An East Molesey football club has banned all away fans from attending its cup game.

The Metropolitan Police FC is set to face London FA Senior Cup Tie against Clapton FC this evening (December 6) but there will be no supporters welcome from Clapton.

The football club has accused the Clapton Ultras - a subset of Clapton FC fans who formed in 2012 - of a pattern of “unacceptable behaviour” when attending away games.

In a statement, the Met Police FC’s chairman Des Flanders said the ban was enacted “following lengthy discussions” with Clapton FC officials and “information received through football intelligence sources”.

Barry Smith, a member of the Ultras, said the move was “disappointing” and “unfair”.

The fan said the Clapton Ultras have stopped going to home games after trustees tried to liquidate the charitable trust which holds the lease for the Old Spotted Dog ground, the oldest ground in London.

The Ultras deny their behaviour is “unacceptable”.

Mr Smith said: “We used to bring flairs to games but have stopped doing that this year because other clubs can get fined if you do it away.

“We made a public commitment not to do it anymore.”

In a statement the Clapton Ultras as a whole said they were “profoundly disappointed” with the “anti-supporter decision”.

It continued: “It is difficult to imagine exactly what the Metropolitan Police Football Club is so worried about.

“The prospect of a crowd of non-league football fans from Clapton FC, two divisions below them, coming to visit?

“Why would it not welcome the chance to improve on their season’s average attendance of 130?”

Clapton Ultras is formed of a small group of fans from east London, who after being priced out of the Premier League, decided to “set down roots” at their closest ground.

They organise community projects, such as food bank collections, campaigning against homophobia in football.

The match kicks off in the team’s grounds in East Molesey at 7.45pm.

The Met Police FC nor Clapton FC was available for comment.

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