Carlisle United suspend ticket sales in Warwick Road End because of crowd behaviour
- Published
Carlisle United draw their opening fixture of the campaign against Fleetwood Town 1-1
Carlisle United have suspended ticket sales in Brunton Park's Warwick Road End for their next two games because of crowd behaviour in Saturday's League One game against Fleetwood.
The club and Cumbria Police said they would investigate after objects were thrown onto the pitch during the game.
Referee Peter Wright paused play on two occasions because of the disorder.
In a statement, Carlisle said the stand would be closed against Wigan on Tuesday and Saturday's visit of Exeter.
"Once again we find ourselves in a situation where instead of celebrating the fact that we had close to 10,000 home fans supporting their team in a fantastic manner, we have to react to the actions of a few individuals who are now going to spoil it for the many," chief executive Nigel Clibbens said.
"It also has to be said that the pausing of the game by the referee, due to missiles being thrown, came at a time when we were pushing forward, with Fleetwood under defensive pressure and United in the ascendancy. In my view these actions broke our momentum.
"Therefore we are suspending sales for the Warwick Road End with immediate effect as we discuss and consider the options available to us to help us to deal with this unacceptable behaviour.
"The reputation of this wonderful football club is being dragged down due to actions which are repeated, despite constant warnings from the club and from the football authorities, who, I need to remind everybody, investigate the club in great depth every time a report like this is raised."
The disturbances occurred as Carlisle were playing their fixture first League One fixture since winning promotion to the third tier last season.
Following the match, which finished in a 1-1 draw, Carlisle boss Paul Simpson pleaded with fans to "stop being stupid".
The club added that they would now be considering further options including a reduction in the stand's capacity, increased searching, restricting access to the stand to over 18s, closing sections off and also a full closure of their stadium.
"We don't need to remind fans that cost implications have a direct impact on the whole club," Clibbens added.
"We do not have back up funds for this so it has to come from other areas - that includes the manager, his budgets and his plans. That is another direct serious consequence from incidents such as this."