A DUDLEY footballer with a history of violence who attacked a referee lied to avoid being banned from the game.

Hardman defender Shane Davies slapped ref Alan Kite leaving him with a broken nose after he was sent off while playing for Malt Shovel Athletic in their Dudley and Cradley Heath League clash against Ocker Hill Wagon last year at King George V Park, Wordsley.

Amateur boxer Davies, aged 27, had registered for the club under a false name because he was already barred from football for a previous incident where he dragged an official to the ground while verbally abusing him.

The father-of-three from Hillside Road, Wrens Nest, ended up in Wolverhampton Crown Court for the assault on Mr Kite, a former police officer in his 60s, where he was given a 12-month sentence suspended for two years.

Judge Helen Hughes told Davies people who went to enjoy themselves at football matches did not want to be confronted by violence.

She said: "Those who go along to officiate on a voluntary basis do not deserve to go away with a broken nose, they are entitled to go along without someone disagreeing with a decision and losing their temper."

The court was told that in 2007 Davies was given a conditional discharge for common assault while in 2008 he was jailed for 18 months for inflicting grievous bodily harm when he knocked his victim unconscious with a punch.

He is also well-known to Birmingham’s Football Association disciplinary authorities who had already banned him on four occasions, once for bringing the game into disrepute, once for using foul language and twice for violent conduct.

The last ban, of 405 days, would have expired in January 2013 but remained in place because Davies did not pay a £150 fine, instead he signed up for the Malt Shovel Athletic as Shane Williams.

After the latest incident Davies’s false identity was exposed, he has now been banned from playing indefinitely and cannot apply for a review for at least ten years.

During the court hearing, where Davis, a civil engineer, admitted assault causing actual bodily harm, his barrister, Jaz Mann, conceded it was thoroughly reprehensible behaviour "whether it involves a player or a manager as we have seen this weekend”.

Mr Mann, clearly referring to the dismissal from the pitch of Newcastle United Boss Alan Pardew, stressed the public will not tolerate violent behaviour on the football field.

Shane Davies, he went on, "knows those who go along to watch football find such behaviour reprehensible. They do not want to see boorish and thuggish behaviour."

Mr Mann said Davies had already accepted he had "underlying problems" and he had consulted his doctor about his anger management.

As well as the jail term Davies was further ordered to attend the anger management programme, to pay £500 compensation to Mr Kite together with £535 court costs.

Malt Shovel Athletic’s management deny any knowledge of Davies using a false name and the team no longer plays under that name.

Mike Fellows, Birmingham County Football Association’s head of discipline, said: “This particular case has taken an nearly a season to come to justice following that the player who was already suspended for an assault on a referee had registered under a false name. “The sentence imposed by the court will certainly send out the message to any player who has the red mist descend before going that step further and assaulting a referee.”