A small group of young Cheltenham Town supporters were turned away from entering Saturday's match against Chesterfield. The group had previously been warned after the Notts County match that they would not be admitted to the following home game.
This decision was taken by the stadium safety team in consultation with the police and was not taken lightly. Cheltenham Town Football Club would never turn supporters away without good reason.
Unfortunately the behaviour of a small group of supporters aged around 15 to 17 has been causing concern for some months.
The decision to refuse entry resulted from breaches of ground regulations at the Notts County game when supporters continually climbed onto crush barriers, obstructed walkways and ignored the reasonable instructions of safety stewards on numerous occasions. This followed on from complaints received from other Cheltenham supporters at previous matches regarding repeated anti-social behaviour. Furthermore, the club is assisting the police with their ongoing enquiries into other incidents at and around recent games.
The supporters concerned have received repeated warnings from the football club, both privately and publicly. The police have also visited their schools to highlight the consequences if their standard of behaviour continues to deteriorate.
The safety team do not plan to refuse entry to anyone at the next home game and the football club asks only that all supporters treat the stadium, their fellow supporters, the safety team and members of the public with the respect they deserve.
Unfortunately, if supporters continue to indulge in anti-social or criminal behaviour there are a range of punitive measures which can be implemented ranging from club bans to arrest and prosecution.