A FOOTBALLER who rubbed dirt in an opposing player's face and punched him was given the maximum unpaid work sentence of 300 hours.
Saltney Ferry FC goalkeeper Simon Williams, 26, of Woodside Road, Blacon, was also ordered to pay his victim, Tarvin Rex player Stephen Goulding, £5,000 compensation and given a six-month jail sentence suspended for two years.
Chester Magistrates Court heard that Williams, who is now the club’s director of football, broke several of the Tarvin player’s teeth in the assault.
On Sunday, February 15, Williams ended up on the losing side in a Chester Sunday League match against Tarvin Rex in Tarvin.
Following a fraught affair where both players’ and supporters’ tempers frayed, Williams tried to lighten the mood by rubbing dirt in to Goulding’s face.
The victim responded by swearing at Williams who then retaliated by punching him in the face, causing severe injuries.
James Bagby, defending, said: “He is ashamed in the way that he has behaved.”
Williams was also banned from playing football until January 2010 by the North East Wales FA.
