The ugly scenes at Priestfield on Saturday have left one Gillingham fan admitting he’s embarrassed to be associated with the club.

Gillingham supporter Alex Pooley from The 1893 Podcast told kmtv he’d never been embarrassed to be a Gills fan - until now.

A man has been banned from the ground for life after Saturday’s game with Newport. He was arrested for racist abuse towards Newport’s Omar Bogle and has been bailed until the new year.

“I’ve never been embarrassed to be a Gills fan,” said Pooley. “I’ve always been loud and proud - relegation, defeat - I’ve always been proud to come into the office on a Monday and go I’m a Gills fan and own the defeat.

“But some of the messages and conversations I’ve had around (the weekend), this embarrassment is going to live on for a while, for it to be so public as well.

“There’s not anyone who hasn’t seen it, it’s embarrassing and has no place in the game at all.”

Gillingham have already been fined £12,500 by the FA for incidents last season across three games, which involved racist and sexist comments.

Pooley fears that this latest episode - on the back of an incident at the last home game against Notts County - could be one too many and lead to greater punishments.

“I see it (said) a lot, that it’s the small minority of people and it is,” added Pooley. “Obviously at the weekend there were a few incidents that went on around the game, not all racist.

“That one incident is just one person. The minority affects us massively. The club has already had fines and I expect a points deduction or maybe even a stadium (closure) for a couple of games.

“That affects fans like me and other season-ticket holders who are going to miss out on two or three games because one person couldn’t control themselves at the game.”

As for the wider issue, the Gills fan believes that it goes much further than just football.

“I don’t think it’s something us fans can fix,” said Pooley. “I think it’s wider, it’s not just a football issue, it’s a world issue. It comes with education, and people understanding why these views are wrong.

“Ultimately the views of that fan and what he did are wrong. All we can do is educate our kids, our friends and our family that these views are wrong and hope that message gets passed on.

“Until it’s fixed in society, I think we’re going to see it in the game of football.

“Although I agree with the lifetime ban, there needs to be more education around it. We have a message before every game saying we need to control ourselves.

“Maybe one thing to do is to close those front two or three rows of the Rainham End so it’s harder for fans to get that close to the pitch. I know it’s not something that should have to be done but we’re at a point now where it might have to be.”

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Pooley insisted that the Gillingham fanbase should not be tarnished with the same brush.

“It’s not us as a whole,” he said. “The community that we have as Gills fans is fantastic and I love being a Gills fan.

“It can seem quite daunting but the minute you’re in (the Rainham End) you’ll realise that the majority of us are truly good people who look out for each other.”