As reported by The Sun (I know), Bolton Wanderers’ top goalscorer Gary Madine was arrested on Friday night after a pub brawl in his hometown of Gateshead.

The article in The Sun states:

“FOOTIE star Gary Madine has been arrested over a pub brawl which left a man needing stitches for a face wound.

The Bolton striker, 27, was said to have thrown glasses in a beer garden when a scrap erupted as he watched Friday’s England v Germany match.

Drinkers at The Hanlon in Madine’s home town of Birtley, Gateshead, tried to intervene but a man in his 50s was allegedly punched by the player.

A pal said: “It started inside when Gary got upset about something, then all hell broke loose.”

Madine was being quizzed by cops yesterday on suspicion of unlawful wounding, which carries up to five years in jail.”

There were rumblings about this story on twitter on Friday night, but the news was made official this morning.

Gary Madine is no stranger to controversy. In October 2013 he was jailed for 18 months after being found guilty of causing actual bodily harm and grievous bodily harm in two separate attacks. Madine was released from jail on 20 February 2014 after serving 5 months of his eighteen month sentence.

Apart from calling Billy Sharp a ‘fat little pig’, Madine hasn’t hit the headlines in any negative way during his time at Bolton. In a story published by The Bolton News just a few days ago, Madine spoke about being more professional on and off the pitch, stating:

“I am not this big bad lad lout that people perceive me as,” he said. “That’s just away from football when I’ve had a beer in us!

Let’s hope this story has been overblown and Madine will be back and available for Wanderers’ trip to Preston North End next Friday.

Do you think Gary Madine will receive any punishment for this? Let us know in the comments box below.

UPDATE

Bolton News reporter Marc Iles tweeted this earlier today:

Good news that no further action will be taken.

Maybe the whole situation was overblown by The Sun, maybe it was a case of self defence.

Hopefully, Madine will be available to play against Preston next Friday.