UPDATE: A MAN has been charged with affray following a wild brawl at a junior football game that injured an umpire and forced teenage players to take cover inside their changerooms.

Werribee police on Thursday night arrested a 40-year-old Truganina man and charged him with affray and two counts of assault.

Police will allege that on Sunday a spectator ran onto the football grounds on Hogans Rd and assaulted an umpire.

The man was bailed and is scheduled to appear at the Werribee Magistrates’ Court on February 5, 2018.

Victoria Police and the Western Region Football League were examining footage of the scuffle at an under-15s decider between Point Cook and Alb­ion in Hoppers Crossing.

Witnesses said spectators stormed the field and allegedly att­acked the umpire after the match, after two consecutive 50-metre penalties were paid to Point Cook late in the last minute of their game against Albion.

Point Cook then goaled and won the premiership.

The umpire was forced to run for his life after the brawl broke out and teenage players had to take cover in their changerooms.

media_camera A man with a young child on his shoulders watches as two men confront each other. Courtesy: 3AW media_camera One of the men is grabbed by the throat. Courtesy: 3AW

media_camera The same two men are seen on video wrestling. Courtesy: 3AW media_camera Another image of the men wrestling. Courtesy: 3AW

Footage also shows the violence taking place with children nearby.

Witness Joel Ives said the umpire was attacked in the immediate aftermath of the match.

“(It was) absolute chaos,” he told Channel 7.

“To see an umpire run off the field — literally running for his life — was quite disappointing.

“You would hate to see what would happen if he fell over … if he lost his footing, we might be talking about a different story today.”

A father watching his son play said Point Cook club members were locked in their change rooms as a safety measure after the game as police arrived.

“I didn’t see the incident with the umpire, however Point Cook players, coaches, helps and family members were put into lockdown by the managers, and police I think, in our change rooms,” he said.

“The presentation of medals and the cup was cancelled and took place in the change rooms.

Brawl breaks out at junior football Grand Final Brawl breaks out at junior football Grand Final

“We were given the all clear to leave the rooms and the ground about 40 minutes after the end of the game.”

The Point Cook father claimed two of the instigators had been seen drinking throughout the day.

“I will say their coach (Albion) did come in and congratulate our coach, I thought that was excellent,” he said.

“It was a bit scary not knowing if we could leave because people were waiting out the front for us. You don’t want to go through that to get out of a footy match.”

WDFL umpires’ boss Mark Westgarth said the official, in his 30s, gave a statement to the league referring to his attackers as “people who don’t know how to behave”.

“Physically, he’s fine but emotionally he’s a bit taken aback,” he said. “It was a fairly dramatic situation.

“People need to understand it’s a game, and a kids’ game at that.”

media_camera The winning Point Cook team. Picture: Facebook

Point Cook president Ivo Havard described it as “out of control” and “adults behaving badly”.

“I know a lot of people at Albion and they’ve been a good club for a long time but obviously they’ve got an element there with some people that shouldn’t be there,” Mr Havard told 3AW. Another witness claimed a person chased and assaulted the umpire and then proceeded to assault others, who were trying to intervene and break up the fight.

Albion club president Gavan Taylor referred the incident to the Western Region Football League. “The league has asked me not to say anything and I’m not going to go into it in detail,” he said.

“What happened after the game is totally unacceptable and the Western Region Football League will deal with it.”

A Western Region Football League spokeswoman said the body would conduct an investigation and would not comment further until it was over.

Footage taken in the aftermath of a footy brawl Footage taken in the aftermath of a footy brawl

“The Western Region Football League is investigating an incident that followed the Under-15 Division 2 Grand Final between Albion and Point Cook at Hogans Road Reserve on Sunday afternoon,” the spokeswoman said.

A man in his 30s was treated by paramedics at the ground for upper body injuries, but not taken to hospital.

Another witness believed the key “instigators” had been drinking throughout the day.

Police Commissioner Graham Ashton warned parents not to get involved in what was happening on the field, and urged people to “behave like reasonable adults and not like idiots when they are around kids so that they set the right example”.

Police are investigating and have urged witnesses or anyone with video footage of the incident to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 00 or submit a confidential crime report at crimestoppersvic.com.au

sophie.smith@news.com.au

@SophieSmith86