Someone who will not be on the terraces to follow developments this season is
Robert Garland, of St Lawrence Way in Coulsdon, who has been
fined and banned from attending games for three years after he made racist gestures to Tottenham Hotspur FC footballer,
Son Heung-min when the footballer was substituted in the closing stages of a Premier League match against Crystal Palace FC at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on 6 May 2023.
Robert Garland pleaded guilty to racially aggravated harassment at Highbury Magistrates’ Court on 25 August 2023. He was given a
£1,384 fine and ordered to carry out 60 hours of unpaid work, as well as £85 costs. At that hearing,
Robert Garland told Highbury Magistrates’ that he had signed up for the anti-racism football charity Kick It Out and said he would never commit and offence like this again. They therefore decided
not to impose a football banning order.
However, on 6 November 2023, prosecutors successfully appealed to add a Football Banning Order to
Robert Garland's sentence. The ban means that
Robert Garland will not be able to go to any regulated match for three years and will need to surrender his passport during international fixtures.