Smith faces FA hearing

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Leeds striker Alan Smith faces a Football Association disciplinary hearing on Tuesday for his bottle-throwing incident.
The FA charged Smith with improper conduct for throwing a bottle into the crowd during the Carling Cup defeat to Manchester United in October.

The 23-year-old was arrested by police over the incident and questioned but not charged.

He is due in front of a three-man panel at Soho Square starting at 1230 GMT.

Smith was seen picking up a plastic bottle which landed on the pitch late in extra time of Leeds' 3-2 third-round exit and threw it back into the stands.

It hit the sister of one of his best friends and although no complaint was made against Smith by the girl or her family, the matter was still pursued by the police.

They were later advised by the Crown Prosecution Service not to charge the England international with any criminal offence.

But Smith's arrest caused a furore as it came just after he had been selected for the England squad to face Denmark in a friendly international at Old Trafford in November.
Smith was immediately dropped from the squad once the FA learned of his arrest, in line with policy not to select players for the national team who are under police investigation.

It led to England captain David Beckham demanding the FA revise their disciplinary procedures, which are now under review.

Liverpool's Jamie Carragher was handed a three-match ban for throwing a coin into the crowd two years ago.

Smith faces a similar punishment but it could mean him missing two months.

With the forward picking up his ninth yellow card of the season in the FA Cup third-round defeat at home to Arsenal, one more will see him hit with an automatic two-match ban.

Should that occur in any of Leeds' next three games, it will be added onto the back of the suspension he faces for his misconduct charge.

A three-match ban would mean he would not return until the visit to Fulham on 13 March.

Smith's prior disciplinary record - he has so far been sent off nine times in his career - will hardly curry any favour with the three-man panel at Soho Square.

The one piece of good news for Smith is that he will face no FA action following a tunnel fracas with Edu at Elland Road as referee Rob Styles did not include it in his report.

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Leeds striker Alan Smith has been banned for two matches after being found guilty by the Football Association of improper conduct.
The charge followed an incident in Leeds' Carling Cup defeat by Manchester United when the England striker threw a bottle into the Elland Road crowd.

His ban is due to start on 26 January, ruling him out of the games against Middlesbrough and Aston Villa.

A Leeds statement said: "The club are disappointed as is Alan. Leeds United feel the player has been very harshly treated over the whole matter."


Smith's manager Eddie Gray said: "The incident was in the heat of the moment, he's a Leeds boy and passionate about the position the club is in.

"But he's got to learn to control that. We can't afford to be without players like Alan."

Smith was seen picking up a plastic bottle which landed on the pitch late in extra time of Leeds' 3-2 third-round exit at Elland Road on 28 October and threw it back into the stands.

It hit the sister of one of his best friends and, although no complaint was made against Smith by the girl or her family, the matter was still pursued by the police.

Smith was arrested and questioned by the police who were later advised by the Crown Prosecution Service not to charge the England international with any criminal offence.

But Smith's arrest caused a furore as it came just after he had been selected for the England squad to face Denmark in a friendly international at Old Trafford in November.
Smith was immediately dropped from the squad once the FA learned of his arrest, in line with its policy not to select players for the national team who are under police investigation.

It led to England captain David Beckham demanding the FA revises its disciplinary procedures, which are now under review.

Smith has 14 days to appeal against his two-match ban.
On top of that Smith picked up his ninth yellow card of the season in the FA Cup third-round defeat at home to Arsenal at the weekend, and one more will see him hit with an automatic two-match ban.

But there was one piece of good news for Smith as he will face no FA action following a tunnel fracas with Edu at Elland Road as referee Rob Styles did not include it in his report.