Aberdeen player victim of attack by club’s own fans as he gets hurt by seats thrown which struck him on the head.
Aberdeen player struck on head by seat thrown by own fans.
Following Aberdeen’s 2-1 loss against Dundee United, defender Jack MacKenzie suffered a head injury from a seat thrown by his own supporters, which Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin called “totally unacceptable.”
After the final-day victory secured fourth place in the Premiership and a spot in Europe, barring Aberdeen defeating Celtic in the Scottish Cup final, home fans flooded the pitch at Tannadice. After being hit by a seat thrown from the Aberdeen supporters’ section, MacKenzie, an unutilised substitute, received extensive medical attention before being wheeled away in a wheelchair with a bloody bandage over his head and stitches needed.
Police Scotland statement read: “Part of a chair was thrown from the upper deck of the Fair Play Stand striking an Aberdeen player. He received treatment at the scene and will require further medical assessment.”
United’s lap of honour was called off and Thelin said: “What’s happened is totally unacceptable. It is a bad injury, but Jack is OK so let’s see how it feels after more minutes. It really, really bad. I haven’t seen exactly what happened but our player got hurt, bad. Everyone understands that is not OK.”
Jim Goodwin, who was pelted with missiles from Dons fans when they visited in December, was equally condemnatory. The former Aberdeen manager said: “It’s an absolute disgrace. I’m gutted for Jack MacKenzie, who’s a terrific young player, and for him to be hit and seriously damaged by an object thrown by his own supporters, it’s crazy. And it’s not the first time.
“I’ve had a number of objects thrown at me throughout the season by the Aberdeen supporters and nothing has been done about it. So maybe it’ll take a serious incident like this to happen in order for the authorities to really step in, take notice and punish those guys and ban them from football for life.”