‘They really need to be held accountable’ – Stephen Bradley wants convictions for fans over ill son taunts

Cork City apologised for the behaviour of a small group of up to four supporters who mocked Bradley and his son’s leukaemia battle after the game and said they were liaising with the Gardaí and the Corner Flag venue – the pub beside the Turner’s Cross stadium from where the chants came – but Bradley has not let the matter lie and is in contact with local authorities.

"I’m hoping to press changes. I spoke to the sergeant yesterday from Cork, who has been brilliant to deal with, and they have two [individuals] and they’re hoping to identify another two,” Bradley said today.

“They know there is more than that and hopefully get four or five and I’m hoping the chief superintendent down there sees enough that we’re going to press charges because, like I said, it’s not enough to give them a slap on the wrist and say, ‘Off yis go’. I think they really need to be held accountable for their actions.

“What they said was disgusting. As I said, if we think for one moment - whether in sport or life - that that is acceptable, well then, we’re in a dangerous place as society as a whole.

"I think the club [Cork City] have been good, the majority of their fans have been brilliant. I know a lot of people from Cork, brilliant people, and real sporting community down there have been excellent. But that small minority, they need to know that is unacceptable in any ground up and down the country, they shouldn’t just be banned from Cork,” the Rovers boss added.

"It's a nine-year-old kid. It's my kid, and as a parent, you do everything possible to protect your kids and I'm no different than any other parent in the country.

"If those people that said what they said spent the day in St John's Ward in Crumlin and saw what it's like to have a kid with cancer, and to live with it, I'm sure it would really set them back."