Craig Brown only warned by SFA as John Boyle fined for row

Published on Tuesday 10 May 2011 19:24

Aberdeen manager Craig Brown has been warned about his future conduct by the Scottish Football Association's disciplinary committee after a touchline spat at Fir Park with Motherwell chairman John Boyle, who has been fined over the incident.

The flashpoint occurred when Boyle approached his former employee immediately after the Steelmen's 2-1 Clydesdale Bank Premier League win last month.

Boyle shook hands with Brown but put his other arm around the former Scotland manager's neck and whispered in his ear and a spat ensued. Brown has escaped punishment while Boyle, who is stepping down at the end of the season, was fined 2,500 and "severely warned as to his future conduct".

A statement on the SFA website read: "The Scottish FA Disciplinary Committee found Craig Brown, the Aberdeen manager, guilty of misconduct by behaving in a disorderly manner towards the Motherwell chairman, John Boyle. The committee decided to impose a censure and warning. The committee also found Mr Boyle guilty of misconduct by behaving in an inappropriate and inflammatory manner. The committee decided that a fine of 2,500 be imposed on Mr Boyle and that he be severely censured and warned."

Brown accepted the decision, telling STV: "I respect the individual members of the disciplinary committee and I accept their censure. They acknowledged the level of provocation to which I was subjected."

Brown and Archie Knox, who left Motherwell to take over at Pittodrie in December, have launched a 25,000 legal action against the Lanarkshire club over unpaid bonuses for the club's Co-operative Insurance Cup run.

The pair led Motherwell to a quarter-final win in October but had left the club, where they had not signed a contract, before the semi-final.