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London - Police are hunting a football fan who hurled a cabbage towards now-sacked Aston Villa manager Steve Bruce after allegedly shouting abuse from the stands.
The fan is reported to have taken the vegetable from a carrier bag and thrown it towards the dugout before Villa's 3-3 draw with Preston on Tuesday.
"One fan was arrested for entering the pitch during the game," said West Midlands Police. "A cabbage was thrown at the dugout from the stand. We are working with the club to identify the person responsible."
Speaking after the match, Bruce, who was sacked on Wednesday after just three wins in 11 games in the Championship, said: "It sums up the society we are in at the moment. There's no respect for anyone. I'm surprised he knew what a cabbage was."
Here is a list of other strange objects thrown from the stands at football matches:
Luis Figo was one of Barcelona's biggest stars. Adored by the fans, he sent a dagger through their hearts when in July 2000 he signed for their arch-rivals Real Madrid for a then-world record fee. Barca fans expressed their disgust every time he returned to the Nou Camp, but never more so than in November 2002. When Figo jogged across to take a corner midway through the second half, debris rained down towards him from the stands. In among the coins and bottles was a pig's head.
Charlton fans have staged a series of protests against the club's owner Roland Duchatelet. During a 2016 English League One clash with Coventry, the match was brought to a halt after hundreds of toy pigs were thrown on to the pitch. Most recently this season, packets of crisps were launched onto the turf at The Valley during the home match against Fleetwood.
In February this year, Hull's Championship clash against Sheffield United had to be temporarily halted after Tigers fans threw tennis balls on to the pitch in protest against the club's owners Assem and Ehab Allam.
In October 2009, a beach ball thrown on to the pitch by a Liverpool fan condemned his side to defeat at Sunderland. A Darren Bent shot hit the inflatable and deflected into the net past Jose Reina. The goal was allowed to stand and it proved the winner in a 1-0 Sunderland victory.
In 2001 a group of Inter Milan fans somehow got a scooter into the San Siro, set it on fire and attempted to hurl it from the tiered stand onto the pitch. Fortunately they were unsuccessful.
The 2004 Copa Libertadores clash between Mexican club side America and Brazil's Sao Caetano saw an on-field brawl between players after the final whistle. Fans joined in with the chaos and one, from somewhere, managed to lob a wheelbarrow onto the pitch.
Paul Gascoigne was pelted with Mars bars by opposition fans while playing for Newcastle. During one game, he picked one up, opened it and ate it. After leaving Newcastle, Gazza had frozen Mars bars thrown at him by home fans on his return to St James's Park as a Tottenham player.
