AFC Fylde accuse rivals Chester FC of 'insult' and 'outrageous misrepresentation'

A national newspaper reported that Chester fans attempted to storm the visitors' dressing room after the National League North fixture and that Fylde kitman Steve Cowell was abused by Chester's assistant manger Colin Woodthorpe, who previously held the same position at Fylde.

Fylde state that they reported their concerns to the FA and Cheshire Police.

A Chester FC statement last Friday said of that investigation: “We are pleased that both the FA and Cheshire Police have now confirmed that neither the club nor Colin will face any action.”

This response angered Fylde, who state they requested that no charges be brought, preferring a written apology from Woodthorpe, which Cowell had received.

Fylde's statement in answer to Chester's reads: “Chester’s self-serving announcement of 21 October, portraying the club and its staff as the hapless victims of circumstance, AFC Fylde and the Daily Mail newspaper, does their club no credit whatsoever.

“The clear inference that AFC Fylde was in some way culpable in the sequence of events, and that Chester was due an apology from AFC Fylde, remains, at best, a shameful attempt to deflect attention from the behaviour of a small number of Chester’s supporters and, separately, their assistant manager."

Each club has called for the other to apologise.