It felt to some like a return to the 1980s, if not deeper in the mists of time. ‘We’re in the dark ages,’ said Jermaine Jenas when Aston Villa’s Matty Cash and Lucas Digne were struck by missiles at Goodison Park at the weekend.
The incident was very much a part of a present reality, as Burnley’s Matt Lowton, Chelsea’s Antonio Rudiger and Brentford’s Sergi Canos can vividly attest. All three have been hit by missiles at games in the past few months — Lowton by a bottle full of liquid thrown at him when he celebrated a Maxwel Cornet equaliser at Leeds.