Supporter Behaviour: Club Statement

Club statement regarding supporter behaviour - LOVE FOOTBALL. PROTECT THE GAME.

We’ve made one of the best starts to a league campaign in our history and the management, players and staff of FC United continue to be immensely appreciative of the magnificent support the men’s first team receives at all our games.

So the club was extremely disappointed to be notified by the Football Association that we are being investigated over the behaviour of our supporters at the recent match at Guiseley which could result in disciplinary action being taken against us. A number of different incidents were highlighted by the FA – including an alleged racist comment by one of our supporters to a Guiseley player which had been reported to the police. The other incidents related to two pitch invasions (one by each club’s supporters) and some pushing of the Guiseley goalkeeper by FC fans behind the goal.

And this follows a number of other instances of supporter misbehaviour at matches so far this season including incidents at home to Radcliffe in August and both matches against Liversedge and the use of smoke bombs by some supporters on our recent visit to Marske.   

We were proud to be one of the first non-league clubs to sign up to the anti-discrimination charity Kick It Out’s Equality Charter in 2021 which commits the club to work towards the eradication of all forms of discrimination in football and the promotion of equality, inclusion and diversity. You can read the charter here:

http://www.fc-utd.co.uk/files/documents/Equality%20Charter.pdf

The Board and management team of FC United therefore call on all our supporters to adhere to the club’s zero tolerance of all racist and discriminatory language whether in the ground or online. Our anti-discriminatory message is as much to do with what this football club is about as winning trophies and snaffling the occasional late winner and is utterly befitting of our great city built on immigration.

Similarly whilst match day exuberance is a hallmark of the club’s supporters, it is important that fans refrain from invading the pitch, throwing missiles or using smoke bombs at home or away fixtures. Aside from the possible harm that such actions can cause to players or other spectators the potential sanctions for the club are punitive with fines of several thousand pounds. As co-owners and supporters of FC United we must appreciate that financial penalties of this magnitude are not affordable for a club in FC’s position and therefore any risk of fines should be avoided. Quite simply you risk endangering the future of the club by misbehaving in this way.

The club thanks supporters once again for the passion that they are bringing to matches which is playing such a big part in our success on the pitch so far this season. These are exciting times for the club – let’s get behind the players, staff and management team as we push to finish as high up the league as possible whilst also showing that we will not tolerate any form of racism or discrimination at our football club.