Cowdenbeath denial but Pat Fenlon confirms he spoke to police about fans’ abuse

In a letter published today in The Scotsman, Cowdenbeath vice-chairman John Lints says the controversy has overshadowed what was a successful afternoon for the Central Park club.

Lints takes particular issue with a report in this newspaper on Tuesday, which highlighted abusive remarks aimed from a part of the main stand housing Cowdenbeath supporters at the Hibs manager as an Irishman. “It is totally incorrect that Pat Fenlon received ‘substantial personal abuse’ during the match, and in particular that such abuse was ‘centring on his nationality’,” he writes.

However, his insistence that there had been no anti-Irish abuse directed at Fenlon contrasted with the account of the Hibs manager himself, who yesterday confirmed that he had raised the matter with the police after the match.

Fenlon, whose team won 3-2, mentioned the barracking to an officer on duty, and was told he could make a complaint if he wished. Yesterday he explained that he did not wish to be distracted from his job by becoming involved in such action.

“If people at the game don’t want to deal with it as it’s going on, then it shouldn’t take me to make a complaint about it,” he said. “If people want to let it go on and not do anything about it, then it’s not my position to do anything.

“I’m the manager trying to do my best for that football club and I don’t want to worry about anything else. The laws outside football grounds are very similar to those inside them, so they should apply. I didn’t want to make an issue out of it. I just wanted to speak to the policeman and ask about it. He said he hadn’t heard it but would make an inquiry, and he came back and said if I wanted to make an official complaint then I could. I didn’t want to do that. I’m not that type.”

He added: “I’m not one for moaning about that stuff, I’ve taken plenty of stick. It’s actually nice to be called an ‘Irish b******’ rather than an ‘Orange b******’ when you’re used to that!”

Immediately after the match, when asked about the abuse, Fenlon said he was used to such treatment from his days playing for Linfield and managing in Ireland. Yesterday, he said his main concern had been the disparity between the disciplining of Hibs striker Leigh Griffiths for making an offensive gesture after scoring and the fact that nothing was done about the shouting of offensive remarks throughout the match. Griffiths was yesterday given a one-match ban from the next round of the cup under the SFA’s Fast Track procedure. Hibs had turned down the “offer” of the suspension, but a Hampden hearing ruled that the player had breached the disciplinary rules.

Speaking at Hibs’ East Mains training ground, Fenlon said he continued to be frustrated by the disparity between the treatment of Griffiths and the inaction over the abuse. “It’s a source of frustration in relation to Leigh’s suspension,” he said.

“In relation to the incident, it’s something I’m used to, so it’s not a big issue as such. From a frustration point of view, stuff like that goes on, then we get a player suspended for that on the pitch is a little bit frustrating.”

He added that he had not been surprised by the abuse, and did not see the problem as being peculiar to Scotland. “I’ve been here before. I suppose it’s the way society is, so there’s not a lot by me saying anything that is going to change. You have that type of individual all over the world, so you just have to deal with that.

“I’ve been over to [Scotland in the past to] watch games, so you get used to that. It’s just unfortunate the way it is.

“I’ve dealt with that in Dublin and Belfast as well. It’s not anything new. It’s not only happening in Scotland unfortunately.”

Invited to respond to Fenlon’s comments yesterday, Lints offered a brief statement on behalf of his club. “In so far as any alleged issue on Saturday is concerned, we have no comment to make. But Cowdenbeath Football Club does have a strict policy of not tolerating any racial or sectarian abuse or behaviour.”