Pitch Invasion - Rugby League

Rugby League

In New South Wales Rugby League matches up until the 1980s, spectators often took to the field on the completion of the match within seconds after the final siren. This required the players to navigate through a crowd of people when coming off the field, and the cardboard corner posts were usually taken as "souvenirs".

This practice was discouraged when the publicly viewable game clock stopped with five minutes to play in order to ensure that spectators, not knowing when the game was about to finish, could not jump the gun and enter the playing arena with the game unfinished. Eventually the tradition died out, and spectators rarely, if ever, take the field in the present day National Rugby League; fines of $7000 and lifetime bans exist for those who do so.

In 2007, a match between Hull KR and Hull FC at Craven Park also known as the 'Hull Derby', the match ended at a score off 30 – 20 in favor of Hull FC. After the final whistle Hull FC fans raided the pitch to congratulate their players; however, it got out of control after drunk and drug-affected KR fans came onto the pitch, and damage was caused to the ground.

The Rugby Football League fined both clubs; however, it heavily criticized Hull KR for the lack of stewards at the ground.