Dorking delight soured by crazy crowd incident

There was, sadly, a bitter aftertaste to Torquay United’s superb 1-0 victory at Dorking Wanderers, as footage emerged on Saturday evening of a ‘supporter’ launching beer at home player Tony Craig.

The club was made aware of the incident and has acted quickly in issuing the below statement after the individual responsible came forward to admit his involvement.

The club statement said: “Following on from what was a superb victory for Paul Wotton’s side at Dorking Wanderers on Saturday, it is with great disappointment that the Club has to address an incident that occurred in the crowd during the match.

Video footage of the incident has been reviewed by the Club, and the individual has since come forward to identify themself. They can now expect to receive a severe sanction, including a Club ban.

In the meantime, everybody at Torquay United FC would like to offer its sincere apologies to Dorking player Tony Craig, and everybody connected with DWFC.

TUFC would like to stress that this behaviour does not reflect the Club’s values, or the vast majority of our devoted fanbase, most of whom represent the Club with distinction, home and away.

Regrettably though, this is not the first time that the Club has been forced to tackle incidents relating to unacceptable fan behaviour this season, with the Club having already been subject to a severe reprimand from the FA.

Clearly, incidents such as what occurred on Saturday will only see further scrutiny, and possible punishments, imposed on the Club.

In the midst of a promotion battle on the field, and at a time when Torquay United has welcomed more fan representation at all levels of the Club than ever before off the field, it is incredibly disheartening that a small minority of our followers chose to bring our Club’s name into disrepute, and tarnish our hard-earned reputation as a proud, competitive, but friendly and welcoming Football Club.

Any supporters that are intent in engaging in intimidating, abusive, violent or illegal behaviour are NOT, and never will be, welcome at Torquay United Football Club.

The message could not be clearer – Stay Away.

TUFC will continue to work with authorities to ensure all types of anti-social behaviour is eradicated from our Football Club once and for all.

Finally, we would like to place on record our heartfelt thanks to all those supporters that provide the team with such fantastic support, home and away, every single match. As mentioned before, it is hugely appreciated by everyone at Plainmoor, and we will not allow the mindless acts of a few individuals to spoil the matchday experience for all those who only want the best for TUFC.”