Shame

It's taken a couple of days for me to post this blip, partly because we were back late on the day itself, partly because we've been busy since but mainly because I was still despondent about the day's events.

Some of you will no doubt have read that Yeovil's FA Cup game against Haringey Borough was abandoned due to the behaviour of a very small handful of Yeovil fans. Chris & I had chosen the match for our first away trip of the season with our group of fellow fans from Street; we went on one of the supporters' coaches. Haringey play two leagues below us and their ground, despite being in White Hart Lane just a mile or so from Tottenham Hotspurs' stadium, is a very basic one in the middle of an industrial estate with one small stand; on the other three sides fans stand right next to the pitch which, unusually, is an artificial one.

The stewards and other staff at the ground were really friendly and helpful and made us very welcome in the build up to the game. The first half of the match itself was pretty uneventful; Haringey were the better team, passing the ball around well without actually creating any chances while Yeovil seemed to be having trouble getting to grips with the unfamilar surface.

After half time we played much better, forcing their keeper into a couple of good saves; eventually our pressure told and we were awarded a penalty. What happened next was shameful and indefensible: a few of the crowd behind the goal had had far too much to drink and one of them threw a plastic bottle onto the pitch in the direction of the keeper; a confrontation ensued between some of the Haringey players and the fans behind the goal and it took a few minutes before order was restored. When we scored the penalty, a glass bottle was thrown onto the pitch, we saw the contents spray on the keeper's head and more ugly scenes ensued. We were on the side of the pitch too far away to see or hear the details but it seems that the keeper was spat on and the players incensed by racist abuse from the crowd. The Haringey manager took his players off the pitch, the Yeovil players followed shortly afterwards in solidarity and after half an hour or so of uncertainty the game abandoned.

Unfortunately, there was no police presence at the ground to deal with the perpetrators and attempts by the Yeovil captain and other fans to reason with this small group fell on deaf ears. The Haringey chairman and manager made it clear that the overwhelming majority of Yeovil fans were well behaved and disgusted by this small minority, which we were, but it was so depressing to be associated with such unacceptable behaviour. No players should be subjected to that sort of treatment. If people thought that only other countries suffered the plague of racism in football, today's events certainly proved them wrong

Fortunately the club were filming the game and some fans nearer the action had filmed the incident on their phones and I gather these have been passed to the authorities. Today (Monday) two men in their 20s have been arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated common assault, so hopefully the culprits have been found and will receive the punishment they deserve, but it's so sad that they have sullied the reputation of the club and ruined the day for everyone else.

It's left me feeling that I don't want to go to any more away games.