Blackpool: Fan banned for racist slurs as players took knee
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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.
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- Published21 November 2022