Celebrations that backfired

Ipswich Town footballer David Norris, 27, has been fined by his club and could face disciplinary action from the Football Association after a goal celebration in which he appeared to show support for a teammate jailed for killing two young children while drink-driving.

Norris seeming to mimic a pair of handcuffed wrists in front of a crowd of more than 7,000 at Blackpool, seemingly as a gesture of support to Luke McCormick, his former Plymouth Argyle team-mate, who is currently behind bars.

It is hardly the first time a goal celebration has backfired: here are a few others (and please add to our list if you can).

March 2008: Tim Cahill, the Everton striker, made a similar “handcuffs” gesture in support of his brother, Sean, who was jailed for six years for GBH. He went unpunished.

2007: Stephen Ireland (left), from Manchester City, dropped his shorts to reveal a pair of superman pants.

1999: Robbie Fowler mimicked snorting the touchline like a line of cocaine. He was fined and banned for four matches.

1998: Paul Gascoigne received IRA death threats and a £20,000 fine after pretending to play a flute, a sectarian symbol.

1997: Fowler (again) celebrated scoring against Norwegian team Brann Bergen by lifting up his shirt to reveal a T-shirt supporting sacked Liverpool dockers. He was fined 2,000 Swiss Francs by Uefa who stated their regulations prohibit players from displaying political logos at matches.

1995: Paul Tait, from Birmingham City, was fined for revealing a T-shirt that read “S**t on the Villa”.

1979: The Arsenal full-back Sammy Nelson (left) bared his buttocks in celebration of cancelling out his own-goal in an FA Cup match. He was suspended for a fortnight.

Comments

[Reuben Ayoola]

futbol is a crazily beautiful game for beautifully crazy people like us.