheless banned him for 12 months, six months of which is suspended.
It means he won't be able to attend any AFL or AFLW games for the rest of this year.
He has also had his Collingwood membership suspended by the club.
Pending his continued co-operation, the man will be able to purchase a club membership and attend matches in 2025.
"While we acknowledge the innocuous nature in which the incident played out on the day, these types of interactions should not happen. Grabbing a player from over the fence could have potentially escalated if it wasn't for the professional manner in which Eagles player Harvey responded," AFL General Counsel Stephen Meade said.
"We also acknowledge the fan involved proactively made himself known to security and Police and apologised to both Collingwood, West Coast and the AFL, and recognise his immediate understanding of his actions not being acceptable.
"We have the best fans in sport, and more than 3.1 million people have attended the footy this year and we want everyone who comes to games to barrack for their club and enjoy the experience, but when you overstep the clear boundaries, which is what happened on the weekend, then you will lose the privilege of being able to attend the footy.
"Reinforcing what we communicated last year - we love the interactions between players and fans especially in the moments pre and post-game, and the occasion in-game when a player celebrates with his club’s fans - however what we saw on Sunday during the match is not acceptable."
Last August, a patron was banned from attending matches until the end of 2024 after reaching over the fence at Marvel Stadium and grabbing Richmond player, Marlion Pickett.
Earlier this year, a patron was handed a lifetime ban by the AFL after he ran onto the Adelaide Oval during Adelaide's match against Geelong on March 22. He was also arrested by police and charged with entering an oval during a scheduled event.
