Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew will be banned from the touchline for seven matches following his head-butt on Hull City’s David Meyler.
The 52-year-old, who had already admitted a misconduct charge prior to yesterday’s personal FA hearing, will be banished from stadiums for the first three matches and he will be barred from the touchline for the remaining four.
Pardew was also fined £60,000 by the FA and warned about his future conduct.
Newcastle fined Pardew £100,000 following the incident on March 1 when he pushed his forehead into Meyler after the Hull player had pushed past him to retrieve the ball.
“As I have made clear, I deeply regret the incident and again wholeheartedly apologise to all parties for my conduct, which I understand was not acceptable,” Pardew said in a statement on Newcastle’s website.
“I will accept the punishment handed down by the FA today. My focus now turns to preparing the team for this weekend’s game against Fulham and finishing the season as strongly as possible.”
The ban means Pardew will not even be able to enter the stadium for Saturday’s match away to Fulham and the home games against Crystal Palace and Everton.
He will be able to resume his pitch-side position for the final three matches of the season.
With previous incidents of misconduct on his file, Pardew had been expected to receive a more severe punishment with some suggesting he could be banned for the rest of the season.
Last season Pardew received a touchline ban for pushing a referee’s assistant and this season he was caught on camera hurling expletives at Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini.
Newcastle are eighth in the Premier League standings with 10 matches left this season.
Meanwhile, Mark Jensen, editor of fanzine www.themag.co.uk, is relieved that the Magpies are not fighting for survival as they were at the same stage last season.
Jensen said: “If you were fighting for the Premier League title or battling against relegation, maybe it would hit hard with the manager not being able to influence things, particularly at half-time if things were going against you.
“The position Newcastle are in – and you hope they are aiming higher – it may be less of a problem.
“If this had happened last season, it could have been a lot more serious with Newcastle fighting possible relegation.”