Clubs fined £150,000

All clubs have been warned that they face having league points deducted if their players are involved in the sort of mass brawl for which Leeds United and Tottenham Hotspur received record fines yesterday.

The English Football Association, worried about the image of the game, decided to get tough by fining the two clubs Stg £150,000 each following the 18-man fracas during the Premiership game at Elland Road on February 12th.

"We're putting a marker down that, in particular for next season, the clubs can be under no illusions," said the FA spokesman Steve Double.

"If this sort of thing happens again, the punishment will be more severe - particularly for these clubs. But the message is there for other clubs as well - that points deductions are an option that we will use."

Leeds, whose hopes of catching the Premiership leaders Manchester United, and even finishing in a Champions League spot, would have been badly dented by a points deduction, accepted their punishment. However, Tottenham felt hard done by because they felt the second-half fracas was caused by a Leeds player.

Spurs, represented at the hearing by their manager, George Graham, said they were "very disappointed" at being found guilty. A statement added: "The club stated quite clearly at the hearing that the incident in question was instigated by a Leeds player. Tottenham are considering an appeal."

The Leeds chairman Peter Ridsdale accepted his players' part in the brawl. "We are a Premiership club and the image of the game is very important to me," he said. "As long as we had a fair hearing and we were able to properly state our case we would always abide by FA decisions, which we do in this case."

The previous record fine for a mass brawl was the £50,000 handed out to both Manchester United and Arsenal 10 years ago, though on that occasion points were deducted - Arsenal losing two and United one.

Leeds's Republic of Ireland international Ian Harte was cleared of a separate charge of stamping on Tottenham's Chris Perry during the same match.

Earlier, the Spurs midfielder Tim Sherwood was cleared on video evidence of making an obscene gesture to the crowd during November's Premiership game at Newcastle United.

Meanwhile, Paul Bracewell (37) was sacked as manager of Fulham after less than a year in charge. Chairman Mohamed Al Fayed and the Fulham board took the decision after Saturday's last-minute defeat at Ipswich left the club 10 points off the play-off zone with seven games to go.