Blackpool: Fan banned for racist slurs as players took knee

Harold Bowden made repeated abusive remarks at a Blackpool vs Stoke City match

Update 21 November: Harold Bowden's conviction and sentence were quashed following an appeal at Preston Crown Court on 12 October 2023.

A football fan who shouted racist slurs while players took the knee before a match has been banned from stadiums for three years.

Harold Bowden was convicted of a racially aggravated public order offence after shouting abuse during a Blackpool vs Stoke City match in November 2021.

Bowden from, Poulton-le-Fylde, was fined £1,353 by Blackpool magistrates.

The 62-year-old made repeated abusive remarks, the court heard.

After the hearing, PC Byron Worrall of Lancashire Police said: "The large fine and the banning order show that the courts are taking a strong stance on offences of this nature.

"Such behaviour won't be tolerated at football grounds."

Taking the knee at football matches spread as an anti-racism statement following the murder of George Floyd in the US in 2020.

This season the captains of English Premier League teams decided to stop making the gesture as a matter of routine.