FA Vase victory ‘overshadowed’ by fan violence
‘DISGUSTING’ AND ‘IDIOTIC’ BEHAVIOUR CONDEMNED BY CLUB
HEBBURN Town Football Club is working with Northumbria Police to identify supporters involved in “idiotic violence” that marred the Tynesiders’ FA Vase win over City of Liverpool FC.
Police were called to the club’s ground on Saturday following reports of rival fans clashing and claims supporters were goading City of Liverpool visitors with chants about the Hillsborough Disaster .
Town won the match 4-0 in front of a record 1,302 crowd, but what should have been a wonderful day for the Northern League side was “overshadowed” by disorder, the club says.
In a statement, Hebburn Town said: “Instead of celebrating the fact the team had a tremendous result on the field against a strong visiting side and we had a record-breaking attendance of 1,302, the success has been somewhat overshadowed by the unsavoury incident that occurred on North Drive after the game.
“Northumbria Police were quick on the scene, making no arrests but ensuring the crowds were quickly dispersed, with away support put on their coaches to travel home.
“In the football club’s 106-year history we have never experienced spectator issues at our ground with our own or visiting support, and this is the first time we have been exposed to such disgusting behaviour and we very much condemn any such anti-social behaviour that results in idiotic violence.”
The club says extra security was drafted in to handle the large crowd, with “99.9%” of both clubs’ followings behaving well and mixing with their fellow supporters. Hebburn Town has pledged to learn lessons from Saturday to make sure similar ugly scenes are never repeated.
In the statement, the club added: “Unfortunately, all the planning in the world can’t prevent idiotic behaviour from a very, very small minority from both spectator groups, and our security/steward teams acted promptly to ensure minimum risk.
“We’d like to thank the City of Liverpool FC officials for their support especially Peter (secretary) who worked really closely with us in preparing but also during the day.
“We would like to apologise to those genuine spectators supporting Hebburn Town FC and City of Liverpool FC who got caught up in the incident.
“We’d also like to share our apologies with our residential neighbours, especially in North Drive having to witness this from your homes.”