AN AMATEUR football club has today been fined and suspended from the league, after an alleged assault on the referee by two players.The pair from Belstead Arms Football Club have also been banned from playing, for life.

AN AMATEUR football club has today been fined and suspended from the league, after an alleged assault on the referee by two players.

The pair from Belstead Arms Football Club have also been banned from playing, for life.

It is believed that referee Christopher Dale was attacked by the players, who were angry at a decision he made to send a player off, on Sunday.

In this Saturday's Select Technical Services Sunday League note in the Green Un, officials will confirm the team's suspension from the league.

A note from the league to the Green Un today, said: "Belstead Arms Football Club has been suspended from our league. This comes from last week's game against St Clements dated April 6.

"As you would have seen in this week's Evening Star and East Anglian Daily Times, a referee was attacked by two players from Belstead Arms. The club has also received a fine, in which as a league we will keep in-house.

"The two players also received from our league, life bans."

As the Star revealed on Monday , tempers boiled over at match, which had to be abandoned and police were called.

The Belstead Arms had been playing St Clements at Whitton Utd's ground, King George's Field off Old Norwich Road, when the trouble kicked off.

Mr Dale, from Elmcroft Road, was taken to hospital where doctors today described his condition as satisfactory.

Disciplinary action was discussed at a league committee meeting on Tuesday night, and the Suffolk County Football Association - for whom a spokesman was unavailable to comment today is also investigating the incident.

A spokesman for the St Clement's team has declined to comment, as has Mr Dale's wife.

Belstead Arms' secretary Jay Mulvey said other Belstead Arms players broke up the incident.

Suffolk Police are today investigating the complaint of an assault.

The fight was at least the second alleged fist fight, to have blighted local football already this year.

Brantham Athletic manager Peter Gorham, 50, from Manor Terrace, Felixstowe, is due to appear before magistrates on April 22, charged with common assault on Paul Tietgen - the boss of rival team Willis and Kesgrave Utd - on January 18.

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