The 8 strangest things fans have thrown at players
Dead rats are just the latest in a long line of strange things fans have hurled onto the football field over the years.
The site of FC Copenhagen defender Ludwig Augustinsson kicking the limp bodies of dead rats off the pitch so he could finish taking his corner will live long in the memories of the fans at Brondby Stadium on Wednesday morning.
A disgruntled home supporter had thrown four dead rodents at Augustinsson as the defender stepped up to take a corner in the dying stages of his side's win.
The player himself was mortified, although he saw the funny side of it on Instagram.
While most supporters are more accustomed to hurling insults than dead animals, rats barely rate a mention on the scale of weird things that have been tossed from the terraces onto the grass over the years. For example...
Severed bull’s head – RB Leipzig v Dynamo Dresden, 2016
Rasenballsport Leipzig has stormed up the ranks of German football since its inception in 2009, but the Bundesliga side’s rapid rise has come under heavy criticism in Germany for a variety of reasons, not least Red Bull's involvement.
Tensions reached fever pitch in 2016, when ‘the Bulls’ took on Dynamo Drysden in the German Cup.
Dyrsden fans showed their disapproval by lobbing a severed Bulls head from the stands.
The German second division club was crying ‘bull!’ after it was fined $85,200 for the stunt.
A scooter – Inter Milan v Atalanta, 2001
You have to wonder what security guards were up to when Inter Milan fans managed to sneak a stolen moped into the San Siro.
Once inside, fans attempted to set the lightweight vehicle on fire, failed, then angrily threw it over the edge of the stand and onto an empty section of the lower deck.
Pig's head – Barcelona v Real Madrid, 2002
Portuguese legend Luis Figo was one of the few players - and by far the highest profile one - to leave Barcelona for eternal rival Real Madrid. When he returned to the Camp Nou in 2002, dressed in all white, he was greeted by coins, a bottle of Jim beam and a severed Pigs head.
Players had to be escorted from the pitch for 13 minutes for their safety.
After landing with a thud on the Camp Nou Turf, the porky cranium came to rest in a German football museum. Oh, the stories that slab of bacon could tell.
The beachball – Liverpool v Sunderland, 2009
Who could forget the infamous beachball incident during Liverpool’s 1-0 defeat to Sunderland at Anfield?
Reds fan Callum Campbell sent a beachball flying into the Liverpool goalmouth in what he thought was jovial banter.
Unfortunately for Campbell, it cost Liverpool the match when Darren Bent’s strike collided into the stray ball, catching goalkeeper Pepe Reina off guard.
Tennis balls – Borussia Dortmund v Stuttgart, 2016
Borussia Dortmund fans had the balls to protest rising ticket prices in their side’s cup match against Stuttgart last season.
Fans showed their distaste for $28 tickets by making it rain tennis balls at Mercedes-Benz Arena in Stuttgart.
Mars Bars – Newcastle v Tottenham Hotspur, 1988
Lets face it, when compared to pigs heads and mopeds, having a few Mars Bar thrown at you isn't that bad.
Paul Gascoigne once professed his love for Mars Bars and after swapping Newcastle for Tottenham in 1988, the midfielder had a special surprise waiting for him on his return to St James Park.
Geordie fans tossed Mars Bars at Gascoigne, who turned lemons into lemonade by taking a bite out of one of his beloved bars.
Wheelbarrows – America v Sao Caentano, 2004
Tensions boiled over during the Copa Libertadores quarter-final between America and Sao Caetano when Cuauhemoc Blanco was sent off.
After the America striker re-emerged from the dressing room fans erupted throwing the usual bottles and coins, but an airborne wheelbarrow stood out from the crowd. This begs the question, how did a fan manage to smuggle a wheelbarrow into the stadium in the first place?
