Eastern Park Football Club will be docked premiership points if player banned for headbutting

A NORTHERN suburbs football club will be docked premiership points if one of its players is tonight found guilty of headbutting.

Eastern Park Football Club player Michael Friel will face the Adelaide Footy League tribunal tonight on two reports of headbutting.

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A NORTHERN suburbs football club will be docked premiership points if one of its players is tonight suspended for headbutting.

Eastern Park player Michael Friel will face the Adelaide Footy League’s tribunal this evening over an alleged headbutt in the club’s division four match against Kilburn at Blair Athol Reserve on Saturday.

The Demons are already on notice with the league for previous incidents of bad behaviour and face losing one premiership point for every week any of its players are suspended.

Eastern Park president Tony Gill said the club, sitting fourth this year with a 3-2 record, had been working hard to curb its on and off-field conduct, including imposing in-house bans.

“If he (Friel) is found guilty and receives a penalty from the league we will also suspend him internally,” Gill said.

“The club has a zero-tolerance policy for these type of things.”

A field umpire reported and sent off Friel during the match for an alleged headbutt.

The league is also investigating a second incident involving Friel from the same game.

League chief executive John Kernahan declined to comment on the case before the tribunal hearing.

Kilburn also would not comment.

If Friel is suspended, Eastern Park will be the second club this month to lose premiership points.

The league last week stripped division six club West Croydon of three points after Hawks player Joseph Bull received a three-week ban for umpire abuse.