While everyone at West Brom will be satisfied with the start to their 2026-27 season, there will be one area that irritates them.

And that will be Aune Heggebo’s two-match punishment, imposed by the FA following their opening weekend triumph against Norwich City at Carrow Road.

While Albion coped without the Norwegian for their Carabao Cup trip to Newcastle United and a Championship home game against Burnley, Heggebo’s abilities were sorely missed, with Heggebo able to stretch the backline and use his physicality, allowing other players like Jimmy-Jay Morgan to occupy more space and cause damage.

West Brom’s first five results from the 2026-27 Championship season

Norwich City (A

2-1 victory.

Burnley (H)

3–1 victory.

Middleborough (A)

3–1 defeat

Charlton Athletics (H)

1-1 draw

Watford (H)

1–0 victory

Fortunately for the Baggies, the story is now over, but Albion fans will continue to believe that the team was handled unfairly and penalised for incompetent officiating.

By punishing Heggebo, the FA has set a hazardous precedent for what constitutes a two-game ban, with Nottingham Forest’s Neco Williams involved in a similar position when he handled the ball over the line in the Premier League draw against Tottenham Hotspur last weekend.

With this in mind, TalkSPORT’s Simon Jordan has commented on the comparison between Williams and Heggebo, as well as whether he agrees with the West Brom frontman’s suspension.

Aune Heggebo’s suspension following Norwich City handball

This all began with Aune Heggebo’s opening goal of the new Championship season, which came off a darting cross from Jimmy-Jay Morgan and was turned in via his arm.

Neither the referee, Tim Robinson, nor the linesman on the far side were able to see an infringement and award the goal, which generated significant media scrutiny and a debate about whether VAR should be implemented in the Championship.

Early the following week, the Baggies were informed that Heggebo would be suspended for two games for violating Rule E3.1, with the charge thought to be the first of its sort in English football, following a rule change before to the 2024-25 season.

The FA claimed Heggebo “successfully deceived a Match Official by handling the ball in a direct successful attempt to score a goal”. Albion filed an appeal the next day, claiming that the ball deflected from the goalie just before making contact with Heggebo’s arm, altering the ball’s direction and giving him less than 0.1 second to respond.

However, the FA maintained the allegation, and Heggebo missed games against Newcastle United and Burnley.

Neco Williams’ handball incident against Tottenham Hotspur.

A similar occurrence occurred in the Premier League last weekend between Nottingham Forest and Tottenham Hotspur, resulting in a goalless tie.

Deep into the second half, Forest believed they had taken the lead when Neco Williams bundled over Morgan Gibbs-White’s chipped shot after some disastrous defending by Sandro Tonali.

The ball struck Williams’ right hand as he attempted to head it across the line from a few inches away, and a VAR check ruled the goal out.

Forest, like West Brom at Carrow Road, celebrated the score, reigniting discussion about whether Williams was attempting to deceive a match official after committing a handball offence.

Simon Jordan criticises West Brom and Aune Heggebo’s ban.

Speaking on TalkSPORT about the two instances, pundit Simon Jordan believes West Brom striker Aune Heggebo should not have been suspended for his antics in the team’s victory over Norwich City.

While he admits the evidence against Heggebo is clearer than Williams’, he believes the FA should not seek to infer someone’s motive or motivation, as this is dangerously near to reading their mind.

Jordan stated: “When you start making decisions about people’s intentions, you’re in the territory of superimposing what you believe their motivations might be without knowing the personality, understanding the character of the individual, and making what you consider to be an informed decision.

“There was more controversy around the West Bromwich Albion goal because it stood, and not withstanding that, the goal was a goal, and in this instance, the goal has been disallowed, so whilst the player is protesting his innocence, there’s no outcome that affected the outcome of the game or created the outcome at the disadvantage of anybody in particular.”

Later in the show, Jim White would return to this issue, asking Jordan directly, “Do you think Heggebo should have been [banned]?””

Jordan responded: “No, because as I said at the top of this conversation, to establish someone’s intention is a very difficult thing to do, and to establish their motivation is reaching into their minds.”

The FA has opened a can of worms with the Aune Heggebo suspension.

The FA’s decision to ban Aune Heggebo has undoubtedly created a hazardous precedent.

Neco Williams’ handball will not result in a ban because VAR intervened to disallow the goal, but it would be interesting to see if the FA would have been consistent in their decision-making if this had occurred in the Championship.

A similar occurrence occurred recently in the second tier, with West Brom in Middlesbrough.

Boro’s initial goal of the game definitely demonstrated that Will Lankshear was offside. With the linesman failing to see it, Lankshear went on to score and celebrate the goal, hence West Brom fans were correct to argue that Lankshear should have received a two-match ban for successfully misleading a match official.

Now that the FA has done this, each minor disagreement will spark a debate over whether a ban should be enforced, and it is extremely hazardous for the game to become this way, with the case for introducing VAR into the Championship rising by the week.

Many believe that the installation of VAR would kill the Championship’s energy and raucous aspect, and it’s almost as if the FA is attempting to force it through considering what they’ve done with Heggebo, effectively rewatching and making decisions after a game.

The FA may be looking back and wishing they hadn’t taken this action against Heggebo, as this decision is constantly brought up whenever there is another contentious situation.