St Albans Soccer Club’s FFA Cup campaign has been thrown into disarray with the Saints parting ways with coach Toby Paterson and his midfielder son, Brodie.
The move was made after the pair were involved in an incident following the club’s round 23 loss to Richmond.
It’s alleged that a Richmond player threatened Brodie moments after the match, and that he and his father responded.
That led to a confrontation between the two sides. Although no one was injured, the Saints made the decision to stand the pair down.
St Albans committee member Joseph Hovanjec said it was an unfortunate incident.
“The two sides did confront each other and marshals came in to make sure it didn’t go any further than that,’’ he said.
‘‘It was enough for the referees to see what had happened and they were going to make a statement. Like every other club, we have to abide by a certain code of behaviour.”
Assistant coach Steve Laurie, who was not involved in the incident, has also parted ways with the Saints.
The timing couldn’t be worse for the club, which takes on Perth Glory in the FFA Cup next week.
The Saints are also fighting for promotion in the National Premier League 1 competition.
Hovanjec said it had been a tough decision to make after so much success in 2014, Paterson’s first year as coach.
“It hurts, it really hurts,” he said.
“To go through the success we have had with the Dockerty Cup, with the way we have performed in the NPL and also how far we have gone with the FFA Cup.
“At the end of the day, everyone understands we do have responsibilities and sometimes emotions can take over, but the club comes first.’’
St Albans will be managed by captain Ryan McGuffie for the rest of the season.
