Gateshead Football Club have defended the “excessive” police presence at Tuesday night’s match after several fans were banned for “antagonising” stadium staff over the weekend.
The club were accused of “overkill” by supporters when around 30 officers were sent by Northumbria Police to cover a home crowd of just over 400 during Tuesday night’s draw against Wrexham.
The move followed an incident during last Saturday’s victory against Maidstone, where a small group of fans “threatened and antagonised” the stewards, according to a club spokesperson.
They said “around two” fans have now been banned from attending matches as a result of the trouble.
The spokesperson said: “In order to ensure the safety of the staff and the fans coming to the game, the club decided that a police presence was the best course of action.
“The police took control of that, they did a risk assessment and chose to have around 30 police at the stadium.”
The club spokesperson said they had “no control” over the numbers and were only expecting four or five officers to attend.
They added: “It got the fans’ backs up and they felt it was a bit of an overreaction because it was about a dozen or so fans on Saturday who were being a bit rowdy and antagonising the stadium staff.
“People were saying they were being told to ‘sit down and shut up’ by the police, although I personally didn’t see any evidence of it.”
They also confirmed that a smoke bomb was set off on the concourse after the match on Tuesday.
In the wake of the criticism the club has released an official statement saying it felt a “small police presence would be necessary as a precaution”.
It said: “The last thing Gateshead Football Club wants is for young supporters to be discouraged from supporting the team and enjoying their football at the International Stadium.
“However the situation created during Saturday’s victory against Maidstone put the club in a position where security was paramount.
“Northumbria Police assessed the risk and made what they felt were the necessary precautions in order to maintain a safe matchday environment.”
They also denied claims that fans had been banned for swearing, saying, “Although Gateshead Football Club does not condone swearing at a football game, swearing in itself is not an action that would warrant a stadium ban.
“However, anti-social, threatening or abusive behaviour will not be tolerated.”
They added: “The chairman will be meeting a fans’ representative in order to swiftly resolve this situation and get the focus back to enjoying football and creating a positive atmosphere at the International Stadium.”
After the club put the statement out on their Facebook page, one fan wrote: “The response last night was excessive to say the least - spoilt the atmosphere - if this is allowed to continue gates (and therefore the club will suffer).
“In no way am I condoning the flare incident in the concourse. But without atmosphere at football matches and involvement of fans you might as well go to the cinema.”
But another said: “The behaviour of a group of ‘fans’ on Saturday was in my opinion disgusting. It was inciteful and was close to getting out of control.
“I never once felt that the police presence spoilt my enjoyment of last night’s game.”
The club said it was “unlikely” that police would be at the next game.
