Southampton and Aston Villa Stars FORCED OFF and Game Delayed after DRONE is Flown Over the Pitch
A DRONE stopped play in the Premier League fixture between Southampton and Aston Villa.
The remote-controlled aircraft was spotted in the 40th minute of the match.
The referee halted the game and ushered the players off the pitch.
The game was delayed with fans being asked to wait until the situation is dealt with.
The Saints and Villa players were eventually called back out to resume the first half.
The referee had to pause the match on account of the drone as it can pose a threat to fans and players in the stadium, as well as a potential threat from terrorists.
Another reason games are paused for drones is to stop the risk of illegal broadcasting of matches,
The game was tied at 0-0 after Southampton has a Kyle Walker-Peters' goal ruled out for offside.
Despite the long pause due to the drone overhead, only two minutes were added to the end of the first half as the clock had been stopped from when the players left the pitch.
Youtuber Ally Law has claimed responsibility for the drone on Twitter, as he wrote: "Testing my new drone today over Southampton. Beautiful day for it."
The prankster often posts videos to his YouTube channel of him evading the police after climbing buildings and sneaking into different places.
Play then resumed as normal for the second half.
The game had failed to thrill fans who took to social media to discuss the drone, one tweeted: "The classic 'fly a drone on to the pitch to force play to be suspended' defensive move from Southampton.
"Ballsy but effective."
A second commented: "Drone coming to save Southampton."
A third said: "The game between Southampton and Aston Villa has been paused due to a drone flying above the stadium.
"Villa fans are chanting to the drone, ‘You've only come to see the Villa’."
The remote-controlled aircraft was spotted in the 40th minute of the match.
The referee halted the game and ushered the players off the pitch.
The game was delayed with fans being asked to wait until the situation is dealt with.
The Saints and Villa players were eventually called back out to resume the first half.
The referee had to pause the match on account of the drone as it can pose a threat to fans and players in the stadium, as well as a potential threat from terrorists.
Another reason games are paused for drones is to stop the risk of illegal broadcasting of matches,
The game was tied at 0-0 after Southampton has a Kyle Walker-Peters' goal ruled out for offside.
Despite the long pause due to the drone overhead, only two minutes were added to the end of the first half as the clock had been stopped from when the players left the pitch.
Youtuber Ally Law has claimed responsibility for the drone on Twitter, as he wrote: "Testing my new drone today over Southampton. Beautiful day for it."
The prankster often posts videos to his YouTube channel of him evading the police after climbing buildings and sneaking into different places.
Play then resumed as normal for the second half.
The game had failed to thrill fans who took to social media to discuss the drone, one tweeted: "The classic 'fly a drone on to the pitch to force play to be suspended' defensive move from Southampton.
"Ballsy but effective."
A second commented: "Drone coming to save Southampton."
A third said: "The game between Southampton and Aston Villa has been paused due to a drone flying above the stadium.
"Villa fans are chanting to the drone, ‘You've only come to see the Villa’."