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Hooligan ignored match ban (Back to Scrapbook)

A football hooligan, banned from every ground in Wales and England, has been fined after breaking his order to watch Wales play in Russia.

Andy Nicholls, was barred after telling of his involvement in violence in a book.

Magistrates heard that the ban covered international matches, but Nicholls claimed not to have known it applied to Wales games.

He was fined £450 with £300 costs after his conviction for breaching the order.

Everton fan Nicholls was banned from every football ground for two years last October, after admitting being regularly involved in match-day violence for 20 years in his autobiography, "Scally: Confessions of a Category C Football Hooligan."

Appearing in court at on Friday, Nicholls claimed that he did not receive the reporting instructions before the European Championship play-off in Russia.

Nicholls, accepted that he went to see Wales playing in Russia.

But he said in a police interview that he believed that he was only banned from England matches, saying he did not believe that it applied to Wales games as well.

Prosecutor Huw Evans told magistrates that the National Criminal Intelligence Service had sent a first class letter to Nicholls at his home address.

That required him to hand in his passport no later than 10 November and for him to report to police at on the afternoon of the match, five days later.

But Nicholls was at the first leg of the vital play-off match in Russia that day .

Andy Nicholls pictured on the cover of his book

Mr Evans said that it was the prosecution case that he had received the letter but travelled to the match, disregarding the instructions.

Nicholls told magistrates that he was an England supporter and had not realised that the banning order would ban him from Wales matches as well.

He said a trip had been organised to see Wales play in Russia, and he had gone along for a bit of a holiday and "for a jolly."

He said that he would have been a fool to deliberately flout the order because he was aware of the serious implications of doing such a thing.

Nicholls said that he was adamant that he had not received the letter from the authorities.

He said that when the order was made, he had a ticket for the England v Turkey match a week later but did not go and complied with the order.

He was a life-long Evertonian, but had not been to any match since the ban was imposed and would not do so.

Nicholls, who denied the offence, said that he would not have travelled to Russia if he had known the ban applied to the Wales match and if he had received the letter of instruction.

Under cross-examination, Mr Evans handed Nicholls his book in which he had described football hooliganism as an addiction and where he had said in respect of an earlier ban that he would attend matches, ban or not.

After the conviction, Nicholls, who claims to have sold 22,000 copies of the book, said that the prosecution had been "unfortunate".

But he added: "I am a dangerous author not a dangerous criminal."

He said that he was disappointed that magistrates had not believed him he had not received the letter, but said: At least this saga will be another chapter for my book."