AN AMATEUR soccer player has been accused of grievous bodily harm after allegedly punching an opponent and breaking his jaw during a match.

Marc Beckett, 25, was sent off and completed an automatic league suspension following the incident while he was playing for Burnley Belvedere against Clitheroe Royal British Legion.

The player is accused of punching Phillip Bolton with such force that he had to have two metal plates inserted in his jaw.

But he can continue to play pending the result of the case as the suspension was no finding by the league of guilt of a criminal offence.

If found guilty he could face a jail term and be disqualified from playing in any match in Lancashire or possibly the rest of the country.

Blackburn magistrates heard how violence erupted towards the end of a match between Burnley Belvedere and Clitheroe Royal British Legion, who both play in the East Lancashire League Division Two.

Beckett, who has served in the army, is accused of punching Mr Bolton, from Clitheroe, during a match held on Roefield Playing Fields, at Low Moor, Clitheroe, on October 15 last year.

The defendant, of Barry Street, Burnley, has pleaded not guilty to a charge of grievous bodily harm and has been ordered to stand trial at Preston Crown Court later this year.

Jim Parker, disciplinary officer for the Lancashire Football Association which oversees amateur football leagues across the county said: "If any player is found guilty of assault the league could decide whether to register him as a player or not. We would have to instruct our clubs not to register him due to his conviction.

"That would ban him from playing football in Lancashire, but new regulations about to be brought in by the Football Association mean that if a player is banned in one county it applies to all counties.

"We cannot deduct points for an incident, but again, new regulations about to be brought in mean we can deduct points for violent play from next season.

"Marc Beckett was handed a suspension after the incident and he has now served that suspension and can play again. The length of the ban or the number of games is a matter between the league and the club."

Peter Hargreaves, secretary of the East Lancashire League, said: "The league could ban him for life and that could carry over to the rest of the country. As things stand he can play, but that depends on the outcome of his court case."

Club secretaries at both Burnley Belvedere and Clitheroe Royal British Legion refused to comment.

The game finished 5-2 to Burnley, who currently lie fifth in the league table with 37 points.

Clitheroe RBL currently lie just two places down the table in seventh with 33 points.