EXCLUSIVE: Clarets fan who unfurled Pace Out flag speaks to TurfReports

The fan, who has asked not to be named in this article, feels there is a growing sense of disconnection between supporters and those running the club. His concerns reflect a large range of issues that can resonate with us all, from recruitment and playing style to communication, stewarding and the identity of the club.

He says the flag is a culmination of disappointment rather than an over-the-top reaction to the result. He says he wanted to express his opinion peacefully while continuing to support the team. “I wasn’t planning on disrupting anything else,” he said. “I was just trying to show my frustration with the situation at the moment with Burnley.”

The supporter travelled from Manchester alone for the match, having decided against bringing his son because he anticipated a confrontation over the flag. He insists he arrived intending to get behind the players and remained vocal, particularly during the opening spell where we showed promise.

As the match drew to a close, though, he decided to display the flag, and that's when he raised the flag towards the back of the Cricket Field Stand before turning it towards the pitch. The flag was met by applause and cheers from other fans around him.

“Banning fans for standing, the nonsense with the drum, we've been recently charged with alleged misconduct with a player transaction, calling fans toddlers, Leah Embley coming out and saying stuff about Pace, incidents recently with Broja and Jackson.

“I was one of the fans at the start who wanted to see him go through with all the things he promised. I was intrigued as to how we could move forward as a club. The saying 'forever forward' resonated with me as I believe we had the foundations as a club to go to the next level. I was fully supportive and backed them.

“But over the last couple of years we've had a lot to go through with the three relegations. We were the only promoted side last season to go down; the other two stayed up. Look at Sunderland winning in Europe - that could have very easily been us if we had got things right. But again we seem to fail every time we get to the promised land of the Premier League under this ownership.

“The identity is another reason I unfurled the banner - I don't recognise my club anymore. I feel we had an identity before ALK took over. I'd speak to fans from other clubs and they would describe Burnley perfectly. They knew what type of environment they were going into; they knew that the town and team were together as one.”

Those fans who were inside Turf Moor on Friday night and even those watching on Sky Sports will all have seen that the flag was met with a very heavy-handed approach from the stewards and police inside the ground. As soon as the flag was shown, there was an immediate rush from the authorities to get to the fan and get the flag off him.

“The first steward created a situation and escalated it to levels it didn’t need to go to,” he said.

A video has done the rounds on social media of a steward aggressively trying to rip the flag out of his hands.

“After I've shown it to the back of the stand and turned around to show it towards the pitch, I just want to make sure that it can be seen, so I've stood on a chair to do that. Then all of a sudden the flag was pulled and I've fallen as I've come down with it and I've hit the railings in front of me.

“People could say, ‘Well, you shouldn't have been stood on the seat,’ and I get that, but my issue with it was there was no prior communication with any stewards or police.

“There could have been a simple ‘Sir, you need to get down off that seat, you can't have that banner,’ and then if I take it upon myself to abuse the steward or create a hostile environment, then I could understand the intervention from stewards or police.

“But that wasn't the case. I was peaceful; I wasn't chanting in derogatory terms towards anyone. I was just stood there holding it and that's when he pulled me down and I went flying.

“As I've been pulled towards him, all I said to him was, ‘You don't need to pull me down like that.’ That's all I'm saying to him. He didn't really say anything back and just kept pulling the flag.”

After the steward tried to get the flag out of the fan’s hands, the other fans in the area began to rally round the fan to help protect the flag and prevent the stewards from taking it away.

“The guy next to me was trying to protect the flag and just kind of keep the stewards away. It wasn't abusive or anything like that. After that other fans have begun to make little alleyways for me to go down.

“So that's where I've gone and I've just unfurled it again in an area where there weren't any stewards, to be able to hold it aloft without any sort of incident. From there, there were no problems; the stewards weren't flying up and trying to create a scene. I've just stood there, holding it aloft, and other fans have held it.”

It was at this moment that the fan realised the police presence in the stand had grown considerably, so he decided this was the perfect time to leave the stadium.

“After a while I could see more and more police coming into the area and I didn't feel comfortable anymore and I didn't want the situation to escalate any further. There's obviously been an instruction of ‘We must intervene here,’ so I decided to remove myself from the situation.

“Again the fans around me led a little path for me to get out of the stand, so I've left and got on to Harry Potts Way. As I'm walking up past the Turkish restaurant, two police officers grabbed me, one by each arm, and walked me over to a police van.

“I asked them what this was in relation to, and they said there had been reports of me pushing a steward. So I just cooperated so I could defend myself. I asked them what information they needed because the allegation is completely false. I gave them my driving licence and they did some checks and obviously nothing has come back from my past.

“I asked if the information I gave them would be passed on to the club and they said no, so we'll see about that, but I haven't been contacted by them again since.”

Whether or not the fan is contacted by the club or the police again remains to be seen, but any further developments on this will be reported on by us here at TurfReports.