FOSTER: SECTARIAN ABUSE LED TO FAN CLASH

PARTICK THISTLE defender Richard Foster claims he was subjected to sectarian abuse before becoming involved in a confrontation with one of his own fans. The 36-year-old was targeted by comments from the away section during last Friday’s match against Ayr United at Somerset Park, which saw Thistle trail 2-0 at half-time. Foster was filmed being held back by his team-mates as he confronted the fan in question, with the footage later appearing on social media. The ex-Rangers and Aberdeen player has now apologised for his furious reaction, while revealing what he alleges sparked the incident.

He said was unaware at the time of alleged jibes regarding his wife, singer Amy Macdonald, but was left incensed by ‘sectarian’ insults. ‘It was stupid of me to react, because that’s exactly what they were doing — trying to get one of us to react,’ he told PLZ. ‘Some of the stuff, and not just directed at me but the whole team, was outrageous. Stuff you’d get arrested or battered for in the street. ‘I heard a couple of things and thought: “I’m not taking that from a Partick Thistle fan”. ‘It was stupid from me to react but some of the stuff was ridiculous. I don’t even know why you would think: “I’m going to say that to one of my own players”. ‘Then they expect me to come out for the second half and be like: “Aw great, I can’t wait for the second half and really try and play well now”! ‘It’s just a strange, strange mindset. ‘But people tend to know that I’m so passionate when I’m playing — and when I’m getting beat I’m not happy and I react probably more easily than I do when I’m winning. ‘Some of the stuff he said, it was only after the fact I heard the stuff about Amy. But before that, I heard the sectarian stuff and that’s what changed it. ‘You can’t see it in the video but I’m walking away from him, then I hear that. It was the wrong thing I heard at the wrong time and I just reacted to it. ‘It wasn’t and it’s never nice to hear, particularly because it was said to me by one of my own fans. It wasn’t a great evening.’ Foster was an unused substitute for Thistle in their 2-1 play-off quarter-final first-leg defeat against Inverness on Tuesday night. The return match takes place in the Highlands tomorrow evening.