Colchester United owner and chairman Robbie Cowling has hit out at some of his club’s fans following their behaviour during their 1-0 Carabao Cup victory over the Blues at Portman Road last night and has issued an apology on behalf of the U's.

Seats in the Cobbold Stand were ripped out and thrown towards fans below, some of whom suffered injuries as a result, and smoke bombs interrupted play, while there have also been reports of damage to the toilets and trouble behind the Cobbold Stand and at Ipswich railway station following the match.

“Last night was the first time that Colchester United have beaten Ipswich Town in a competitive game at Portman Road since we won there in 1951,” Cowling wrote in a statement on the U’s official website.

“That’s before even I was born and I’m ancient, so there won’t be many fans that witnessed both victories.

“The management of the team included club legends Wayne Brown and Joe Dunne, and four players that have come through the ranks of our youth academy started the game, with a further two coming on as subs to help us see out the win.

“Today should be a day when all Colchester United fans feel nothing but pride in their club.

“Sadly, we are having to hang our head in shame today thanks to a group of fans in the Colchester United end that have embarrassed our club with their mindless violent behaviour.

“It wasn’t enough for them to spoil the occasion for everyone else by being ultra-abusive.

“They also sunk to a new low that I have not witnessed in my time at the club, whereby they destroyed some of the seating in the area Ipswich had allocated to our fans and threw the broken parts into the rows below them that were occupied by other Colchester United fans.

“These areas included families with very young children but that was of no concern for the mindless thugs that have shamed the club they claim to support.

“A number of Colchester United fans had to receive treatment for the injuries they sustained from the broken chairs that rained down on them. Some whilst they cowered to protect their young children.

“Although we were competing against Ipswich Town last night, I can assure everyone that the two clubs will be working closely together to identify those responsible to the police and to assist in any way we can to ensure they are punished in full for their unacceptable behaviour.

“I wish to apologise to everyone that was subjected to this appalling behaviour, and also to our hosts Ipswich Town who were gracious in defeat but rightfully upset with the behaviour of fans in our allocated area.

“We all hope that victories like last night’s historic win at Portman Road happen much more frequently than every seventy-one years, but I’m sure most Colchester United fans will never again want to be associated with last night’s appalling thugs.

“Therefore, if you can do anything to help us identify those involved so that we can distance them from our club, please do so.”

Photo: Matchday Images

multiplescoregasms added 17:51 - Aug 10 Well said Mr Cowling,
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clive_baker added 17:53 - Aug 10 Was his statement written by a child? Fair play for speaking out against those idiots though. I hope we whack them with a repairs bill.
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dyersdream added 18:04 - Aug 10 Looked like young teenagers causing trouble
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ArnieM added 18:24 - Aug 10 They're 17 miles down the road but they appear to have had a mandatory frontal lobotomy!
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ArnieM added 18:27 - Aug 10 Also I was in the fracture clinic at ipswich hospital today ( unrelated to game), and saw a frontal lobotomy individual wearing his Col ewe shirt , hobbling along with a foot injury . No surprise there then.
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Suffolkboy added 18:28 - Aug 10 I/d and publicly shame ,prosecute and ban for life from Football Stadia ! Imagine PRd cameras ought to help ,and personal stewarding presence may assist . Hopefully this sort of thing can be stamped upon hard and not witnessed again at Town . COYB
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SickParrot added 18:39 - Aug 10 We did our best to keep these idiots happy by not scoring and gifting them a goal. What would they have done if they lost?
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ArnieM added 18:39 - Aug 10 I'd definitely be tracking them down snd invoicing them for the damage . That'll focus their half a brain!
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ThaiBlue added 19:23 - Aug 10 Get them to pay the damage bill thick sods saw alex griffin getting abused on his youtube channel by these idiots not needed.
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RobsonWark added 19:36 - Aug 10 That is what happens when a small club takes on a big club. The Colchester fans can't swallow the fact that we are a massive club compared to those minnows. So they act all tough and hard - morons!!
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muhrensleftfoot added 20:36 - Aug 10 Morons, but let's be honest they're not alone!
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billys_boots added 20:37 - Aug 10 There is definitely a new generation of young wanna-be hooligans these days. It started a few years ago but is much worse since the COVID break. Some people don't seem to like the family atmosphere at Football clubs in the 2020s and would rather go back to the 70s. Yes, it was the young and drunk Col U fans yesterday that made trouble, but it was disappointing to see so many older Col U fans, and even some families, applauding their actions.

