KENNY Shiels called last night for the football authorities to make an example of the Falkirk supporters who mocked his son Dean for his missing eye by throwing rubber eyeballs on to the field during the derby with Dunfermline on Tuesday – and criticised the club’s chairman Margaret Lang for defending midfielder Joe McKee at a recent tribunal for excessive misconduct.
While Falkirk issued a strongly-worded statement condemning the minority of fans at East End Park who taunted a player who had his right eye removed after a childhood domestic accident, Shiels, now manager at Derry City, feels Lang should have done so more emphatically in the wake of the Irn Bru Cup meeting between these teams in October, which led to Bairns’ pair Kevin O’Hara and McKee receiving eight- and four-match bans respectively for abusing the Northern Irishman, sent off for a tackle on McKee.
While O’Hara admitted the charge, and subsequently apologised, the club fought McKee’s case, with the Dunfermline winger being cross-examined by Lang, a consultant at legal firm Russel + Aitken, on the subject.
Read more: Dean Shiels: A decade of abuse for a man only worthy of respect
While those cases were the purview of the SFA compliance officer, supporter misbehaviour such as Tuesday’s falls under the remit of the SPFL. It was understood last night that the incident has been included in the official report passed to the league by match delegate Gregor McKenzie.
That could result in further action against the Championship club, although with no strict liability rules in place, clubs can often escape censure if it shown they have done everything in their power to prevent unruly behaviour.
“I had a lot of good times in Scotland and I love the people in Scotland, but this reflects on the people of Scotland, and it reflects on the people of Falkirk,” Kenny Shiels told Herald Sport. “Everybody should be ashamed of it, including the Falkirk chairman, who I think has mis-handled the whole thing.
“When Dean was up at the tribunal – the second hearing – for the Joe McKee affair, she was the lawyer,” he added. “She grilled Dean, and I thought that was almost worse than anything.
“Even when the two boys had been punished, she didn’t come out and say that Falkirk as a club took responsibility for this and that we apologise. She is doing it now but she should have come out and apologised on behalf of the club to Dean at that time. I was really disappointed in her.
“Kevin O’Hara I can forgive because he is a young lad and we were all young and foolish in our time.” On the subject of the events at East End Park, he said: “the authorities need to punish someone heavily for this kind of thing, make an example of them, because rapping people over the knuckles clearly isn’t working.”
When contacted by The Herald last night, Falkirk made no further comment but referred back to the statement they released on Tuesday night which read: “Falkirk FC apologises unreservedly to Dean Shiels and Dunfermline Athletic FC for the abhorrent behaviour of a small number of individuals. We will be working closely with Dunfermline to identify those responsible and look to take action against anyone identified and will not allow this disgraceful behaviour to be repeated.”
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