An apology has been made by Chorley Council for any offence caused after travelling fans were told to stay away from the town where they regularly to stop off on route to away matches.
The council sent a letter to nearby Premier League and Football League clubs Burnley, Bolton, Preston, Wigan and Blackburn suggested travelling supporters were “not welcome” and had been intimidating residents and shoppers.
Since then, Danny Gee, who sent the letter on behalf of the council, later apologised and said they were targeting coach loads of fans and the letter “could have been better written”.
Despite reports alluding to the contrary, football hasn’t been banned in Chorley ? ?♂️ Anything but in fact; #wearetopoftheleague & welcome @HerefordFC AND their supporters to Victory Park on Saturday? #everyonewelcome #MagpieFamily pic.twitter.com/0jdIizYPv4
— Chorley Football Club (@chorleyfc) August 16, 2018
A statement said: “In the letter, it stated that travelling away fans would not be welcome in Chorley – this is not the case we do welcome football fans and we apologise for this comment and any offence this may have caused.
“We do welcome football fans and the vast majority are extremely well behaved, add to the atmosphere and support our local businesses.
“What we can’t have – and which is what triggered the concerns from traders – is a situation where large groups of fans are gathering in pubs, spilling out on to the streets and intimidating, or being seen to be intimidating other people using the town centre.
“It is a small minority of people that have been spoiling it for others in the past and it is the unruly fans who are causing anti-social behaviour that are not welcome.”
A letter circulated to football clubs has led fans to feel they are not welcome in Chorley – that’s not the case – we’re sorry that’s the impression the letter may have given and here’s more to explain https://t.co/GXPKzvlB0o
— Chorley Council (@ChorleyCouncil) August 15, 2018
The council is to write to clubs to clarify where they stand and outline hopes for a solution to the problem.
The statement continued: “We apologise again for any offence this has caused and we would like to wish football fans of all clubs a successful season, and hopefully we’ll see you in Chorley over the coming weeks and months.”
Football fans were left baffled by the council’s decisions, others brilliantly took the mickey out of the town – check out those tweets including what the residents of Chorley had to say on the next page.
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