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Pardew charged over headbutt

London - Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew was facing the prospect of a lengthy touchline ban after being charged with "improper conduct" by the Football Association on Monday following his headbutt on Hull's David Meyler.

Significantly, the FA said that "due to the serious violent and/or aggressive nature of the reported behaviour this case has been designated as non-standard".

Pardew has until 18:00 local time on Thursday to respond to the charge.

A brief FA statement said: "Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew has been charged in relation to an incident in his side's game against Hull City on 1 March 2014.

"It is alleged that in the 72nd minute of the fixture, Pardew was involved in an incident with a Hull City player that amounted to improper conduct.

"Due to the serious violent and/or aggressive nature of the reported behaviour this case has been designated as non-standard.

"Pardew has until 6pm on Thursday 6 March 2014 to respond to the charge."

The Magpies boss was involved in the nasty altercation when he clashed with Meyler during Newcastle's 4-1 away Premier League win at the KC Stadium on Saturday.

Shortly before the statement from the FA, English football's governing body, Humberside Police said they would take no action against Pardew.

"Having reviewed the circumstances of the incident, it has been agreed that the matter will be dealt with by the FA rather than considering any criminal proceedings," the force said.

"Whilst we appreciate that some people may have found the behaviour displayed at the game on Saturday offensive, Humberside Police will not be taking any further action."

Pardew was fined £100 000 by Newcastle, who stopped short of sacking the fiery Englishman.

"His behaviour was unacceptable and is not the behaviour we expect from the manager of Newcastle United," the north-east club said in a statement.

Pardew, for his part, apologised afterwards by saying: "It was a heat of the moment thing. I massively regret it. He was right on top of me and I wanted to just ease him away from me but obviously I put my head in a forward motion. You can't do that.

"I want to apologise to him, everyone at Hull and obviously my own fans as well.

"Sometimes when you're on the sideline you can get involved in a moment like that. I don't think it was a headbutt. It wasn't a motion that was quick."

Pardew added he expected a touchline ban.

"I believe my behaviour over the years has not resulted in too many fines and sitting in the stands, but this one probably will.

"Sir Alex Ferguson (the retired Manchester United manager) once said to me, 'go and sit down'. I think he was probably right. I will have to sit down from now on."

Leading figures in English football condemned Pardew's conduct, with League Managers' Association chief executive Richard Bevan saying: "It's unacceptable, it's inappropriate and it's insupportable from every perspective and Alan knows that."

It is not the first time the 52-year-old Pardew had been involved in an unsavoury incident on the touchline.

In 2006, when in charge of West Ham, his exuberant celebration of a goal led to a row with Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger while in September 2012 he was fined £20 000 for shoving a linesman and banned for two matches after disputing the award of a throw-in.

And it was only in January that Pardew escaped FA action for swearing at Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini during City's 2-0 win at Newcastle's St James' Park ground.

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