PFA issues 'role models' reminder

The Professional Footballers' Association believes players should remember they are role models whenever they take to the pitch – but concedes the pressures of the modern game can take their toll.

The message follows unsavoury incidents surrounding Aston Villa's 2-0 Premiership defeat to Birmingham City on Monday. The Villa striker Dion Dublin was sent off for a head butt on the Blues' midfielder Robbie Savage while Joey Gudjonsson was sent off for a two-footed lunge on Birmingham's Matthew Upson. Fans ran on to the pitch after the second red card, with one confronting Savage, who needed to be escorted to the dressing room by stewards after his substitution. Dublin quickly made a public apology for his actions, holding a press conference to do so.

According to the PFA's deputy chief executive, Mick Maguire, players do have a responsibility when they are in the public eye, although it is a gaze which can affect the most experienced of professionals.

"Because of the increased attention on football today and all the success stories and how it is centre stage in society, players are under the spotlight and as such they are role models," he said. "But they have to be aware a pitch is not an oasis. In this instance we are talking about a highly-charged derby game with a massive amount at stake for both sides and for different reasons. It was a physical encounter, as they often are, and it's fair to say it did tip over the edge.

"While players do have a responsibility when they are on the pitch and they are these role models, we must understand the difficulties they sometimes find themselves in."

Maguire added that he was pleased with Dublin's apologetic response: "It is to his credit, as there has been no better role model than Dion over the years, that he realised his error and was quick to apologise."