Blackpool appeal Shayne Lavery's red card after feisty Sheffield United affair
Blackpool have lodged an appeal against the red card shown to Shayne Lavery after Saturday’s 3-3 draw against Sheffield United.
The striker was bizarrely sent off after the final whistle after being wrestled to the ground by Blades keeper Wes Foderingham.
The footage shows the 23-year-old appeared to do little wrong during the scuffle, but under-fire referee David Webb felt compelled to show red cards to both players.
It capped off a feisty afternoon at Bramall Lane, where Michael Appleton’s side finished the game with nine men following red cards for both Marvin Ekpiteta and Dom Thompson, who will now miss Wednesday night’s game against Hull City as a result.
The FA have confirmed to The Gazette that Lavery was sent off for violent conduct, which carries a three-match ban.
According to the laws of the game, violent conduct is defined as: “when a player uses or attempts to use excessive force or brutality against an opponent when not challenging for the ball, or against a team-mate, team official, match official, spectator or any other person, regardless of whether contact is made”.
Should Lavery’s ban not be overturned, the striker will miss the games against Hull, rivals Preston North End and Coventry City.
It’s hoped the Seasiders will be given a verdict on their appeal before their midweek game.
A little surprisingly, Blades boss Paul Heckingbottom has revealed they’re also considering appealing the red card shown to Foderingham.
“We’ll look at the appeal, yes,” he confirmed to our sister paper, the Sheffield Star.
“It looks like he’s fighting, it looks like they’re fighting. But talking to their staff afterwards, they say they weren’t.
“Shayne has apparently tried to pull Wes away from what was going on and, as that’s happened and he’s rolled around, they’ve gone over. We’ll have to have a look at it and then see what we do.”
Both clubs are being investigated and are likely to be charged and subsequently fined for failing to ensure their players behaved in an “orderly fashion”.