NEWTON AYCLIFFE sacked their boss Peter Dixon after some of his side stormed into visiting Morpeth Town‘s dressing room following their FA Vase tie on Saturday.
Morpeth, the Vase holders, had won the tie 3-2 but awful scenes followed the final whistle as Aycliffe players fought their way into the visiting changing room.
Video footage of the incident at Moore Lane Park surfaced after the game and Aycliffe sacked Dixon, saying there was “ongoing ill-discipline shown by some of the players”.
As well as relieving former West Auckland Town boss Dixon of his duties, four players involved in the after match scuffle have also been let go while the Durham FA have started their investigation.
Chairman Allan Oliver said: “It’s not been easy but we’ve acted straight away and want to draw a line under it. If there are any investigations we will fully take part, but it is difficult to comment further.”
Morpeth, who will travel to South Shields in round four, fear the incident could cause some supporters to stay away from games in future.
“We are shocked and disgusted by what happened,” Morpeth joint-chairman Gary Munday said.
“Morpeth Town is a very family-orientated football club as we encourage our juniors, free of charge to support the club – that grass-root support is the future of football.
“Unfortunately, we have had parents say that they will never take their children to away games again. We will try to encourage them back as we do feel that this is a one-off.”
It’s not the first time Aycliffe’s discipline has been questioned. Spennymoor Town refused to play the second half of the pre-season friendly between the two clubs in July after claiming the game had was taking an “aggressive direction”.
The Northern League have moved quickly to name new managers, appointing former player Dan Mellanby and Norton manager Deano Browne as joint bosses.
