Hedgehog pitch invader brought football match to a halt before stabbing assistant referee

A spiky pitch invader brought a non-league football match between Hitchin Town and Arlesey Town to a brief standstill on Monday.

An hour into the Red Insure Cup tie at Top Field, one of the referee’s assistants was notified by the crowd that a hedgehog had scampered on to the pitch – and set about trying to rescue it.



He flagged to the man in the middle to pause the game, before walking on to the pitch. However, noticing his colleague had yet to blow his whistle he hurriedly tried to pick up the mammal, only to jump back reeling in pain as he’d grabbed hold of the creature’s spines – much to the amusement of the fans.

Along came the referee to see what the fuss was about, and between the two officials they gently lifted the pitch invader to a safe place and resumed the game. Arlesey eventually won the game 6-5 on penalties after a 2-2 draw.