Fleetwood Town's Shaun Rooney charged by FA after angry altercation with Sheffield Wednesday boss Darren Moore

Rooney was sent off for a foul on Marvin Johnson but has been charged with a breach of FA Rule E3.1, which states: “a Participant shall at all times act in the best interests of the game and shall not act in any manner which is improper or brings the game into disrepute or use any one, or a combination of, violent conduct, serious foul play, threatening, abusive, indecent or insulting words or behaviour”.

Rooney reacted angrily to his dismissal and was captured pushing Owls boss Darren Moore on the touchline before being restrained by his own coaching staff.

An FA Spokesperson said in a statement: “Fleetwood Town FC defender Shaun Rooney has been charged with a breach of FA Rule E3.1 following the EFL League One fixture against Sheffield Wednesday FC on Monday 26 December 2022.

“It is alleged that his behaviour following his dismissal in the 83rd minute was improper and/or threatening. Shaun Rooney has until Wednesday 4 January 2023 to provide a response.”

Rooney scored for Fleetwood on Boxing Day but the Owls came from behind thanks to goals from George Byers and Marvin Johnson. Moore said of the incident with the player: “My reading of it was that he got booked for the first challenge on Tyreeq, and he came over to me and said, 'Are your players soft or what?' I said it was a booking because he had taken him from behind. In the rules of the game, it is a booking.

"We carried on and in the game I could hear he was really, really wound up. The second was a booking again and I think the referee got it right. As he came off, I'm stood in the dugout trying to bark out orders and he's pointing straight at me and he’s decided to manhandle me.”

Fleetwood boss Scott Brown expressed his disappointment in his player, stating: “Roons has let himself down. It’s not the sending off, it’s the manner of what happened afterwards and for me, that’s not the way I want my players to react. If you get sent off, you take it on the chin, sometimes you might clip somebody if they get in, that’s fine. But you take it on the chin.

"You don’t start world war three in the middle of the park and then with the fans chanting start to go for everybody else. It’s not for me, that. We’ll deal with that in-house and I’m sure he’ll get a ban as well. It’s not the way you should act on the pitch.”