Sheffield footballer jailed over headbutt that caused a riot

It is the second time that Craig Haythorne, 30, has received a jail term for violence on the pitch.

After he kicked an opponent, Haythorne was shown the red card, but then he butted 23-year-old Matthew Savage.

As spectators from the home crowd waded into an on-pitch melee, the police had to be called before the match was abandoned.

Referee Melvyn Scarborough told police: “In 18 years as a referee I have never witnessed anything so violent.”

Sheffield Crown Court heard Haythorne received a six-month suspended jail term in June 2009 after his late tackle left an opponent with a calf wound that required 56 stitches.

Trouble flared half-an-hour into the crunch Sheffield and Hallamshire Sunday Senior Challenge Cup match between Punchbowl and AFP from Rotherham, said Stephanie Hollis, prosecuting.

Haythorne was tackled by Mr Savage and brought to the ground.

As he got up, he confronted Mr Savage and kicked him in the left thigh. Players from both sides began arguing and Haythorne was shown the red card.

But instead of walking from the pitch he butted Mr Savage in the face.

The victim was taken to hospital in an ambulance, while Haythorne was arrested on the pitch by police.

The court heard he picked up the previous jail term for assault causing grievous bodily harm, suspended for two years, following a match in October 2008 in Tinsley.

Haythorne, of Bowden Wood Drive, Waltheof, admitted assault causing actual bodily harm to Mr Savage on October 28 last year.

He also has a conviction for assault in 2007.

Judge Roger Keen jailed Haythorne, who has apparently given up football for good, for six months.

He told him: “People who use this type of violence in the sporting arena must understand that prison sentences will follow.”

The judge added: “That sort of violence in this sort of situation does not allow me, given your history of offending, to suspend what is an inevitable prison sentence.”