The Football Association is “seeking observations” after missiles were thrown at a West Brom player during Saturday’s game against Huddersfield Town.
Town fans reacted with fury following a tough challenge by James McClean on winger Tom Ince late in the game which Town won 1-0.
Bottles, coins and lighters were apparently thrown at McClean from the Britannia Rescue stand.
The player was already subject to Town fans’ anger following his refusal to wear a poppy for the Remembrance Day match. He was booked for the tackle.
In a statement the FA said: “We have now received the match officials’ report and will be seeking observations from Huddersfield Town AFC.”
McClean, 28, was furious following the incident describing the culprits as “cowards” on his Instagram account.
And Almondbury Tory councillor Bernard McGuin, writing on the Examiner’s website, said: “McClean has made a political point of not wearing a poppy and disrespecting the national anthem.
“His tackle was outrageous, he ran towards the fans when an object came at him. Having said all that we have to ban people who throw objects.
“This is not acceptable. He has the right to not wear a poppy, people died to guarantee his right to free speech and political freedom.
“He must accept that others are entitled to protest, without violence, towards him.”
Huddersfield Town have been asked to comment on what happened.
McClean, who is from Derry, Northern Ireland, has refused to wear the traditional Remembrance Day poppy on his shirt each and every year since first moving to England to join Sunderland in 2011.
He grew up on the Creggan estate, where six of the people killed on Bloody Sunday in 1972 came from. On that day British soldiers shot 28 unarmed civilians during a peaceful protest march.
Two years ago in 2015, he explained his reasons in the West Brom matchday programme saying: “If the poppy was simply about World War One and Two victims alone, I’d wear it without a problem.
“I would wear it every day of the year if that was the thing but it doesn’t.
“It stands for all the conflicts that Britain has been involved in. Because of the history where I come from in Derry, I cannot wear something that represents that.”
