Bristol Rovers CEO hits out at fans over staff abuse and adult use of child tickets

The CEO of Bristol Rovers has hit out at a "small number" of fans for abusing staff and defrauding the club by paying for children's tickets.

The club said it is "disappointed" by the behaviour of some supporters, adding there is a strict "zero-tolerance approach to discriminatory and inflammatory messaging".

It has stated it will be enforcing bans for those found responsible and adding additional checks on fans' tickets at future games.

In a statement, CEO Tom Gorringe said: "There is absolutely no place for any abusive or discriminatory behaviour to targeted at any members of staff or fellow supporters.

"Having staff accessible isn’t a license for them to receive personal abuse and certainly when they are just fulfilling their roles in a professional manner."

He added "everyone is entitled to their opinion" and can appeal a club decision, but that "there is not a scenario where it is acceptable to abuse and personally target staff members doing their best for the club".

"I cannot stand by whilst hardworking members of staff are targeted for abuse, in person or online," he said.

"Any supporter acting in this way will be dealt with in the strongest possible terms and may be prevented from attending games indefinitely."

Addressing fans who have wrongly purchased less expensive children's tickets to go to games, Gorringe said these individuals are "hold[ing] the club back in our attempt to progress" and "stand in the face" of those paying the full price every week.

But he also said the "vast majority of fans are loyal, respectful of each other", saying it is "very small numbers of people" acting inappropriately, who he says will be "dealt with".

Gorringe thanked all Bristol Rovers staff for their work and said any fan or employee who wishes to make a complaint can find contact details on the website.