A footballer's been banned for over five years after an FA charge of throwing the ball at a referee and pushing him over was proven.

Cheriton AFC goalkeeper Elliott Stevens was hit with the lengthy sanction by the Football Association after he was said to have confronted the match official after his Sunday League side conceded a penalty.

It all kicked off in the 28th minute of the match between Cheriton and Lydd Town Sunday, played in August, after referee Andy Worthington awarded a penalty against Stevens' side.

According to the report of the incident, released by the FA following their investigation, Mr Stevens "rushed out of his goal towards (the referee) with the football in his hands. (He) threw the football at Mr Worthington forcefully with the ball striking him in the chest.

"Mr Worthington then showed ES a red card. Upon doing this ES rushed towards him and pushed him over with a "very forceful double handed in the chest". This made him fall to the ground. ES left the field of play threatening opposition players."

The referee asked the Cheriton manager to remove Mr Stevens from the ground "to avoid any further altercations." There had been a melee following the dismissal in the dugout area between the two sides.

It was stated that Mr Stevens protested that it was "never a penalty, he got the ball" and saying "you're a joke ref and ruining the game" and as he walked off he was quoted as saying "the ref's a ****" to his team-mates."

A photograph of the injury was said to have shown an impact consistent with what was described by Mr Worthington.

Providing evidence, the Lydd Town manager described the moments after the penalty was awarded and was quoted as saying: "ES then took off his gloves and "bounced around" offering to fight anyone before he was led off to the changing rooms and then ultimately left the ground, having been "bashing around" in the changing room first."

There was no response to the FA charge from Mr Stevens but Chris Jones from the club provided a witness statement.

The report said that: "Upon seeing the red card ES became more frustrated and pushed the referee backwards to the floor.

"Mr Jones went to check on the referee's welfare and apologised on behalf of the club.

"ES was encouraged to go home at which point he was visually upset. He goes on to say that ES was taunted by opposition players during the incident and was clearly distraught that he had reacted the way he had. "Subsequently ES asked Mr Jones to pass on his "deepest apologies" to the referee."

Mr Stevens was hit with two charges, one for allegedly throwing the ball at the referee and another for pushing him over. The standard of proof for the case is the civil standard of the balance of probability. Both were found proven.

On the first charge, the report stated that: "The undisputed facts in this matter are that ES threw the football at the match official which caused bruising to his chest."

The second charge of physical contact or attempted physical contact was also proven. The Football Association's Karen Hall, adjudicating the case, stated that "I found that the undisputed facts in this matter are that ES pushed the match official with two hands in the chest with enough force to cause him to fall backwards and to the floor."

There was no mitigation from Mr Stevens apart from the comment from Mr Jones asking him to pass on his "deepest apologies."

An immediate suspension was handed to Mr Stevens from all football activities for a period of five years to be backdated to September 13, 2022 after the first charge was proven.

For the second charge an additional 182-day suspension was awarded, to follow the first time-based ban. Mr Stevens was also fined £75 and must complete a face to face mandatory education programme before the suspension is served.

The decision is subject to the right of appeal under the relevant FA rules and regulations.