Wigan Athletic and Bolton Wanderers punished following derby melee

Both clubs admitted that they failed to ensure their players did not behave in an improper and provocative way after the final whistle.

Wanderers accepted the standard £2,500 penalty, while Latics were fined £9,000 by an independent Regulatory Commission following a hearing.

In its written reasons, the Commission confirmed Latics' previous indiscretions - three already this season, and one towards the end of last term - had been taken into account.

On this occasion, Latics winger Martial Godo appeared to lead the post-match celebrations in front of the first two blocks of the East Stand - very close to the Bolton supporters behind the goal in the North Stand.

And the night ended with the majority of the players from the two sides - and both managers - getting involved in a skirmish that needed stadium security and stewards to tidy up.

Latics boss Shaun Maloney submitted a letter to the Commission as did Sarah Guilfoyle, the club's head of football administration.

As well as commenting on provocation and physical confrontation, Miss Guilfoyle 'also referred in mitigation to media comments from the Bolton manager, to the fact that the Wigan players were celebrating in front of their own fans, and to the fact that the match was a local derby, with heightened tension'.

The report read: "She stressed the power imbalance between the Wigan number 17 (young and inexperienced) and the Bolton manager. She highlighted the behaviour of the Wigan captain and vice-captain, who she said were attempting to disperse the confrontation and remove players and staff.

"She invited the Commission to take the standard penalty as its starting point and to take account of the mitigating factors she had mentioned, while conceding Wigan’s previous record would be an aggravating factor."

For his part, Maloney 'accepted mass confrontations are not acceptable under any circumstances and did not comment further on the incident'.

He said he and his staff were 'working hard to eradicate such incidents in the future' and they 'do not reflect the ethos of the club, our style of play or the standards I set for my players'.

However, the Commission was advised of Wigan’s previous proven breaches of Rule E20 in the past five years:

* 6 February 2023 against Blackburn Rovers FC (when playing in the Championship) – fine of £5,000

* 3 October 2023 against Burton Albion FC – fine of £6,000;

* 7 October 2023 against Stevenage FC – fine of £8,000;

* 16 December 2023 against Port Vale FC – fine of £6,500.

The report concluded: "The Commission accepted the incident had been started by a Bolton player and the Bolton manager had approached a Wigan player, leading to further confrontation. It felt Bolton was therefore marginally more to blame for what happened.

"Nonetheless, several Wigan players were active participants in the confrontation, albeit others may have been trying to act as peacemakers. While the Commission did not consider this to be a particularly serious incident and accepted there was no evidence of violent conduct, the number of people involved and the duration of the confrontation meant it would have found the charge proven had it not been admitted.

"The Commission noted the amount of the previous fines. It reminded itself the Standard Penalty 1 at this level of the game would be £2,500, that Standard Penalty 2 (for a charge not admitted but subsequently found proven) would be £3,750 and that it was free to impose whatever sanction it deemed fit, given this was not a standard case.

"It rejected the suggestion it should take the standard penalty as its starting point. It was prepared to give limited credit for the admission of the charge but was very concerned this was the fourth proven charge already this season.

"Despite (Maloney's) comments, it took the view that Wigan did not appear to have learned from past mistakes."