Bracknell Town have released a statement on alleged racist comments made during the Robins 2-1 FA Cup win over Banbury United.
The club have reported allegations of racist remarks made from the crowd during the fixture that saw Bracknell beat the Oxfordshire side 2-1.
After the game, the Robins title-winning captain Max Herbert wrote on Twitter: “Side note – So proud of Anthony Cheshire today. Putting in a performance like he did while on the end of racist abuse takes some heart. Banbury United no issue with your players and staff but hope you take a serious look at your travelling fans.”
A statement released by Bracknell on Sunday said: “On a day that should have been great for our club and fans, unfortunately, a small number of Banbury United fans deemed it acceptable to hurl racial slurs at our players and staff, which we find extremely disturbing and offensive. This language and conduct has no place in our sport or society and must be eliminated. We will coordinate with the police and the FA to identify each individual supporter behind the goal.”
Football in Berkshire has contacted the FA about the incident, the Football Association confirmed they are awaiting receipt of the referee’s report. Thames Valley Police has also been contacted.
We would urge anyone in the ground who heard any of the alleged racist comments or suffered racist abuse to report it to Thames Valley Police via their website or call 101. Please use reference TV1-7069-22-4343-C
2 responses
Travelled back on the train to Wokingham and had some interesting banter with two Banbury United ‘fans’ who claimed they were on banning orders which was why they were attending this match as presumably they could enter the ground unchallenged. They also said they had been in a row in a local pub where a fight had broken out. All in all a pretty disgraceful bunch of supporter with poor behaviour in the ground.
I went to the game to do a Press report and was disappointed that although the game was highly competitive meaning there was some shirt tugging and fouls on both sides which was nothing unusual, the spirit of the game was marred by some overexuberant vocals from Banbury supporters, which was normal but then some of them began to give Anthony Cheshire some grief in the shape of verbal abuse. The referee then organised a brief conference on the pitch, including the two assistants and the 4th official all the managers, coaches and captains. I have no idea what was discussed but I know that the Police were in attendance after which, a scruffy female was escorted to the exit by 3 police. I expect that any escalation of the abuse would have forced the referee to abandon the game. Fortunately, the drama subsided, and Robins kept the lead until the final whistle. I found the Banbury supporters helpful to my task.