Coventry City fan who threw flare inside Stadium of Light fails in bid to have banning order ended early

Coventry City fan Daniel Nealon, 31, told a court he had reformed following the birth of his daughter – and now wanted to take her to matches.

Nealon, of David Wood Drive, Wood End, Coventry, was given a five-year ban from attending regulated soccer games in the UK in 2019.

It was imposed after he pleaded guilty to a public order offence following Sunderland’s match against the Sky Blues at the Stadium of Light on April 14 that year.

South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court heard he did not light the flare but was seen to pick it up and throw it inside the away supporters’ bar.

In court, PC Andrea Sadler, of Northumbria Police’s Football Banning Unit, described Nealon’s matchday actions as “irresponsible” and opposed his application.

It was also revealed he had been given an eight-year banning order and jailed in August 2008 for his part in football-related violence in Leicester when aged 17.

Under the terms of the Football Spectators Act, he was allowed to apply for his latest ban to be lifted two-thirds of the way through.

Via video link from home, Nealon said he “apologised unreservedly” for his past misdeeds and claimed he was a changed man.

He said the birth of his daughter had added to his reformation.

Nealon also said he had recently been promoted at work and was due to marry.

PC Sadler also told the hearing the match had been viewed as “high risk” due to disorder when Sunderland had played at Coventry earlier in the season.

She said there was “quite a lot of hatred” between the two sets of fans and that trouble had occurred around Sunderland during the return fixture.

District Judge Kathryn Meek told Nealon she recognised his desire to get his daughter involved in football and that he wanted to return to matches.

But she said his record of two football-related disorder incidents were too significant to allow his application.

She told him he could make a repeat application but not within six months.