| The development follows a weekend of intensive activity by police into circumstances surrounding the injuries suffered by class one official Terry Brunton at the end of the match between Elmwood and North End at Craigie Park last Wednesday.
Mr Brunton (36) suffered concussion and a split lower lip after being felled by a blow from an unseen assailant.
He suffered the injuries on sounding the full-time whistle after allowing five minutes of added time at the end of the closely contested match. North End had been leading 1-0 until Elmwood equalised in the final minute of the extra period.
Police were initially frustrated by a lack of witnesses to the incident, despite the match being watched by a crowd of more than 100 people and the incident occurring as both teams, substitutes and team officials left the field.
Officers are understood to have visited both North End and Elmwood at their matches on Saturday.
Police went to North End’s away match at Kinnoull in Perth to speak to players and officials. They also visited the Elmwood dressing room at Craigie Park.
A spokeswoman for Tayside Police said today, “Inquiries into the alleged assault on the junior football referee are continuing, and we are following a positive line of inquiry.”
A referee from another association had to be drafted in to take charge of North End’s match at Kinnoull as an indirect result of the incident involving Mr Brunton.
Because of his injuries he was unable to officiate on Saturday, and this meant the Tayside Junior Football Association was a referee short for its fixtures.
Association secretary Jock Myles called in a referee from Fife to help.
Asked to comment on the circumstances of Mr Brunton’s assault, Mr Myles said, “I know the referees are not happy about it, but we as an association will deal with it when we get in the reports.”
Match abandoned
Another unsavoury episode occurred at a minor football match in Dundee at the weekend.
Referee Bryan Cranston abandoned a Sunday Welfare semi-final between Bank Street Athletic and Burton Albion, at Caird Park, after being threatened.
He blew the whistle after 70 minutes of play after showing a third red card to a Burton Albion player. He had also red carded another player from the team.
The teams were drawing 2-2 when the game was stopped.
Mr Cranston declined to discuss the situation after the match as he was preparing a report for the Dundee Sunday Welfare Football Association.
Today Frank Colvin, an executive committee member of the DSWFA, said, “We are aware of the match being abandoned but I can’t comment on the circumstances.
“We are awaiting the referee’s report and it will go to the relevant committee.”
Asked when it would be possible to find out the decision of the relevant committee, Mr Colvin said, “Our decisions are private.” |
