Swansea City has said it "strongly condemns" the behaviour of supporters after an incident following the 1-1 draw with Rotherham United on the first day of the Championship season. The clubs are working with South Yorkshire Police to "identify and subsequently punish" those responsible. Rotherham say the fans in question will not be welcome back to their ground.
An incident occurred in the stands after the final whistle involving what both clubs say was a small number of fans from both clubs. Almost 1,500 Swansea fans were part of a crowd of 10,454 in Rotherham.
In its statement, Swansea said: "Swansea City strongly condemns the behaviour of a small number of supporters following today’s Sky Bet Championship clash with Rotherham United. At the conclusion of a game played in a great spirit and a terrific atmosphere, there were instances of unacceptable, unsavoury behaviour involving both Swansea and Rotherham fans in the south-east corner of the AESSEAL New York Stadium.
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"That such behaviour should happen during a period where the club has worked closely with the EFL in promoting the ‘Love Football. Protect the Game' campaign - which has seen clubs across all three divisions stress the need to eradicate anti-social behaviour from our game – only adds to our sense of dismay.
"Ourselves and Rotherham United will now work together - and with South Yorkshire and South Wales Police - to identify those involved in the scenes witnessed after the full-time whistle. Such behaviour is simply not acceptable. We want to thank the large majority of Swans fans who – as always - behaved impeccably. They represented the club and backed Russell Martin and the players brilliantly."
In its statement, Rotherham United said it was "incredibly disappointed with the behaviour of a small number of supporters".
"Following a positive afternoon on the pitch – during which Paul Warne’s side got off-the-mark with a point in the second tier – we are disappointed to be issuing this statement concerning the events involving a small section of both Millers and Swansea City fans located in the South East corner of the stadium.
"The club works closely with the EFL and has been stressing the message of their ‘Love Football. Protect The Game’ campaign – which has seen clubs across the country working as a collective to stamp out crowd trouble - in the build-up to the 2022/23 campaign. Both clubs will now work together alongside South Yorkshire Police to identify and subsequently punish the perpetrators and the individuals in question will not be welcome back at AESSEAL New York Stadium, where we pride ourselves on creating an environment in which everyone can enjoy the game.
"We would once again like to thank the majority of our fan base who – as always – behaved impeccably and helped the team to perform on the pitch".
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