In a shocking opening to the derby clash between Birmingham City and Aston Villa on Sunday lunchtime, a Birmingham fan ran onto the pitch and attacked Grealish, striking the Villa midfielder in the back of the head.

The crazed fan was accosted by matchday stewards and was led away while he triumphantly blew kisses toward his fellow Blues fans.

West Midlands Police tweeted a statement confirming an arrest had been made in connection with the incident.

The statement read: "Following the incident on the pitch involving an attack on an Aston Villa player; a man has been arrested and en route to a custody block. Further details to follow."

The incident was widely criticized on social media, with Manchester City forward Raheem Sterling tweeting: "Idiot of the year... congrats on your lifetime ban."

Former WBC cruiserweight world champion and huge football fan Tony Bellew was equally disgusted. He tweeted his concern over the fact that the incident could have been much, much worse.

"The frightening part about this is he could have had a weapon and done serious damage!" he said.

"Absolute rat scumbag coward he is for doing this!"