An Update From our Ground Safety Officer, Matt Parry

As a club, we are upset at the videos circulating on the internet across social media platforms that appear to be a bit further down the road from our stadium.

We hosted a football game that is somewhat of a derby fixture, during this fixture, there were no incidents to report at all within the stadium both pre and post fixture. We held 2300+ fans in the stadium on what was a great day both atmosphere and weather.

Due to the large expected crowd, we increased our stewarding provision from a regular team of 12, to a team of 20 to ensure safety was paramount, Merseyside Police were in attendance, in addition to a number of Cheshire Police who travel with the away team.

Southport FC and the Board of Directors have vowed to crackdown on anti-social behaviour alongside myself and Merseyside Police. Due to the rise in social media platforms, there has been a correlation in reported ASB at football fixtures in lower league teams all around the country.

After some extensive work, we have made major progress this season, meaning for the first time in 15 years, we have unsegregated the ground on fixtures that carry a low risk. These fixtures have seen some really good feedback and we plan to continue this next season in our bid to bring back families and football fans to Haig Avenue.

The club have been in regular contact with Merseyside Police around the incident on Friday and today we have been working gathering evidence where possible to assist the police in their investigation.