Gillingham and Colchester United charged by the Football Association over incident at the end of their League 2 match at Priestfield

Gillingham have been charged by the Football Association following the post-match scrap against Colchester United.

Monday night’s game turned ugly at the final whistle when players and staff from both teams squared up in a mass confrontation.

Both managers appeared to have a disagreement during the handshake at the final whistle, with Gills boss Gareth Ainsworth and Colchester manager Danny Cowley engaging in a heated debate. It turned into a free-for-all.

The referee decided against taking any action at the time.

Unsurprisingly, the game’s governing body, the Football Association, have now taken action, and both clubs have until Wednesday, January 7 to provide any response to the charge.

The FA’s regulation and discipline update stated that: “Gillingham and Colchester United have been charged following their EFL League 2 fixture on Monday 29 December.

“It is alleged that both clubs failed to ensure their players and/or technical area staff did not behave in an improper and/or provocative way after the final whistle.”

At the time, Ainsworth said: “We're a real together group. It's just the passion of the game.”

Visiting manager Cowley stated: “It boiled over. I don’t think it should have done, I don’t think it was necessary, I don’t think it was good.

“The boys are a close group, they look after each other, and sometimes in football you have to do that.”