Alex Pooley from The 1893 Podcast says he’s embarrassed to be a Gillingham fan after arrested man is bailed following racist abuse directed at Newport’s Omar Bogle

The ugly scenes at Priestfield on Saturday have left one Gillingham fan admitting he’s embarrassed to be associated with the club.

Gillingham supporter Alex Pooley from The 1893 Podcast told kmtv he’d never been embarrassed to be a Gills fan - until now.

A man has been banned from the ground for life after Saturday’s game with Newport. He was arrested for racist abuse towards Newport’s Omar Bogle and has been bailed until the new year.

“I’ve never been embarrassed to be a Gills fan,” said Pooley. “I’ve always been loud and proud - relegation, defeat - I’ve always been proud to come into the office on a Monday and go I’m a Gills fan and own the defeat.

“But some of the messages and conversations I’ve had around (the weekend), this embarrassment is going to live on for a while, for it to be so public as well.

“There’s not anyone who hasn’t seen it, it’s embarrassing and has no place in the game at all.”

Gillingham have already been fined £12,500 by the FA for incidents last season across three games, which involved racist and sexist comments.

Pooley fears that this latest episode - on the back of an incident at the last home game against Notts County - could be one too many and lead to greater punishments.

“I see it (said) a lot, that it’s the small minority of people and it is,” added Pooley. “Obviously at the weekend there were a few incidents that went on around the game, not all racist.

“That one incident is just one person. The minority affects us massively. The club has already had fines and I expect a points deduction or maybe even a stadium (closure) for a couple of games.

“That affects fans like me and other season-ticket holders who are going to miss out on two or three games because one person couldn’t control