A GOALKEEPER sacked TWELVE HOURS after joining a club has apologised for his nightmare behaviour.
Rushden & Diamonds’ emergency signing Lewis Patching headbutted a fan following what many supporters claimed was a horror debut.
The seventh-tier club were “delighted” to recruit him on Saturday morning, but he couldn’t prevent a 4-0 home loss to Lye Town and he clashed in a bar with a critic at 6pm.
The Northern Premier League team promptly axed the 22-year-old former Northampton Town youngster.
Patching has now said sorry on social media but insisted he only responded physically after “fearing for my safety”.
He posted: “Firstly, I’d like to apologise to the supporter involved and Rushden & Diamonds FC for the events that took place Saturday evening.
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“I was disappointed how the game panned out personally and for the club.
“After the game a group of home supporters began hurling abuse. One of them then confronted me directly, invading my personal space and shouting in my face aggressively.
“Genuinely fearing for my safety and emotions running high, I reacted, which I deeply regret.
“This is not an excuse for my actions and I’m disappointed in myself for losing control. Again, I’d like to apologise and wish the club/supporter all the best moving forward. Lewi.”
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Patching was a last-minute recruit due to Rushden’s usual keeper Ben Heath being unavailable.
Some home fans then blamed him for as many as three of Lye’s four goals – before it got much worse for him afterwards.
The club responded to the headbutting incident by stating: “AFC Rushden & Diamonds are aware of an incident in the bar between a first-team player and a supporter following this afternoon’s defeat to Lye Town.
“The player in question has had his registration with the club cancelled with immediate effect and will not feature for the club going forward.
“Whilst football is a game that evokes extremes of emotions and divides opinions, AFC Rushden & Diamonds are committed to ensuring that all players, supporters and visitors treat one another with respect and are able to attend matches free from the threat of abuse of either a physical or verbal nature.
“AFC Rushden & Diamonds are committed to ensuring that any event hosted by the club is done so in a safe and welcoming environment and exercise a zero tolerance stance on any and all violence.”
Just hours earlier, the club had happily announced his arrival to solve their temporary problem between the sticks.
But he ended up having one of the shortest and most notorious spells in recent football history
Patching is dual-registered with Southern League Premier League side St Ives Town.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
