WHITCHURCH Alport Football Club has promised to work with the 'relevant bodies' after their Midlands Premier League clash was abandoned on Saturday because of an alleged racist incident.

The club had raced into a half-time 3-0 when their opponents, from near Birmingham, reportedly refused to re-enter the field of play because of an alleged racist remark, leading to the referee to abandon the game at the break.

In a statement released by the club on Sunday, officials promised to work to ensure all relevant evidence would be submitted, and stated that it would not tolerate any racial abuse of any kind at Yockings Park.

However, the club did express its disappointment that their opponents chose to not continue with, and complete, the fixture and apologised to supporters.

In a statement, the club said: "Based on the information at the time, we are disappointed that management and players of Tividale FC refused to play the game yesterday as the teams were about to start the second half, thereby forcing the referee to abandon the match.

"We apologise to supporters and visitors to the game that the match was abandoned.

"Just to confirm, there was an alleged incident midway through the first half, that a racist comment about a Tividale player was made by a member of the crowd which was overheard by the assistant referee.

"It is important to state that, at this stage, this alleged incident is unsubstantiated and will be subject to a full investigation by the FA.

"Whitchurch Alport FC will be working with the authorities and will be submitting evidence relating to the alleged incident and incidents that followed when the Tividale FC players and management were leaving the ground.

"We would urge any witnesses to the alleged racist comment, or to incidents following the abandonment of the game and the players and management of Tividale FC to come forward and make a statement to the club.

"Whitchurch Alport will not tolerate any abuse of any nature and we will continue to work closely with the relevant bodies to ensure that our ground is a safe and welcoming environment for all supporters, staff and players.

"No further statements will be made by the club on this incident until all investigations have been completed by the appropriate authorities."