How To Get Arrested And Banned From Soccer: Pretend You're An Airplane!

Not just any airplane, mind you, but the one from the Munich air disaster which killed eight Manchester United players in 1958. So when a fan of Crawley Town was spotted making airplane gestures in a team-sponsored music video ahead of Crawley's FA Cup match against Man U, it caused some fuss.

You can see the fan in the video above, on the far right, wearing a baseball cap. At various times, he extends his arms like plane wings; on one occasion, he pantomimes a crash. After the video was posted to YouTube, a United fan complained, and Crawley Town took the initiative. Said the team's chief executive:

"We've called in the police to see if they will press charges and we have identified the idiot responsible and banned him from the club for life. He's not welcome here now or ever again. This should be an unbelievable week for us, playing the biggest club there is, and if anyone thinks Crawley would deliberately insult Manchester United over something so sensitive, that is what gets to me more than anything.

The banning is understandable, but we wonder if arresting him on "suspicion of causing harassment, alarm or distress" isn't an overreaction. England has done a commendable job of fighting the racial taunts that plague Continental soccer, but suffer their own black eye in Holocaust chants against Tottenham. And Manchester United fans may be throwing stones from glass houses, as their supporters' section is among those who have sung songs about Hillsborough Disaster at Liverpool.