Crowd trouble probe

THE FAI have confirmed that they will carry out an investigation into the crowd trouble at Richmond Park following Tuesday night’s FAI Ford Cup semi-final replay between St Patrick’s Athletic and Shamrock Rovers.

Rival fans clashed on the pitch after Rovers won the game 1-0 and the trouble has already been condemned by both clubs as the unacceptable actions of a small minority of the 4,200 who attended the game.

In a statement, the FAI said it will be speaking with both clubs, as well as Gardaí and the match delegate, and added: “Given that the semi-final and subsequent replay between St Patrick’s Athletic and Shamrock Rovers were attended by almost 10,000 people, it is disappointing that the actions of a tiny minority have distracted from what were two enjoyable occasions.”

Pats official Philip Nolan said that culprits who are identified on CCTV will be banned from Richmond Park.

“We’re not going to put up with that,” he said. “We work too hard here and the club means so much to so many people that we’re not going to let a few mindless morons take over our football club. We’ll ban them.”

Shamrock Rovers chairman Jonathan Roche also promised tough action would be taken against their own supporters who were involved in the disturbances.

“Those people will be identified and banned,” he said. “I’ve seen enough incidents with all clubs to know that certain individuals don’t give a s**** about their clubs.”