Hednesford Town chief’s fury at abusive fan behaviour
Hednesford Town chairman Graham Jones has condemned abusive behaviour from a small section of supporters and warned he will walk away if such instances continue.
A video shared on social media appears to show a young person directing racist abuse towards Bromsgrove Sporting's Miro Rais following his goal in the visitors' 3-2 win at Keys Park on Tuesday.
Pitmen chairman Jones says the matter has been reported to the police while the club plan to issue a lifetime ban to whoever used the language.
Hednesford have released a full statement, written by Jones, and an excerpt read: "I write again sadly to discuss certain issues of a very small minority of troublesome individuals.
"We have been made aware of a video whereby a young person shouts out unacceptable abuse.
"We request that anyone in the vicinity of this, who has information on who the individual is, contacts the club regarding the identity of the individual (anonymously if needs be).
"A report has also been lodged with the police (their football hate crime dedicated officer) who shall pick up on this incident and action accordingly. We as a club also will not hesitate to issue a lifetime ban for any such behaviour.
"Again, I reiterate that this sort of behaviour will not be tolerated by myself, the board, or us as a club. It will be addressed with swift and harsh consequences."
Jones has called on Hednesford supporters to immediately alert a nearby member of club staff if similar incidents occur in the future.
The Pitmen statement added: "I have no personal interest in being part of a club which cannot behave.
"We have to work together to stamp this behaviour out. We will be having additional undercover people walking around the club on game days, to identify any perpetrators.
"We will do everything we can to stamp this behaviour out. But this always comes at a cost to us as a club, which to put it bluntly should not be needed. So, I ask you all to assist in helping, by reporting it to staff as needed, if any type of anti-social behaviour happens.
"There’s no place for such behaviour in life, let alone football. We are here to be a family club, a community club. We want to succeed, we must do it together, as the only way we will succeed is through togetherness."
