Carlisle United fined £5,000 for play-off semi-final pitch invasion at Brunton Park
- Published
Carlisle eventually won promotion through the League Two play-offs at the end of last season
Carlisle United have been fined £5,000 and warned after supporters entered the pitch following May's home League Two play-off semi-final second leg victory against Bradford City.
An independent regulatory commission found Carlisle to be in breach of Football Association Rule E21 regarding supporter misconduct for the invasion.
The Cumbrians have had £2,000 of the fine suspended by the commission.
This is pending any further breaches up to 24 November, 2024.
Carlisle admitted to the charge at the hearing, that they "failed to ensure their spectators and/or supporters (and anyone purporting to be supporters or followers) conduct themselves in an orderly fashion and don't commit any form of pitch incursion" as per the FA's law.
In its written reasons for the ruling, the commission said it was "surprising" that the match was listed as a medium risk fixture by Cumbria Police and/or Carlisle United, given the magnitude of the tie.
It stated that the successful season enjoyed by Carlisle, plus the fact it was the final home match, suggested that a pitch invasion was likely.
The commission accepted that the club had employed an increased number of security and stewarding staff than for a regular fixture, but added that a match attendance of 15,401 "coupled with the inevitable high risk of a pitch incursion or pitch invasion meant that it was incumbent on Carlisle United to have deployed more security and stewarding staff than were actually employed at the match".
"Mercifully, the commission noted that the pitch invasion was generally well-mannered," the incursion was described within the report, while the club's response in banning of two supporters for three years following conviction of criminal offences was also highlighted.
The magnitude of the breach was described as "relatively low", but that there were defects in the preparation for the fixture, and it was deemed that the incident was classified as "a situation where a club has marginally failed to avail itself of the 'due diligence' defence" set out in Rule E21.5.
It was also taken into account that Carlisle were fined in August 2023 for incidents of racist chanting at a previous fixture with Bradford in December 2022.
As that separate sanction already carries an action plan to develop better planning and policy for Carlisle as per FA rules, the commission was satisfied that no amendment is required.