It was only a matter of time. The new Holiday Inn which overlooks the pitch at Norwich City's Carrow Road ground has issued its first ban to a football fan.
The Southampton supporter received the red card from the hotel after he used a room to watch the remainder of Saturday's game he had been ejected from for persistent standing.
Holiday Inn took the action after he was seen "waving and shouting" to his fellow Saints fans from the room, which had been booked by one of his friends.
Rules do not prohibit people from watching football matches from the hotel but there are regulations to curb behaviour that could be deemed anti-social by other residents and to prevent guests inviting fans into their rooms to see games for free.
Neil Sewell, general manager of the Holiday Inn Carrow Road, said: "We will look seriously at anybody who contravenes the rules and regulations on match days.
"We would not encourage incidents like this. We have business guests and it is unfortunate when this sort of thing happens."
Interesting that he is worried about offending the "business guests". Because they are all paragons of virtue, as the Celtic Manor would testify after Sainsbury's staff ran amok at the five-star hotel earlier this summer.
Also, banning a Southampton fan from a hotel in Norwich is hardly the strongest deterrent in the world.
Still, nice bit of media coverage I suppose...
update:More football fan misbehaviour. It today emerged that an unnamed Carlisle United fan has been banned from Brunton Park for the rest of the season for repeatedly breaching the new anti-smoking laws.
"There were several incidents of this man smoking on several occasions and he was spoken to by stewards. Unfortunately he continued to smoke and we were forced to issue the order," said a club statement.
No standing, no smoking - football has certainly changed...
