Macclesfield Town Football Club is embroiled in another race row after lodging a second complaint with the FA following Saturday’s match against Barrow.
As excitement builds before the team’s home game against Cardiff City this month, Silkmen defender Ryan Jackson has claimed he was racially abused by an opponent during Saturday’s FA Cup replay against Barrow.
The full-back has alleged that a Barrow player subjected him to verbal abuse at the end of Macc’s 4-1 win. The incident sparked a brawl in the tunnel at the end of a victory which won the club £27,000 in prize money and earned them the right to host Championship leaders Cardiff City in round three.
Police officers were called in to defuse the melee and players and managers from both sides played down the fracas during post-match interviews.
The Moss Rose club has reported the alleged abuse to match referee Phil Gibb, and to the police, and the FA have confirmed that an investigation into the complaint will take place.
This is the second alleged incident – an FA probe is already under way arising from a report that the Silkmen’s captain Nat Brown was subjected to ‘monkey’ chants from Barrow supporters during the first fixture 11 days earlier.
Macc manager Steve King said he witnessed the abuse aimed at his skipper and, despite Brown’s reluctance to take the matter further, reported that claim to referee David Webb, who included it in his match report.
In a statement on the club’s website Macclesfield’s chief executive Jon Harris said: ‘We are very disappointed that this has overshadowed an excellent performance on the pitch, but we remain staunchly opposed to all forms of racism, which we believe has no place in football, or indeed anywhere.
‘The club are aware that the matter has been reported to both the police and the FA and will offer both its fullest support in dealing with the matter’.
The Cumbrian club have vowed to take action against any of their fans found to be guilty of racist abuse, and after the allegation from the first tie on December 18, the Bluebirds’ chairman Brian Keen said: “This is a decent, family community club and there is no place for racism here. We will investigate and, if we can identify any culprits, they will be facing as stern a punishment as we can dish out.”
After Saturday’s match Jackson, and team mates Amari Morgan-Smith and Carl Martin, revealed the nature of the abuse on their respective twitter accounts, but Barrow fans have hit back online, incensed by the presence of an English Defence League banner displayed on the London Road terrace during the bitterly-fought replay.
