Birmingham v Luton halted as steward races on to pitch to pick up tennis ball

In the latest in a series of protests against the ownership of BSHL, led by Chinese businessman Paul Suen, Birmingham City fans launched a number of tennis balls on to the pitch during their Championship home game with Luton Town on Saturday.

Blues supporters have long been disillusioned with the manner in which Suen runs the club. Among their many grievances is the fact that several parts of St. Andrews are currently closed because redevelopment work on the stadium ground to a halt many months ago.

This has resulted in thousands of Birmingham fans having to enter a balloting process for tickets, despite having paid for their seats months ago.

Those that were able to secure their spot for the visit of Luton, though, were determined to make their feelings known.

They certainly did that.

Birmingham fans have thrown tennis balls onto the pitch in the 14th minute of their match against Luton as part of the continued protest against the club's owners BSHL ❌ pic.twitter.com/5ywQOjnjHm

The game ground to a halt in the 14th minute, as supporters chucked tennis balls towards the playing surface in unison. Referee Darren Bond was forced to suspend the match for safety reasons while all the missiles were removed from the pitch.

Well, nearly all of them.

Luton forward Elijah Adebayo was on the attack for the Hatters shortly after the resumption of play when an eagle-eyed steward spotted a rogue ball still on the pitch.

Wasting no time, the steward sprang into action. Not bothered in the slightest that the action was still ongoing, he made his way on to the pitch to remove the ball.

You can check out the unique interruption below.

pic.twitter.com/b0wz63YHJJ

Naturally, Luton weren’t happy when the referee immediately suspended play