Butcher wins fine appeal but touchline ban remains

HIBERNIAN manager Terry Butcher has escaped a £1,000 fine for a breach of SFA rules while at Inverness Caledonian Thistle manager, but a touchline ban which was also being appealed has been upheld.

The Easter Road boss is contesting a two-game ban. Picture: Robert Perry

The Easter Road boss was contesting a two-game ban incurred last month for an incident when he was still in charge of Inverness Caledonian Thistle. The former England skipper admitted a charge at a disciplinary tribunal on 21 November of “misconduct at a match by failing to behave in a responsible manner as an ­occupant of the technical area by acting in an aggressive manner towards players of the opposing team”.

The SFA confirmed the quashing of the fine in a statement today, but said that the touchline ban would remain.

Butcher will now be forced to sit in the stand for Hibs’ home meeting with St Johnstone this weekend. He will also be excluded from the dressing rooms, tunnel, pitch and match officials’ dressing rooms from an hour before kick-off until 15 minutes after the full-time whistle.

The sentence for breaching SFA rule 203, which included one match of the two-game ban being suspended and a £1,000 fine, would have resulted in Butcher being barred from the dugout or the dressing room for an hour before the game for his debut match in charge of Hibs against St Mirren on 23 November. However, the Edinburgh club’s appeal set aside Butcher’s punishment and has allowed him to play a full part in trying to turn around his new club’s fortunes in his four outings since taking over from Pat Fenlon.

The former Motherwell manager was sent to the stand with Dundee United coach Darren Jackson following a touchline bust-up during a stormy league cup quarter-final on 29 October. Jackson has since been issued with a censure for a misconduct charge, whilst Nadir Ciftci got a two-match ban, one game of which was ­suspended, after being found guilty of “excessive misconduct at a match by placing an open hand into the lower area of the assistant referee’s throat”.

Meanwhile, Butcher is hopeful his team can find their scoring touch after building a solid foundation in defence. The Easter Road outfit have netted just twice in four games since his arrival last month, but have also conceded just two goals, and had their first defeat of his reign in Saturday’s 1-0 loss to Celtic.

They now face St Johnstone on Saturday, Ross County away before games against Kilmarnock and Hearts at home. Butcher said: “It’s just that bit of quality in the final third that’s not quite there yet. But we’ve come on a long way since we came in and there’s still a long way we want to go as well.”