Senior investigating officer, Det Insp Mark Monteiro, said: “With the public’s assistance we have clearly identified the offender who ran onto the pitch during last night’s game and who is suspected of assaulting the Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper.
“We are dealing with the complaint made by the player and we are currently taking statements, collating evidence and making enquiries to locate and arrest the offender.
“We are also using CCTV footage from around the ground to identify suspects who may have been responsible for other offences before, during or after the match.
“I’d like to thank the supporters and general public who have provided information and assisted with our inquiries.”
The Football Association has also announced it is investigating the crowd trouble at the Championship match between Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds.
A number of Leeds supporters ran on to the pitch after Michael Tonge equalised in the 1-1 draw at Hillsborough and one man confronted Kirkland before shoving him in the face with both hands, knocking him to the floor.
An FA spokesman confirmed: “We are investigating the events of last night and awaiting the referee’s report.”
Police are following a number of inquiries and outraged football fans are calling for the culprit to face criminal charges.
He was one of a number of Leeds’ fans who ran on to the pitch in celebration. He shoved Kirkland in the face with both hands, knocking him to the floor.
Chief Superintendent Jason Harwin, of South Yorkshire Police, said a senior investigating officer would be working with a team of officers to identify those responsible for the disruption.
He said there had been five arrests for various offences including public order before and after the game, while three people were ejected from the ground and 12 were subject to dispersal orders.
In a statement released late last night, he added: “First I would like to thank members of the public who have contacted us with information to help in the ongoing investigations following the incidents at Hillsborough tonight.
“Fans have now left the city and there has been no further reported incidents of violence and disorder.”
Earlier he said there had been several incidents where seats and bottles were believed to have been thrown inside the ground.
Leeds issued a statement after the game pledging to hunt down the man involved in the incident.
It read: “Leeds United Football Club would like to publicly apologise and condemn the action of the fan who came on the pitch and attacked Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper Chris Kirkland. The club will fully co-operate with the police and the football authorities in identifying the individual concerned.
“After the week football has endured there is no place for this type of behaviour and the majority of Leeds supporters will be ashamed of his actions.”
A large number of the Leeds fans housed in the Leppings Lane End sang about child abuse charges dropped against Wednesday manager Dave Jones.
The Wednesday fans also stoked things up with songs about two Leeds fans killed in Turkey in April 2000. Leeds supporters responded by throwing bottles onto the field and clashing with police.
Hopefully all the Leeds fans on CCTV that were caught on the pitch, throwing objects, fighting with stewards and police and chanting will be banned, along side the Wednesday fans who were chanting and caused any problems. I shouldn't really call any of them fans though. They were idiots who attended a football match.
I don't want those fans, home or away at the football ground I go to watch football at, nor any other football ground.
Also; re no trouble at Elland Road, the young lad that's banned from all the football grounds was banned for being part of a riot at Elland road. That's not to say there is a regular problem at Elland road, but to suggest there is never any trouble is a false claim. I'd never suggest there is never trouble at Hillsborough, on the whole I'd assume Elland Road and Hillsborough are trouble free most of the time like the majority of football grounds.
Why didn't Leeds fans just stop the idiot from coming back in to the crowd? I would agree that the stewards and Police failed at that point, but the stewards were busy containing Leeds fans further along from the goal and the Police, well who knows what they were doing. They didn't come out until after the attack.
I don't think the kick off time on a Friday night helped matters at all, nor the lack of Police presence. I don't want to be assoicated with the Wednesday fans who sung songs or played a role in that at all, nor do I imagine Leeds fans want to be assosiated with the fans that caused problems. I certainly don't agree that it was the minority of Leeds fans causing problems and singing, it was the majority.
When they scored and the idiot ran on to the pitch, while tensions were high and pushing and shoving occured with the Leeds fans in the corner, the majority of Leeds fans celebrated the goal without problem, the surge caused fans in the corner to spill on to the pitch but that wasn't a 'charge' that was a high number of people there due to the problems that all jumped at the same time, the handful of idiots that ran on to the pitch will hopefully be caught.
. Would feel much more happier if Chessers was between the sticks today but Mannone hasnt done too bad a job deputising for Chessers.
