A football club has been fined £15,000 for failing to control supporters after violence erupted at a League Two game.
More than 100 fans clashed at the Grimsby Town v Port Vale game on 10 March 2018.
An FA hearing found Grimsby Town had failed to act on police intelligence about possible violence and had an “insufficient number of stewards” at the match.
The club has refused to comment on the report’s findings.
The FA’s report said violence broke out after both sets of fans charged each other after Grimsby Town scored a last minute equaliser.
In his match report, referee Sebastian Stockbridge said: “Before we kicked off to restart the game, supporters from both clubs charged towards each in a violent and confrontational manner.
“They came over the advertising boards and on to the field of play. Stewards attempted to stop them and remove them from the field of play, however there were too many supporters for the few stewards.”
It took nine minutes to clear the pitch and resume the match.
Grimsby Town said it had increased the number of stewards and improved its CCTV system
Twenty-five men were later given suspended jailed sentences and banned from attending football matches for their part in the violence.
The FA found Grimsby Town had failed “to take the security concerns raised by Humberside Police seriously and the intelligence the police provided was not acted upon”.
The report said if the club had acted on the police warnings it could have asked for additional officers to be on duty which would have “have assisted stewards in deterring those that wanted disorder”.
The club said its relationship with the police had broken down and admitted “safety was being compromised as a result”.
In mitigation, Grimsby Town said it had increased the number of stewards and installed an improved CCTV system.
The post Grimsby Town Fined £15,000 Over Port Vale Violence appeared first on Independent Newspapers Nigeria.
Source: Independent
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