Jack Grealish responds brilliantly again after Birmingham fans unveil Paul Mitchell banner
JACK GREALISH responded in the perfect fashion once again after Birmingham fans unveiled a banner supporting Paul Mitchell.
Sick Blues fans praised the thug who ran on to St Andrew’s pitch last week to assault Grealish and asked for him to be given freedom of the city.
One banner, understood to have been photographed in the away concourse at Preston yesterday, said: “Freedom Of The City Paul Mitchell,” accompanied with a picture of Mitchell depicted as King Henry VIII.
Meanwhile, another photo of two children holding a St George’s flag with the Birmingham club badge and “Only one Paul Mitchell SOTV” – standing for “s*** on the Villa” – was also circulated on social media.
But when a Villa fan account tweeted the disgusting banner at Preston, Grealish replied with another photo of him celebrating, holding his arms out wide.
The tweet has been liked by almost 6,000 people since he sent it last night.
The Aston Villa star, 23, was attacked during last weekend’s derby with rivals Birmingham when yob Mitchell ran on to the pitch and punched him from behind before being cheered off by some Blues supporters.
Grealish posted a picture of himself with the caption “the cream always rises…” after he scored the winner at St Andrew’s.
Mitchell was jailed for 14 weeks after admitting to the assault, banned from attending any football matches in the UK for ten years and ordered to pay Grealish £100 in compensation for the “pain, discomfort and shock caused”.
But Birmingham supporters set up a GoFundMe page – using the same image of Mitchell as King Henry VII – to raise money and cover the costs.
The appeal read: “We’d like to raise a bit of money to help Paul pay his fine to a millionaire Grealish and help his pregnant partner get by whilst he’s away for a bit. Thanks in advance.”
Father-of-one Mitchell received death threats after his disgusting attack on the Villa star, which the court heard was done “as a joke” after drinking at the game with his dad.
Just like last week, though, Grealish and Aston Villa had the last laugh as they beat Middlesbrough 3-0 and Birmingham conceded a 94th-minute goal to lose 1-0 at Deepdale.