5 strange stoppages in football games after rat halts Wales’ World Cup qualifier

Wales’ 4-2 World Cup qualifying defeat to Belgium on Monday night was temporarily halted when a large rat ran on to the Cardiff City Stadium pitch.

The rodent appeared during a break in play for a head injury and escaped Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois’ attempt to grab it before being ushered off the field by Wales substitute Brennan Johnson.

Here, the PA news agency looks at five other strange occurrences that have briefly interrupted football matches.

Giant locust hitches a ride

The Cardiff City Stadium rat is not the first animal to invade the pitch and disrupt play, and certainly not the most freakish. At the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, a giant locust swooped to land on the arm of Colombia’s James Rodriguez after he had scored a penalty in his side’s 2-1 quarter-final defeat to the hosts. The player was somehow oblivious as the beefed-up flying bug hitched a ride.

Drone sparks Belgrade brawl

A drone, rather than a flying beast, not only halted play during a Euro 2016 qualifier between Serbia and Albania in Belgrade in 2014, it sparked a pitch invasion and forced the game to be abandoned. The drone carried an Albanian nationalist banner – the two nations were locked in dispute over territory – and, after Serbia’s Stefan Mitrovic had hauled it down, home fans and stewards poured on to the pitch and attacked some Albania players.

‘Kop cat’ goes viral

Liverpool’s home Premier League game against Tottenham in 2012 was temporarily halted when a cat casually walked across the pitch before making itself comfortable on the turf 11 minutes into the match. The grey and white tabby was carefully picked up by a steward and quickly became an internet sensation as the original ‘Kop cat’.

Early showers at Vitality Stadium

Not for the first time, and probably not the last, rogue sprinklers have forced play to be halted. On this occasion it was during Bournemouth’s home Premier League game against Wolves in 2019. With the score locked at 1-1 late in the game, players from both sides were given an early shower when four sprinklers were inadvertently activated. Momentum was lost after the referee briefly stopped the game and neither side found the winner.

Bowyer-Dyer brawl of the ages

Tensions ran high as Newcastle trailed Aston Villa 3-0 at St James’ Park in a Premier League game in 2005, but no-one could quite believe their eyes when Magpies team-mates Lee Bowyer and Kieron Dyer traded blows during a vicious on-field fight. Several players swiftly intervened to calm the pair, who left their manager Graeme Souness and captain Alan Shearer furious after they were both sent off.