A Dundee amateur footballer has said an opponent who broke his jaw and knocked him out during a pitch rammy shouldn’t be locked up.
Josh McHugh, 22, of Hilltown, was playing for Queen Anne FC in a game at Lochee Park when he was attacked by Ross Sinclair of Plough Athletic.
The former Harris Academy pupil’s attacker could now be facing jail after being found guilty of the assault.
Josh told the Tele how the attack had left him “seething” but revealed he didn’t want the culprit put behind bars.
Describing the moment leading up to the incident, he said: “It had been a fairly normal game.
“I had been speaking to the opposition prior to kick-off and they were really sound guys.
“But during the game things got a bit heated.”
Queen Anne FC were leading 2-1 in the dying seconds of the match when violence erupted.
Josh said: “I had gone in for a tackle with an opponent, but after we got up the guy proceeded to rugby tackle me and there was an altercation.”
Members of both teams separated the two players and Josh thought the matter had been dealt with.
He said: “When I was being ushered away, the other guy must have got away from the guys holding him back .
“He punched me once on the back of my head, knocking me out cold.
“I must have been unconscious for about 15 seconds but when I woke up he was still kicking me.
“I knew right away my jaw was broken because I had broken it three years previously.
“I told the boy I’d broken my jaw and he stopped kicking me.
“I was absolutely seething as I knew the surgical procedures that would follow.”
Josh’s girlfriend, Emine Tastekin, 22, had gone to watch him play for the first time, and the footballer said she had been left deeply upset by what had happened.
He said: “We went up to Ninewells Hospital and I was admitted straight away.
“At this point, I could only speak with my mouth closed but I had loads of things running through my mind.”
Josh — a painter and decorator — had an operation to have metal plates permanently inserted on the inside of his cheeks.
He said: “I could only eat soup and soft foods for the next two months — it was a nightmare.”
Josh, who now plays for Fintry Rovers, added: “I was obviously angry although I don’t want the boy jailed. But I think he needs to be taught a lesson.”
Sinclair, 20, of Peffers Place, Forfar, denied a charge on indictment of assault to severe injury but a jury found him guilty.
Sheriff Alastair Brown deferred sentence until next month for social work background reports and released him on bail.
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