Paul Heckingbottom slams West Brom player for ‘stepping out of line’ against Preston North End
Preston North End boss Paul Heckingbottom was fuming with a West Bromwich Albion player on New Year’s Day.
West Brom beat Preston 3-1 on Wednesday to kick off 2025 with a bang, leaving the away manager venting in the post-match press conference.
Heckingbottom held his hands up to congratulate Albion on the win, knowing that his team’s first half defensive performance wasn’t anywhere near the level required to win a Championship football match. The head coach wouldn’t accept the standard of refereeing from Robert Madley, however, and felt aggrieved by a West Brom defender’s actions.
Albion’s Kyle Bartley and Preston’s Emil Riis were involved in an altercation in second half stoppage time after challenging for the ball at the same time. Riis kept it in play at the byline and the momentum saw Bartley clatter into the away striker, prompting a scuffle pitchside. It then got rather out of hand as Bartley dramatically shoved Riis over the top of the advertising hoardings.
Heckingbottom, animated as ever on the touchline, couldn’t quite believe what he’d seen – especially as Madley decided to let Bartley off lightly with a yellow card rather than a sending-off.
“I saw one of my players get shoved over the advertising boards. I wish my players reacted a bit more like that,” Heckingbottom said sarcastically after the game.
“My frustrations are with Bobby [Madley] and his performance, certainly this season there have been massive home performances from officials. We had four yellows and they only had one, they potentially should’ve had two reds. One’s 100 per cent red.”
When asked the follow-up question of whether Bartley had “stepped out of the line”, Heckingbottom replied: “Yeah he has and they’ve then got a goal kick out of it! You know what I mean? Emil keeps the ball in and we don’t get a foul, they get a goal kick even though the ball’s still on the pitch.
“It’s crazy stuff I saw, it’s mental. How can that be? Emil’s been shoved over the advertising boards! Then West Brom get a goal kick.”
Bartley and Riis far more amused by incident than Heckingbottom
The players made up very quickly after their shoving match as they exchanged a hug, handshake and a few laughs to boot. Madley stood beside the pair to ensure the tensions didn’t carry over into the final moments of the encounter – and they didn’t.
It wasn’t the first time during the match that Bartley and Riis got caught up in some contact as there were several physical battles throughout. Preston’s route-one approach in the first half saw Riis utilised as a target man, so Bartley had to work hard to keep the Dane as far away from the Albion box as possible.
Ousmane Diakite and Torbjorn Heggem played a key role in preventing Riis from scoring, too, as they often provided backup in case Bartley was caught out. The togetherness on show helped West Brom from the bottom up to earn themselves a three-goal lead, an advantage that turned out to be unsurmountable.
Albion securing all three points soared them up to sixth in the Championship standings. They’ll be eager to stay there with another win at the weekend, away at Swansea City.