1

blueboy1981 added 21:10 - Aug 10 No excuse for such mindless Thugs - easy answer for the future, identify as many guilty as/if possible - if not possible let them all suffer and DO NOT sell away Tickets. What else can be done ? Decent respectful Supporters would have been happy with the Win and respected the place and their Ex ITFC Players in behaving themselves. THUGS - and fully deserve that descfiption.

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blueboy1981 added 21:21 - Aug 10 There's not allowed to be Discipline in Schools anymore - so what does that lead to ? - a generation of Young Juvenile Thugs with NO RESPECT for anyone or anything. And they think they are BIG … !!!
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chepstowblue added 21:28 - Aug 10 We've definitely produced a generation of degenerates in this country, the majority of whom should have been aborted at birth. We commented last season that If an IQ of above 80 was required to attend away games our support would be reduced by 75%. We've placed bets on which one of our morons will be the first to produce a flare or invade the pitch. Even with the threat of a life ban these 'pork heads' won't be able to work it out. At the end of the day these silly little ultras couldn't give a sh*t about the club,it's all about getting onto youtube with their dopey little mates.

3

blues1 added 22:07 - Aug 10 Blueboy1981. Know we often butt heads but ur spot on with both ur posts on here. As u say, a lack of discipline allowed on schools(or at home for that matter), and this kind of thing is the result. Need to be found and punished. And banned for life from football grounds.
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HARRY10 added 23:33 - Aug 10 Some utter nonsense being spouted on here by some. "There's not allowed to be Discipline in Schools anymore. There is, What yiu mean is boys are no longer thrashed. Well that did a fat lot of good in the way of stopping hooliganism in the 70's. What you see now is no more than temper tantrums in pre school. There were massive street brawls, and only terraces.No seats to smash. But the toilets as they were then were routinely smashed. It should not be too difficuklt to identify the idiot(s) who through the flare on the pitch. Assuming plod bothered to film the away fans. Up the ban to ten years, as well as for attempting to take pyrotencnics into any stadium. It is an offence to attempt to enter a stadium whilst drunk. Random breathalysing of 'likely suspects' would go quite a way to dealing with what seemed to be schoolkids. Employ enough plod/stewards etc for a search of pretty much every one entering the stadium. A flare is not easy to hide. Pi ssed up kids have little sense, and will continue to cause trouble until effective sanctions are enforced. Spouting idiotic Daily Mail guff about schools adds nothing to the debate. Hit them hard in games like this, a proactive response is needed, not re-active after the damage has been done. And Colchester should put a surcharge on home tickets to pay for the damage. Cretins who cause this, will soon be isolated.

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Europablue added 07:31 - Aug 11 If you hate Ipswich that much, you have no business supporting the Ipswich reserve team.
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1960H added 07:56 - Aug 11 Bloody morons, should easily be identified in this modern day and age then banned and done for vandalism, I have never had a problem with Col U can't see why some of their supporters hate us so much
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Bazza8564 added 08:44 - Aug 11 Muppetts!
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Tractor_Boy_in_HK added 09:01 - Aug 11 Class act, Mr Cowling. That's one fine statement you made.
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clintviola added 10:18 - Aug 11 Is this the same Robbie Cowling!!! https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9764125/Club-worker-60-wins-13-000-payo
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Edmundo added 11:42 - Aug 11 It actually takes some of us more older/wiser types to tell them to behave, or if it's too intimidating, to report them. Town or not, hooligans are not welcome at football.
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NottsTractor added 11:43 - Aug 11 I found that to be a really humble statement from a club official who was obviously not only embarrassed on this occasion, but also appeared shocked and appalled that something like this could happen in a football stadium. Regardless of the club you support or the background you have I struggle to understand why causing damage to infrastructure or other people, is a way to celebrate or commiserate. Not sure I have the intellect or expertise to understand it or blame it on anything, I would just prefer this, and other populist tribalism in society, did not happen.

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bobble added 11:46 - Aug 11 lord invader reckons...the only thing to stop these hooligans from causing panic in Great Britain, the only thing to stop these colchester boys from causing panic in England, well I hope that the Government see they need another kind of punishment, I say one thing to cool down this crime is to bring back the old time cat-o-nine. CHORUS so the old time cat-o-nine beat them bad and they bound to change their mind, send them to Dartmoor with licks like fire and they bound to surrender.

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