BREAKING: Collingwood Key player has been banned following his…

• Collingwood player has been banned for the rest of season

  A Collingwood fan who has been banned from footy following an incident with West Coast star Harvey Johnston over the weekend also had another famous clash with a player in 2022.

  The AFL took a dim view of Justin Witcombe’s conduct after he reached over the boundary to pat the footy star on the head in an innocent-looking exchange that Johnston laughed about.

  The heavily-tattooed Pies fan broke a cardinal rule by touching Johnson before taking the football from him and handballing it to the umpire.

  

  Witcombe was immediately regretful of his actions and gave his details to police and Marvel Stadium security, making clear that he should not have touched the player.

  Witcombe was immediately regretful of his actions and gave his details to police and Marvel Stadium security, making clear that he should not have touched the player.

  Collingwood fan Justin Witcombe has been banned for the rest of 2024 for touching West Coast star Harvey Johnston over the weekend

  However, his remorse has not won him any mercy from the AFL, with the fan banned for 12 months, six of which are suspended, while Collingwood have ripped up his membership for the remainder of 2024.

  The diehard Pies fan also had a headline-making interaction with Bulldogs star Bailey Smith in May 2022.

  Smith took a mark on the boundary line and copped a gobful from Witcombe, which left other Collingwood fans laughing.

  Smith enjoyed the heckle and could be seen giggling and sticking his tongue out in Witcombe’s direction after kicking the goal.

  Witcombe reportedly heckled him about an incident at a Gold Coast pub a week after the 2021 grand final, which saw police receive and dismiss a complaint about Smith.

  ‘I don’t want to see him in the streets. He looked like a scary boy,’ Smith told Channel Seven after the match.

  ‘But I love that interaction with the crowd.’

  

  Speaking to Nine yesterday, Witcombe, whose family has been grieving for his brother in the past two weeks, said missing his beloved Pies is going to be a tough pill to swallow.

  ‘It’s going to kill me not going to a Collingwood game because I’ve been going since the 1980s with Mum and Dad,’ said Witcombe, who was beside himself with regret.

  ‘I just saw the ball come to the fence and I sort of stood up and it just happened. It was a reflex reaction and just a pat on the head and the ball came loose and I handballed it to the umpire.

  ‘I’m very sorry for this. It won’t happen again. I will learn from this and I’ll be a better person for it.

  ‘At no stage did he ever give me permission to put my hands on him. It’s uncalled for and it’s not acceptable in today’s world.’

  Witcombe, looking down the camera, said: ‘I’m really sorry for my family. I’ve embarrassed myself and them. I know I’ll learn from this and I’ll be back.

  ‘I was there as a family man and I left as a broken man.’