Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder has been charged with improper conduct by the Football Association following an incident during his side’s recent home defeat to Southampton.
The 58-year-old was shown a red card after the half-time whistle for kicking the ball into the stands, where it struck a fan. Wilder has until Wednesday, 8 October to formally respond to the charge.
Speaking about the incident last week, Wilder acknowledged the situation but defended his actions.
“If I’d gone after the referee at half-time or deliberately booted the ball at him or the fourth official, I’d fully accept the punishment and wouldn’t appeal,” he said. “But I will appeal, because as everyone saw, I just casually knocked the ball back — it took off a bit more than expected.
“It went straight into the stand, I apologised to the guy it hit, we cleared it up, and then I turned around and the red card was in my face.”
Sheffield United currently sit bottom of the Championship table, having lost eight of their first nine league matches.
