Amateur RL club kicked-out of league issues '˜sincere apology' for ugly scenes

Officials at Widnes outfit West Bank admit losing control of their touchline, after some of their fans confronted Orrell St James supporters following the away side’s 16-13 victory.

It led to them being removed from the current NW Men’s League. They will need to reapply should they want to continue in 2019.

West Bank have vowed to take action, bringing in “rigorous controls on spectators who attend our games at our club.”

A statement issued on behalf of the West Bank ARLFC committee, via chairman Paul Farrell, read: “West Bank ARLFC would like to sincerely apologise for the incidents surrounding the conclusion of our league match vs Orrell. The club understands that we lost control of our touchline, an offence that a previous incident had left us on notice of the likely outcome.

“The club will not condone the behaviour of a minority of spectators and have taken the appropriate action.

“We have a culture within our junior set up which is based around fair play and respect and have some excellent club to club relationships.

“We will work more closely with the leagues to make us better at all age groups and finally we will put in place rigorous controls on spectators who attend our games at our club.”

On Wednesday, the RFL removed West Bank from the 2018 competition on the recommendation of the NW Committee, with no right to appeal, given they had previously been warned about their conduct following a complaint made by Shevington Sharks.

“They were approached in April and asked to smarten-up,” said NW Men’s League chairman Stuart Prior.

“It is more from a spectators’ point of view than a playing one. “No one has the right to verbally threaten an official, player or other spectator with the intent to cause harm.”

Related: Watch the shocking video here