10th tier club to ‘EXPEL’ players involved in appalling incident during cup match

10th tier club Selby Town say they are to ‘EXPEL’ players involved in an appalling incident during a cup match in midweek.

Selby Town played host to Parkgate in the NCEL League Cup Second Round, with the away side coming out 3-1 winners thanks to goes through Jamie Austin, Harry Day and Brandon Potts.

But it seems the game was marred by an incident that a fan picked up on during the game, and gave a detailed account of what happened to the league and clubs involved.

Selby say they offer their sincerest apologies to the players, staff and officials of Parkgate with the incident to be dealt with accordingly.

@groundhopper101 said in a series of tweets: “@SelbyTown_FC @NCEL @SHCFA Disgusted – Decided to take a drive over from Oldham last night to Selby Town as it’s one of the grounds I haven’t been to, it was an NCEL 2nd Round Cup Match with a team from Rotherham Parkgate FC.

“I don’t usually write anything about the games but I feel I must on this occasion, the atmosphere was horrendous against the Parkgate team and the fans were that drunk at the side of the pitch that one of them fell down.

“The things they were saying to one of the Parkgate lads was totally out of order bordering on harassment.

“It wasn’t until near the end of the match I realised why, a Selby official was feeding the group of men with alcohol to get at this player.

“The player had just returned from a long injury and I heard the Selby official tell the group what the injury was and to encourage home players to go for his injury which they started shouting to the Selby players.

“So much so that one the Selby players told the group to shut the f*** up.

“The Parkgate lad is a well known prolific striker and obviously the idea was to put him off his game.

“I was interested to see if anything else was said so I hung around.

“The official said tho the drunk group well done you put him off, if you can do the same again Saturday you can come in for free as well.

“This is absolutely disgusting behaviour and the official and group of men should be banned By the way the relevance of the men doing the same again Saturday is the same teams are playing in the same place again!!”

@RossDuggan94 wrote: “Absolutely ridiculous 🤦‍♂️ when I heard break his leg shouts that was too far for me but the fact that people are condoning this behaviour never mind encouraging it is beyond me! Such a shame that certain individuals have to ruin football! 🤷🏼‍♂️🤷🏼‍♂️🖕🏻 @SelbyTown_FC @parkgatefc knock cameras out of my hand to try to “sh*thouse.” Comes as no surprise. Some nasty people about.”

📃 | CLUB STATEMENT

We offer our sincerest apologies to the players, staff and officials of @parkgatefc

The incident will be dealt with accordingly #STFC | #TheRobins pic.twitter.com/vkcI4LWuef

— Selby Town FC (@SelbyTown_FC) November 30, 2023

😮😡 https://t.co/sG0VYQBUEB

— Parkgate Football Club (@parkgatefc) November 30, 2023

Selby Town have since said in a statement via their socials: “We have been made aware of an incident that occurred during our recent midweek game against Parkgate FC in the NCEL League Cup.

“The occurrence was aimed toward the players of the opposition team that evening.

“As a Community Football Club, We do not condone any such remarks made to players, fans or officials.

“We are looking into this matter with the upmost urgency and will be dealing with anyone found breaching our policies will be expelled.”

NEW CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED BY THE FA

We have today launched Enough is Enough, a campaign which aims to raise awareness of discriminatory behaviour in grassroots football and the significant consequences that will face perpetrators of hate.
Aimed at grassroots players, coaches, parents, and supporters, the campaign makes clear to everyone involved in the game what behaviours are deemed as discriminatory, as well as reaffirming that behaviour of this nature will not be tolerated in English football.

Enough is Enough also focuses on the importance of reporting of incidents of discrimination and highlighting the different ways to do this through match officials, The FA, Kick It Out and local County FAs. This campaign encourages everyone in the game that sees or hears an incident of discrimination to report it through the official channels so that the appropriate action can be taken.

The campaign also outlines the support available to victims, which includes access to a range of specialist mental health and wellbeing services, which are funded by The FA and delivered by charity Sporting Chance.

This builds on the ongoing work to address unacceptable, discriminatory and illegal behaviour across the game, under the football-wide Love Football. Protect the Game initiative, which aims to ensure that the actions of the minority do not spoil the game for all.

From the start of the 2023-24 season, we introduced point deductions for teams across the grassroots game whose players or coaches commit repeated offences of serious misconduct, which includes discriminatory behaviour. This landmark change in sanctioning followed consistent feedback from across grassroots football that player behaviour is a significant issue, making clear to clubs that this kind of behaviour is unacceptable.

FA Director of Football Development, James Kendall, said: “Grassroots football is the foundation of our game and we want it to be as enjoyable and inclusive as possible, played in an environment where everybody feels safe and comfortable to be themselves. Through our Enough Is Enough campaign, we couldn’t be any clearer that we will not tolerate any form of hate across our game.

“We’ve previously acted on feedback to strengthen our sanctioning framework across grassroots football, to ensure those who are found guilty of discriminatory behaviour face the toughest possible action. We’re also using Enough is Enough to highlight the significance of reporting incidents, which cannot be underestimated. It’s critical that every incident of this nature that is seen or heard is reported to match officials, local County FAs, The FA or Kick It Out. Only by working together can we truly stamp this behaviour out of our game.”