Glenavon has recently received correspondence from the Irish Football Association (IFA) charging the club following the recent Irish Cup semi-final against Coleraine. The charge relates to two incidents of spectator misconduct. Firstly, the throwing of a smoke bomb onto the playing area shortly after our equalizing goal. Secondly, the actions of a small number of our supporters who gathered near the dug outs at the end of the game to shout abuse at Coleraine players as they left the pitch and had to be moved on by security staff. Such actions are dangerous, stupid and totally indefensible.

The IFA has informed Glenavon that on this occasion the sanction is being limited to the issue of a warning. However should further incidents of this nature occur in the future it is very likely the club at the least will face a serious financial sanction. If this situation arises, the club will have to find the cost of this sanction from finance earmarked for the general running of the club including the playing squad budget – money that by and large is provided by the generosity of our sponsors and the hard work of our supporters’ clubs. This would be wholly unacceptable and the Board of Directors therefore strongly urges those individuals involved to carefully consider the consequences of their actions in the future.