A footballer has been fined by his club and could face disciplinary action from the Football Association after a goal celebration in which he appeared to show support for a teammate jailed for killing two young children while drink-driving.

David Norris, 27, who plays for Ipswich Town, provoked anger after his goal against Blackpool in the Championship on Saturday by seeming to mimic a pair of handcuffed wrists in front of a crowd of more than 7,000.

Mr Norris admitted that the gesture was a “private message” of support for the former Plymouth Argyle goal-keeper Luke McCormick, who began a seven-year jail sentence last month for causing the death of the brothers Aaron Peak, 10, and Ben Peak, 8, while driving home drunk from Mr Norris’s wedding in June. The boys’ father, Philip, survived the collision but suffered spinal and lung injuries.

The midfield player, who was a teammate of McCormick at Plymouth Argyle, denied that it was a “handcuffs” gesture.

The boys’ mother, Amanda Peak, from Partington, Manchester, said: “I’m disgusted. To celebrate a goal like that is disrespectful to me and my husband and my boys.”

The Football Association was quick to ask Mr Norris for an explanation, and have given him one week to respond before considering action against him. Ipswich Town Football Club also reacted swiftly and called Mr Norris to discuss his behaviour.

An Ipswich Town spokesperson said: “David deeply regrets that his actions have been wrongly interpreted and has today written a personal and private letter of apology to Mr and Mrs Peak. In hearing the player’s explanation, the club also regrets the potential for misinterpretation of the gesture and would like to make a donation to the appropriate charity, equal to the fine imposed on the player.”

In his own statement, Mr Norris apologised for his actions. “It wasn’t a handcuffs sign, it was a private message, but I can see how people might have seen it like that and I apologise wholeheartedly if it’s caused any offence,” he said.

Mrs Peak welcomed the player’s fine, an unknown amount, and official warning as a sign to children that it is wrong to drink and drive and that it is not “OK to kill someone”. She accepted Mr Norris’s apology.

CELEBRATIONS THAT BACKFIRED

March 2008: Tim Cahill, the Everton striker, made a similar “handcuffs” gesture in support of his brother, Sean, who was jailed for six years for GBH. He went unpunished

2007: Stephen Ireland, from Manchester City, dropped his shorts to reveal a pair of superman pants

1999: Robbie Fowler mimicked snorting the touchline like a line of cocaine. He was fined and banned for four matches

1998: Paul Gascoigne received IRA death threats and a £20,000 fine after pretending to play a flute, a sectarian symbol

1995: Paul Tait, from Birmingham City, was fined for revealing a T-shirt that read “S**t on the Villa”

1979 ; The Arsenal full-back Sammy Nelson bared his buttocks in celebration of cancelling out his own-goal in an FA Cup match. He was suspended for a fortnight