A female Tranmere Rovers supporter who was seen throwing a flare into the field after her team’s poor performance may become one of the first women to be banned from all football stadiums in Britain.
Abbie-Leigh Reay, 23, of Bebington, close to Birkenhead, was detained when she picked up the item and tossed it at the referee during a crucial League Two match between Tranmere Rovers and Forest Green Rovers when her team, Tranmere Rovers, fell behind 3-0.
CCTV footage also shows Reay raising her arms in celebration as the flare lands on the field close to the officials, Lee Swabey and Luke McGee of Forest Green.
Reay, an employee of the Aldi grocery store, was detained by police as she was leaving Tranmere’s Prenton Park on January 29 after the League Two team was destroyed 4-0.
Reay posted on social media, “Before it all went down hill,” along with a variety of emojis, including a laughing face, a middle finger, and a football, despite being detained.
She also said, “Just hope I don’t get banned,” in one of her remarks.
Reay was charged with hurling a missile onto a football playing area under the Football (Offenses) Act of 1991 when she appeared in Sefton Magistrates’ Court in Merseyside last Thursday.
Despite her denials, she was found guilty after a trial. This month’s sentencing for her is scheduled.
After the match, Reay playfully shared a picture of herself (left) and her partner Libby Case (center) with the caption: “Before it all went down hill.”
She currently faces a Football Banning Order that could make her ineligible to play on any British field, making her one of the first women to be barred from the country.
Julie Phillips, a 51-year-old Middlesbrough supporter, was the first woman to be barred from football stadiums in England and Wales after she tore pages of the Koran at an away game against Birmingham City in December 2014. She was given a three-year ban.
Reay’s actions occurred just after the break as Forest Green increased their lead and enraged supporters at the Kop end launched missiles onto the field to vent their rage.
Stewards swarmed the crowd in an effort to catch the missile thrower, but Reay was visible stooping and throwing the flare onto the field.
After being stopped by police on her way out of her house, she was subsequently interviewed there.
The 23-year-old said that several “lads” behind her brought the flare, and she flung it away in a “panic” to save her brother Joel and partner Libby Case.
She was adamant that when she raised her arms in the air, it was not a celebration.
She spoke on her own behalf and stated: “We had moved a few seats in front of these men, but they rocked down and that’s when the flare has arrived and it was smoking at my feet.
The first thing I thought was to get it away because Joel was on one side and my partner was on the other. It went right onto the football field. I then turned around and yelled at the guys, “F*** off.”
‘I’ve been going to Tranmere all my life and I despise things like this. There was nowhere else I could possibly put it. I was arrested the next thing I knew since everything occurred so quickly.
The hearing was next addressed by Ms. Case, an asthmatic, who stated: “The lads told us that they had flares in their pockets.” The flare was on my feet by the conclusion of the first half.
I panicked since I have asthma and did not want to breathe in the smoke. When Abbie became anxious, she simply picked it up and flung it, and the cops arrived.
The men in behind did state that it was not her flare.
She did admit throwing the flare, according to a Prenton Park police officer.
She claimed that after feeling it strike her and cause her to fall to the ground, she threw the object aside in a fit of fear.
She said that she had only picked it up out of fear and because it was on fire close to her.
Since she was at a loss for what to do, she immediately considered throwing it onto the field.
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