Football thug with ‘outdated’ views gets ‘wake-up call’ after racially abusing rival player

Ryan Ferguson shouted at Forest Green Rovers’ Jordan Garrick as the forward tussled with a Fleetwood Town opponent

A football thug has been jailed after shouting vile racist abuse at a rival player.

Ryan Ferguson cried “fill that f****** **** in” as Forest Green Rovers’ forward Jordan Garrick tussled with a Fleetwood Town opponent during a League One match in April last year. The 24-year-old with “immature and outdated” was heard by other Forest Green players and stewards at the New Lawn.

A court heard how he was quickly apprehended by security and, when he was arrested by the police, gave officers false details. The Tranmere Rovers supporter only admitted his real identity after he was arrested.

A check of the police national computer revealed Ferguson was subject of a five-year football banning order imposed in 2019 for pitch invasion and was prohibited from attending any matches at the time of the incident, the ECHO reports. A prosecutor previously told the courts that Garrick was left shaken at being on the receiving end of the abuse.

Ferguson’s defence argued that he had “grown up in an environment where he got into football at a very young age”. He said: “He has been involved with this particular group of Tranmere Rovers fans who hold some quite anti-social views.

“People just don’t become racist, and it seems he has learnt over time while growing up. For some reason he thinks this is normal and acceptable behaviour. It’s not.”

Due to the severity of the incident, the case could not be dealt with at the magistrates’ court – and Ferguson was sent to Gloucestershire Crown Court. Ferguson, of Barberry Crescent, Netherton, was yesterday (February 8) jailed for nine months.

Douglas Mackay, the Crown Prosecution Service Sports National lead prosecutor, said: “Ferguson’s actions were vile and something that none of us should ever experience at a football match – whether that be fans, staff, police or indeed the players themselves.

“The sentence that has been passed today should serve as a wake-up call to any fans who think it might be acceptable to break the law during matches.”

The Black Footballers Partnership (BFP), the organisation set up to be a strategic voice and support for black footballers, said the sentence shows the game needs to do better to support black players. Delroy Corinaldi, BFP executive director, said: “Black excellence on the pitch has driven up participation numbers and lessened the amount of overtly racist chanting on the terraces, so that events like those discussed today stand out more.

“However, while black excellence on the pitch pushes the overt racists to the margins, the ignorance it personifies can only be excised when black footballers become visible as black managers, coaches, board members and owners. It ends when the clubs and their representative bodies properly tackle the institutional barriers to black success off the pitch.”

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