In what was arguably Jhon Durán’s last headline-grabbing moment as an Aston Villa player, the details of an angry tunnel bust-up after the Newcastle match have now been revealed in documents released by the Football Association.
Here is how the Boxing Day incident at St James’ Park unfolded...
Duran red card causes tempers to fray
Durán had already been involved in a terse exchange with manager Unai Emery as Villa struggled to get going on their trip to St James’ Park and was not playing well. Emotions were running high when he chased down Fabian Schär in the first half.
After a coming together, Durán’s boots raked the back of the Newcastle defender, twice.
The Colombian international insisted the contact had been accidental, but referee Anthony Taylor decided it was serious foul play and showed a straight red card. The decision was upheld by VAR.
Durán took his time leaving the field of play and booted a water bottle as he finally left the pitch. Villa were furious about the decision and felt the reaction of Newcastle’s bench, as well as the home crowd, had helped get their man sent off.
As the two sets of staff argued with each other on the touchline, Newcastle assistant manager Jason Tindall repeatedly held his fingers to his lips in the direction of Emery, telling him to be quiet. It was a red rag to an already angry Spanish bull.
Villa’s view on confrontation
It is fair to say that recollections varied, but the evidence submitted by Villa claimed they had been provoked and then threatened, with Tindall at the centre of the incident.
Although the various reports from Taylor, as well as the fourth official, confirmed they had seen both parties behaving in an intimidating and aggressive manner, a statement from Villa club’s secretary Sharon Barnhurst insisted Tindall’s behaviour on the touchline, in the tunnel, and after the game was wholly unacceptable and deliberately antagonistic.
The FA report stated that Barnhurst submitted the following in an email dated January 3: “I have taken the opportunity to talk to various people who were present both pitchside and in the tunnel at half-time and I give below our observations:
“During the first half Jason Tindall, on three or four occasions was waving his finger at and ‘shushing’ our head coach, Unai Emery, in a very disrespectful and antagonising manner.
“The fourth official wasn’t helpful and didn’t try and put a stop to this. On the way back inside at half-time, our analyst, Victor Manas, asked Mr Tindall to stop antagonising Mr Emery and this escalated into a heated exchange of words.
“As the situation escalated, Mr Tindall moved towards Mr Manas in an aggressive and confrontational manner and required the intervention of our head of security, who positioned himself between both parties to de-escalate the situation.
“Meanwhile, players and staff from both teams continued to navigate through the narrow tunnel space. While this was going on, a member of staff from NUFC (Simon Weatherstone) also pushed our director of football operations (Damian Vidagany) in the back, causing him to lose balance and fall over.
“Mr Manas was requested into the referees’ room at this point. Mr Tindall remained in the tunnel area and continued to display aggressive and vocal behaviour.
“Due to the confined nature of the tunnel and the number of individuals present, a concerted effort by all parties was required to separate the teams and ensure they proceeded to their respective changing rooms without further incident.
“Subsequently, Mr Manas exited the referees’ room, and Mr Tindall was summoned to meet with the officials. Upon entering the referees’ room, Mr Tindall’s demeanour grew increasingly hostile.
“He directed accusations toward both the referees and Aston Villa staff, contributing to a tense and heated exchange behind closed doors.
“After several minutes, Mr Tindall exited the referees’ room. His behaviour remained aggressive, and he continued to use expletives and make gestures as he left the area.
“Mr Tindall on the 85th minute reappeared within the tunnel wearing a Wham! jumper, joking around with other members of Newcastle United’s staff. He remained in the tunnel area until the full-time whistle.
“He then re-entered the pitch area of St James’ Park to celebrate their victory and was again involved in a tense exchange of words with our assistant head coach.
“After the game Mr Tindall remained in the tunnel area positioned in front of the away dressing room. His behaviour was that of someone who wanted to continue heated dialogue with our staff as they tried to leave the stadium, in particular Mr Manas again. It should be noted that Mr Tindall also displayed this type of behaviour last season at our match at Villa Park.”
Newcastle’s response
Newcastle had a rather different version of events. They blamed Manas, Emery and Vidagany for the conflict. They also alleged that Villa winger Leon Bailey had even threatened manager Eddie Howe before security from clubs separated them.
Newcastle said in a written statement: “Following the conclusion of the first half, Victor Manas (VM) was standing in the tunnel area waiting for Jason Tindall (JT). VM then confronted JT in an aggressive manner and started to shout at him. JT verbally responded to VM.
“Unai Emery then confronted JT by squaring up to him and shouting at him from a close proximity. Edward Howe positioned himself in between UE and JT.
“Damien Vidagany (DV) (who was originally positioned in the club’s director’s box and chairman’s hospitality suite) had made his way down to the tunnel area for the half-time interval.
“DV throughout the incident was shouting loudly and confrontationally and was generally behaving in an aggressive manner. DV then escalated the incident by holding up his arms to stop those already gathered in the tunnel area from progressing to the changing rooms.
“This resulted in a large number of people being gathered in a small space. In undertaking this act, DV was walking backwards and fell into the stairs which lead up to the changing rooms. DV was uninjured but this made him act more aggressively and escalated the situation further.
“Leon Bailey joined the group of people in close proximity to the incident. LB confronted EH. This act escalated the situation further, which was then promptly resolved by the security officers from both teams.”
Newcastle denied they had any CCTV footage of the incident and remarked that the confrontation had been predominantly verbal in nature.
They added: “The incident was unnecessarily escalated by DV and his actions, which led to a build-up of people in the tunnel area.
“The club is now reviewing its match-day operations policy of allowing individuals with director’s box passes who also hold red-zone accreditation access the tunnel area at half-time or immediately after the full-time whistle.
“The club will communicate any appropriate and proportional measures taken to visiting clubs in advance.”
The verdict
Despite the damning accusations made about Tindall’s role in the ugly scenes at his side’s 3-0 victory, the FA concluded he was not to blame.
“An independent regulatory commission has heard the cases in relation to Aston Villa, Newcastle United, Victor Manas and Jason Tindall that followed the mass confrontation at their Premier League fixture.
“It was alleged that both clubs failed to ensure their players and/or technical area occupants did not behave in an improper and/or provocative way around the tunnel area at half-time.
“It was also alleged that the Aston Villa analyst and Newcastle United assistant manager acted in an improper manner during the same incident. Both clubs and Victor Manas admitted to their respective charges, and Jason Tindall denied the allegation against him.
“The regulatory commission imposed a £30,000 fine and warning upon Aston Villa, a £20,000 fine and warning upon Newcastle United, and a two-match ground ban and £4,000 fine on Victor Manas. The regulatory commission found the charge against Jason Tindall to be not proven, and he will face no further action.”
