Bolton boss Ian Evatt fears football is “going back to the days of the 70s and the 80s” after trouble marred matches over the weekend, including alleged racist abuse being aimed at his players and staff.
Wanderers’ 1-1 League One draw at Morecambe on Saturday was stopped for around 10 minutes late in the game by referee Ross Joyce after Evatt reacted furiously to comments allegedly made to the Bolton bench by supporters behind the dugouts.
The following day a spectator invaded the pitch and appeared to attack Nottingham Forest players during Leicester’s 4-1 FA Cup fourth-round loss at the City Ground.
Asked if these events had left him feel increasingly concerned about the safety of players and staff, Evatt said at a press conference on Monday: “100 per cent.
“We see at all these fixtures, the amount of policing and stewarding that is surrounding supporters, especially away supporters. But some of these stadiums, the dugouts and technical areas are built into the stands, so you are literally sat with supporters.
“How are these supporters vetted? Are they checked, security checked? I don’t know. This is extremes, but any one of these could have a weapon. What’s it going to take before we start bringing in more measures and being more stringent with our policies?
“It’s happening more and more often. You’ve seen it with the racism side of it, the social media side of it, people entering the field of play – it’s just not good enough, it’s not acceptable.
“This is a family sport – I want to be able to take my children to enjoy football matches. Would I be taking my kids to a football match at the moment? I’d have to have a lot of thought, to be honest, because we seem to be going backwards.
“We seem to be going back to the days of the 70s and the 80s and we’ve moved on from that. Society is better than that. But we have to come together now and stamp it out because it is getting worse and worse.”
Evatt added: “We seem to be reactive rather than proactive with all these things. What’s it going to take for us to really stand up and make decisions and protocols that are stringent enough to put people off?
“Is it going to take a player or a member of staff to get seriously injured or even worse? I don’t know. I’d rather see us be more proactive than reactive and at the moment it seems to be the other way around.”
Evatt stressed that “it doesn’t matter whether it’s one comment or 100, it’s zero tolerance”.
He added: “If we hear one comment which we feel is over the line, and especially racial, we will walk off, simple as that – that’s our policy and…will remain our policy moving forwards.”
The alleged abuse was not the only incident to mar the match at the Mazuma Stadium, with Bolton fans throwing several objects at Morecambe goalkeeper Adam Smith.
Lancashire Police said on Sunday that a 61-year-old man from Morecambe had been arrested on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offence and was in custody.
They added in a statement: “Other lines of enquiry relating to the allegations of racism are being developed and we continue to take the matter extremely seriously.
“A number of Bolton fans who were arrested for assault, pitch encroachment or being drunk and disorderly have been bailed, released under investigation or given penalty notices.
“One, Michael Haslam, 29, of Heathside Grove, Manchester has been charged with pitch encroachment and is due to appear before magistrates in Lancaster on March 1. We are also looking into two separate allegations of assaults following the match.”
Morecambe said they would “continue to work closely with Lancashire Police to assist all of their investigations”, adding on their official website: “Morecambe Football Club abhors and condemns any form of abuse, discrimination or anti-social behaviour, and anyone who is proven to have participated in such behaviour is not welcome at our club.
“Appropriate action will be taken swiftly in such cases.”
