The Chelmsford City Supporters’ Club are alarmed about the incident that took place between one of our supporters and members of the security staff during last Saturday’s match at home to St Albans City.
Following the match, the Supporters’ Club contacted a friend of the affected supporter the same evening, and then on Sunday afternoon we messaged the affected supporter directly, to request a written version of events and to offer our support.
The affected supporter emailed both Phil Crowe and our Chairman, Jordan McManus, yesterday morning (25th September) with his version of events, with Phil later releasing a statement through the Football Club channels ahead of a phone call with Jordan on Monday afternoon to discuss the events of Saturday and actions being taken by the Football Club.
The Supporters’ Club would like to thank both the affected supporter for quickly providing us with his account and to Phil Crowe for promptly ordering an investigation into the incident on the back of this, including requesting that the Regency Security Agency also conduct their own internal investigation, as well as apologising to the affected supporter who deemed Phil’s actions at the time to have been aggressive.
We have been told that the steward primarily involved in the incident will no longer work at fixtures at the Melbourne Stadium, at the request of the Football Club, which we welcome having heard a few accounts about the heavy-handed behaviour of this individual, including deeply inappropriate and threatening comments being directed at the affected supporter.
We hope that these investigations, both being undertaken by the Football Club and Regency Security, are concluded swiftly and that appropriate action is taken as a result of these to ensure there is no repeat incident in future. It is also important that the Football Club maintains communication, with both the affected supporter and the entire fanbase, while this process is ongoing.
While this was clearly an unsavoury incident which should never have happened, the Supporters’ Club would like to remind all spectators that while swearing and industrial language have been commonplace on footballing terraces for many years, constant and extreme language, and in particular foul and abusive language, especially when directed at an individual, quite rightly has no place in our sport.
The Football Club has received some complaints in recent times from supporters, and in particular from families with young children, about excessive swearing. All of us need to ensure that all spectators enjoy the match experience, or we risk some of them never returning. All we ask is that you are mindful of those around you on matchdays.