"Draw a line" - Hednesford Town owner issues plea over fan misbehaviour

Hednesford Town owner Craig Gwilt has demanded supporters “draw a line” after further incidents marred their opening day trip to Merthyr Town.

The Pitmen started life back in the sixth-tier, following back-to-back promotions, with a 2-0 defeat at Penydarren Park on Saturday.

And in a blog written by the chairman on the club’s website, Gwilt has addressed the issue of fan misbehaviour in relation to reports of fighting with the opposing supporters on the weekend.

Gwilt wrote: “Over the past couple of seasons this club has received fines and had to deal with incidents involving pitch invasions, fighting, abuse directed towards players, missiles being thrown at opposition goalkeepers, flares entering the field of play and even interference with players’ water bottles.

“Yesterday, there were more incidents, including fighting with Merthyr supporters and drunken behaviour on the coaches. Enough.

“You cannot demand professional standards from your football club and then leave those standards at the turnstiles yourselves.

“We want passion. We want noise. We want away ends packed with Hednesford supporters. We want you celebrating goals, signing for 90 minutes and making Keys Park one of the hardest places in the league for visiting teams.

“But there is line. Fighting isn’t supporting Hednesford Town.”

Jacob Maddox scored both goals for Merthyr in the first half: opening the scoring in the third-minute, before doubling his tally on the cusp of half-time.

Gwilt admitted that the result fell below the high standards expected, but stressed that perspective is always important.

He added: “I woke up this morning pretty flat. Losing 2-0 on the opening day of the season didn’t help.

“We were poor. There is no point dressing it up as anything else. The players know that, Kelvin [Davis] knows that, I know that.

“We have set high standards at this football club and those standards apply to what happens on the pitch. Yesterday we didn’t reach them.

“But, perspective matters. Two seasons ago, we were preparing for our opening game against Vauxhall Motors at Step 4.

“Today, after successive promotions, we are a National League North club. Just take a second to think about how far we’ve come.”