Bamber Bridge FC and Guiseley AFC would like to make the following joint statement following an alleged incident of racism by a spectator at the Northern Premier League fixture between the two clubs on Monday 2nd January.

During the 51st minute of the fixture between the two sides on Monday the 2nd January, a serious allegation was made that a spectator at the Sir Tom Finney Stadium had made a racist comment which was directed towards Bamber Bridge player Nathan Pond.

Nathan immediately alerted the match official to the comment and the individual who made it. The match official took swift action to; 1) alert the Bamber Bridge coaching staff and; 2) ensured that the Bamber Bridge stewards were made aware of the spectator in question, who was then swiftly ejected from the stadium.

Following the incident, The Football Association has requested both clubs’ observations. Bamber Bridge and Guiseley are jointly working to ascertain the facts and identify the spectator in question.

Whilst the investigation is ongoing, both clubs do not think it is appropriate to go into any further detail. However, we do wish to state that following an initial investigation by the clubs, we (Bamber Bridge FC and Guiseley AFC) believe we have identified a suspect and are keen to stress that we strongly believe they are not a fan of either Bamber Bridge or Guiseley and were attending the game as a ‘floating’ spectator. We wish to state this clearly in response to some comments which have been made on social media.

Both Bamber Bridge and Guiseley do not condone racism in the strongest form and will not stand for racial or any other discriminatory abuse within our grounds or at our football matches. Not ever. We commend the actions of Nathan Pond and are extremely saddened that in 2023, racism is still a prominent issue in football. The time of change and serious action is required and we once again want to make it clear that football is a game for all.