AFL bans Collingwood supporter after interaction with West Coast’s Harvey Johnston

The Collingwood fan who reached over the fence to pat West Coast’s Harvey Johnston won’t be able to do so again anytime soon.

Pies fan facing a ban

The Collingwood fan who reached over the fence and patted the head of West Coast Eagles youngster Harvey Johnston has received a 12-month ban from the AFL.

Six months of the ban has been suspended but the Magpies member Justin Witcombe won’t be allowed to attend any AFL or AFLW games in 2024.

Collingwood also reacted to the incident, suspending his membership for the rest of the season.

During the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game, Witcombe stood up in his seat, leant over the fence and proceeded to pat Johnston on the head, taking the football from him in the process.

“I just saw the ball coming to the fence and I stood up, it just sort of happened,” Witcombe said. “It was just a reflex reaction.

“It was just a pat on the head, the ball came loose and I handballed it to the umpire. I’m very sorry for this, it won’t happen again, I will learn from this and I will be a better person for it.

“At no stage did he give permission to put my hands on him, it was uncalled for and it is not acceptable in today’s world.”

Witcombe said it would “kill me” not to attend Collingwood games with his wife and 12-year-old daughter.

The Pies’ fan has copped a ban from the league. Picture: Fox Footy

“I feel sorry for my family. I have embarrassed them and myself,” he told Channel 9. “But I know I will learn from this and I’ll be back.

“I was there as a family man and left as a broken man.”

AFL General Counsel Stephen Meade described the incident as “simply not acceptable”.

“While we acknowledge the innocuous nature in which the incident played out on the day, these types of interactions should not happen. Grabbing a player from over the fence could have potentially escalated if it wasn’t for the professional manner in which Eagles player Harvey responded.” Meade said.

“We also acknowledge the fan involved proactively made himself known to security and Police and apologised to both Collingwood, West Coast and the AFL, and recognise his immediate understanding of his actions not being acceptable.

“We have the best fans in sport, and more than 3.1 million people have attended the footy this year and we want everyone who comes to games to barrack for their club and enjoy the experience, but when you overstep the clear boundaries, which is what happened on the weekend, then you will lose the privilege of being able to attend the footy.

“Reinforcing what we communicated last year - we love the interactions between players and fans especially in the moments pre and post-game, and the occasion in-game when a player celebrates with his club’s fans - however what we saw on Sunday during the match is not acceptable.”

Last year a fan was banned from attending games for 12 months when he patted Richmond’s Marlion Pickett from over the fence.

Originally published as AFL bans Collingwood supporter after interaction with West Coast’s Harvey Johnston