Crawley boss John Yems handed touchline ban over ‘clowns’ comments

Crawley boss John Yems has been handed a three-match touchline ban by the Football Association for calling match officials “clowns”.

Yems went on a tirade against referee Brett Huxtable and his assistants after Crawley’s 1-0 defeat to Hartlepool, where Omar Bogle avoided a red card for a bad tackle on Josh Payne and then went on to score the winner.

He said in an interview published on Crawley’s official website: “You can’t say nothing to these clowns because they won’t do nothing.

“And I mean clowns. Absolutely ruined the game.

“But you can’t say nothing to these clowns because they won’t do nothing.

“And then the geezer scores a goal. Payney will be out now. Payney has got a mark on his leg like Jack the Ripper has got hold of him.”

Yems must now watch the next three games from the stands and has also been hit with a £2,250 after admitting four breaches of FA Rule E3.

An FA statement read: “John Yems has been suspended from the touchline for three matches and fined £2,250 after admitting a consolidated charge for four breaches of FA Rule E3.

“The Crawley Town FC manager used abusive and insulting words towards a match official following the end of their EFL League Two fixture against Hartlepool United FC on Saturday 12 February 2022. He also used abusive and insulting words and gestures towards a match official following his dismissal.

“In addition, comments made by John Yems during media interviews for Crawley Town FC’s channels and a local newspaper following the same fixture constituted improper conduct as they are personally offensive and attack the integrity of the match official and bring the game into disrepute.

“An independent Regulatory Commission was subsequently convened and imposed the above sanction during a paper hearing.”