A FOOTBALL coach has been spared jail after admitting headbutting his counterpart during a youth match.

Aaron Cooper pleaded guilty on the day of his planned trial to one count of inflicting actual bodily harm, having attacked Shaun Taylor during an “unseemly brawl” between the rival coaches of two under-13 football teams at Fryer Field Recreation Ground in Ferndown.

The match between Poole Town Youth and Grange Athletic, which took place in March last year, was cancelled and several children were led away in tears by the 15-year-old referee, who was himself subjected to verbal abuse from the touchlines during the game.

At Bournemouth Crown Court, prosecutor Stuart Ellacott said father-of-four Cooper had told police after the incident that it had been a “really vital game”.

He said the 34-year-old and his fellow Poole Town Youth coach Richard Bragginton formed the opinion that there had been “dodgy decisions” made by the teenage referee.

“What seems to have been the catalyst was a free kick awarded just outside the Poole Town area,” he said.

“Mr Bragginton accepts he pushed Mr Taylor first, then was pushed as he turned away. These two gentlemen were supposed to be setting an example for the under-13s.

“There was a scuffle with both scrabbling on the floor.”

He said several coaches, including Cooper, intervened to separate the pair, upon which the defendant “steps forward and headbutts the victim”, leaving Taylor with a mouth injury which required stitches in hospital.

In his basis of plea, accepted by the court, Cooper said he had felt he needed to use force to defend himself, but he accepted his actions had been excessive.

In mitigation, Nicholas Robinson said his client had quickly expressed regret that the incident had been witnessed by children, and would likely be banned from his coaching role by the FA.

“I know the court will feel this is quite right,” he said.

“But he is passionate about football and passionate about helping children in the teams he has volunteered with. This is a massive punishment for him.”

Passing a sentence of seven months imprisonment, suspended for a year, Judge Jonathan Fuller said the “unseemly brawl” was “wholly unacceptable”.

“You should feel ashamed of yourself,” he said.

Cooper, of Alder Crescent, Poole, was ordered to complete 150 hours’ unpaid work and pay £400 compensation to the victim.