Back in 2019, Birmingham City supporter Paul Mitchell infamously rushed the pitch and punched Jack Grealish in the side of the head, during his side’s fiery clash with local rivals Aston Villa (who Grealish captained at the time).
Here’s a reminder:
#jackGrealish #grealish #punch … not good for football!! #avfc #bcfc pic.twitter.com/p0B4pnKov2
— avfcfansuk (@avfcfansuk) March 10, 2019
Four years on from the incident, 32-year-old Mitchell has been found dead at an address in Birmingham. Obviously what he did was unbelievably shxtty and his lack of remorse over the incident suggests he wasn’t the most pleasant character in the world, but to die at such a young age is always sad so you have to feel sorry for his friends and family.
At the time, Mitchell was sentenced to 14 weeks in prison but was released after serving four weeks. After he left prison, Mitchell described the month he spent in jail as the “best month of my life” (which makes sense given he supported Birmingham City):
“I’m out of prison. I was released on Monday. Of course, I’m glad to be out. It was the best month of my life. It was hard being away from my family but everything was good.”
When asked if he was going to apologise for his punch, he replied:
“I’m not prepared to discuss that. I’m not apologising for nothing.”
Mitchell was jailed again for 12 weeks last September after ignoring the 10-year football ban he was given for attacking Grealish. He breached an order to keep away from football stadiums when he attended Birmingham’s victory over West Brom in April 2022.
After being identified, he tried to justify his attendance by saying he was “helping” a disabled friend by accompanying him to the match.
Again – it’s a shame to see anyone die so young, but even more of a shame that the headline for his death is ‘Man who punched footballer during game dies’. Will be interesting to see whether Birmingham fans give Paul Mitchell a minute’s applause at their next game as he was of course well-known among the fan base. Who knows – they may even name a stand after him. RIP.
For the heartbroken Aston Villa fan who blowtorched their Grealish shirt following his departure from the club, click HERE. Emotional scenes.
