Dorset football team who walked off pitch after racist abuse charged by FA

A football team in Dorset has been charged with misconduct by the FA after players walked off the pitch after receiving racist abuse.

Gillingham Town stopped playing after one of their players was subjected to racist abuse from a fan during a recent match away at Bridport.

The incident - which happened on October 9 - was reported to the police and is currently being investigated.

The FA has now charged Gillingham Town with misconduct for “removing themselves from the field of play and being unwilling to continue with the match”.

Club secretary Paul Hill said the decision “lacked common sense”.

“I noticed it [the charge] yesterday,” he told ITV News West Country.

“It said the club has been given a misconduct charge for leaving the game of play.

“We’ve basically been charged for supporting a player - a young player - who was being racially abused.

If the charge is upheld, the club faces a potential fine of up to £150.

Mr Hill said: "If they fine us, I will be gobsmacked but we’ll have that charge on our record now. There’s no common sense."

The fan who made the comments, meanwhile, has been given a lifetime ban by Bridport FC.

Adrian Scadding, who is chairman at Bridport, said: “The club will not tolerate behaviour of this kind and the person involved has been banned for life from St Mary’s.”

A Dorset FA spokesperson said: “The case was referred to the Football Association and they are dealing with it.”

The FA said they stand "firmly" against all forms of prejudice, and urged those affected by the alleged incident to report it "through the appropriate channels".

"We will always take the strongest possible action against those proven to be discriminatory within a football setting and we continue to do our utmost to challenge these behaviours within our game," the spokesperson said.