ARSENAL legend Ian Wright has called for a ban on player shirt signs at football matches.
The former striker was in attendance at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Australia, on Saturday to watch England’s 1-0 win over Haiti in the Women’s World Cup.
GettyWright has called for shirt signs to be banned from football[/caption]
ReutersSome fans took signs into the stadium for England vs Haiti[/caption]
But midway through the first half, he became distracted after spotting a fan with a sign asking for a player’s shirt.
Wright then took to Twitter to call for the signs to be axed from live football.
He tweeted: “We have to ban those signs asking for player shirts!!! Kmt.”
Many fans agreed with the Arsenal icon, with one person adding: “Been saying this for ages!”
Another wrote: “It’s pretty cringe. I can’t imagine many players pick them to give the shirt to though do they?”
While a third commented: “Absolutely does my head in, fans are there to support, they shouldn’t be going there begging for shirts or expecting to get one.”
However, one fan argued: “No… It means a lot to the kids. It’s up to the players to ignore them if they want to.”
England kicked off their Women’s World Cup campaign with a narrow 1-0 win over tournament debutants Haiti.
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Georgia Stanway scored the only goal of the game from the penalty spot in dramatic fashion.
The referee awarded the Lionesses a spot-kick after Batcheba Louis handled the ball in the penalty area.
Stanway stepped up to take the kick, but her shot was saved by Kerly Theus.
Following a VAR check, the England midfielder had to take the penalty again after replays showed that Theus had prematurely come off her line.
The Lionesses had a series of chances during the second half, but they struggled to make the most of any of them.
Haiti came close to levelling the score late in the game when Roseline Éloissaint broke through the defence before unleashing a low-driven strike, but Mary Earps made an outstanding save to keep the clean sheet.