In League 2, Crawley Town gained a much needed three points on Saturday following their 3-2 home win over Salford City. It was new manager, Scott Lindsey’s first game in charge due to postponed matches in recent weeks.
Dorking Wanderers lost their National League match 3-0 against Solihull Moors at Meadowbank. Marc White’s side now face back-to-back trips to Aldershot Town over the next two weekends; in the league on Saturday and then the FA Trophy on the following Saturday 11th February.
The Football Association has appealed against the 18-month ban from football imposed on former Crawley Town boss, John Yems.
An independent regulatory panel banned Yems until June 2024 after he admitted one charge and was found guilty of 11 others relating to comments that referenced either ethnic origin, colour, race, nationality, religion, belief or gender between 2019 and 2022.
The FA had been pushing for a two-year ban, and said last week it “fundamentally disagreed” with the panel’s findings that this was not a case of “conscious racism”.
Kick It Out said it was “very hard to understand” the panel’s findings, while Tony Burnett, the organisation’s chief executive, described them as “utterly bizarre”.
FA chief executive Mark Bullingham revealed on Wednesday his organisation was exploring its legal options and the governing body has now confirmed an appeal.
In a statement, the FA said: “We are appealing against the sanction imposed by the independent panel on John Yems.
“We believe a longer sanction is appropriate. We are unable to comment further until the appeal is complete.”
The investigation into Yems began when a number of players from the Sky Bet League Two club took their grievances to the Professional Footballers’ Association.
Yems was banned from football for 18 months, which is believed to be the longest punishment ever meted out for the use of discriminatory language, after the panel decided his words were “offensive, racist and Islamophobic”.
The panel concluded that Yems:
– Described Muslim members of the squad as “terrorists”
– Deliberately mispronounced the second half of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s name to emphasise the N-word
– Used a racial stereotype to a black player of African origin by asking if he liked jerk chicken
– Told Muslim players “your people blow up stuff with vests”
– Said that an Iraqi youth international at the club “would probably blow up the stadium”
– Repeatedly made comments about another player “carrying a bomb in his bag”
– Called one player a “curry muncher” and asked if the player was unhappy that they did not serve “curry pizza”
– Made a remark to one player about “how dark his skin is'” on his return to Crawley after representing Grenada
Four allegations were dismissed, including claims that he segregated Crawley players and based his team selections on race.
The panel agreed with Yems’ solicitors that their client was not a racist and neither did he “ever intend to make racist remarks”, adding in their findings: “We regard this as an extremely serious case.
“We have accepted that Mr Yems is not a conscious racist. If he were, an extremely lengthy, even permanent, suspension would be appropriate.
“Nevertheless, Mr Yems’ ‘banter’ undoubtedly came across to the victims and others as offensive, racist and Islamophobic. Mr Yems simply paid no regard to the distress which his misplaced jocularity was causing.”
The FA was unhappy that the panel chose, in its judgement, to question whether Yems is a “racist”, when the panel’s job was in fact to assess whether racist language had been used.
The panel consisted of black former footballer Tony Agana, experienced lawyer Robert Englehart KC, and Wolves club secretary Matt Wild.
Sky Sports News spoke to Yems after the original decision, and he remained adamant he is not racist and points to the words of the independent panel which stated he “is not a conscious racist”.
Yems admitted that, at the age of 63, he is lacking education and used outdated language.
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All matches in the Susy Radio area were postponed on Saturday due to frozen pitches with the exception of South Park Reigate’s home game against Thatcham Town, which went ahead thanks to the club’s 3G pitch.
South Park were down to 10 men after 15 minutes and lost 4-2.
South Park Reigate are in 5th place in the Isthmian South Central Division table.
A report by the FA has found that Ex-Crawley manager used “offensive, racist and Islamophobic” language.
John Yems, was banned from football for 18 months after admitting one charge and being found guilty of 11 others of racist abuse towards his players.
Four further charges were found to be unproven by an FA tribunal and further charge relating to racial segregation was dropped.
Yems, had been in charge of Crawley since December 2019, was suspended by the club in April 2022 and parted company with the League Two side 13 days later, two days after the FA announced it was investigating the allegations.
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Crawley Town Football Club has confirmed goalkeeper Ellery Balcombe has been recalled from his loan spell by Brentford.
The shot-stopper has left the Reds with immediate effect to return to the Premier League Club.
Ellery made 12 appearances during his short sting at the club. He immediately impressed fans with a series of spectacular saves on his debut during Crawley’s first game of the Sky Bet League Two season.
Unfortunately, Ellery suffered from an injury during that game and didn’t return to the Reds until late October. He quickly re-established himself as the number one and went on to make 12 appearances across all competitions.
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