From a severed pig’s head and a Vespa scooter, now add a cabbage.
Under-fire Aston Villa manager Steve Bruce was the victim of a vegetable-based protest before his side’s Championship match with Preston on Tuesday night. On Wednesday he was sacked by the club.
The leafy green food was the latest bizarre object to be thrown on to a football pitch by an angry supporter.
Here, Press Association Sport looks back at some of the other things flung from the stands:
A pig’s head
23-11-2002: a warm welcome. baby pig's head thrown towards Luis Figo pic.twitter.com/awSCwNaLCp
— AS English (@English_AS) April 16, 2014
Luis Figo was one of Barcelona’s biggest stars. Adored by the fans, he sent a dagger through their hearts when in July 2000 he signed for their arch rivals Real Madrid for a then-world record fee of £37.2million. Barca fans expressed their disgust every time he returned to the Nou Camp, but never more so than in November 2002. When Figo jogged across to take a corner midway through the second half, debris rained down towards him from the stands. In among the coins and bottles was a pig’s head.
Toy pigs and crisp packets
Charlton fans have staged a series of protests against the club’s owner Roland Duchatelet. During a 2016 League One clash with Coventry, the match was brought to a halt after hundreds of toy pigs were thrown on to the pitch. Most recently this season, packets of crisps were launched on to the turf at The Valley during the home match against Fleetwood.
Tennis balls
Stoppage in play as Hull fans throw tennis balls onto the pitch in protest against the Allams 🎾 pic.twitter.com/Ik0hU6WrGP
— Simon Peach (@SimonPeach) February 23, 2018
Earlier this year in February, Hull’s derby clash against Sheffield United had to be halted after Tigers fans threw tennis balls on to the pitch in protest against the club’s owners Assem and Ehab Allam. It was the second time it had happened at the KCOM Stadium that season after Hull’s home game against Nottingham Forest also saw balls hurled on to the pitch.
Beach ball
ON THIS DAY in 2009, Darren Bent's goal – via a beach ball – saw Sunderland beat Liverpool http://t.co/Sa1OuBXfb0 pic.twitter.com/CQypFinAgZ
— Premier League (@premierleague) October 17, 2013
In October 2009, a beach ball thrown on to the pitch by a Liverpool fan condemned his side to defeat at Sunderland. A Darren Bent shot hit the inflatable and deflected into the net past Jose Reina. The goal was allowed to stand and it proved the winner in a 1-0 Sunderland victory.
Vespa scooter
In 2001 a group of Inter Milan fans somehow got a scooter into the San Siro, set it on fire and attempted to hurl it from the tiered stand on to the pitch. Fortunately they were unsuccessful.
Wheelbarrow
Shine on, Azulcremas pic.twitter.com/VhQ8wDDNWm
— Club América (@ClubAmerica_EN) September 30, 2018
In 2004, supporters of Mexican club side America saw Inter Milan’s scooter – and raised them a wheelbarrow. The Copa Libertadores quarter-final clash with Sao Caetano saw an on-field brawl between players after the final whistle. Fans duly joined in with the chaos and one, from somewhere, managed to lob a wheelbarrow on to the pitch.
Mars bar
No such list would be complete without Paul Gascoigne. Known to be a fan of Mars bars, Gazza was pelted with the confectionery treat by opposition fans while playing for Newcastle. During one game, he picked one up, opened it and ate it. After leaving Newcastle, Gazza had frozen Mars bars thrown at him by home fans on his return to St James’ Park as a Tottenham player.
