Legal action? Carlton fan calls in lawyers over Gillon McLachlan claims

A Carlton fan who was thrown out of Marvel Stadium for abusing an umpire has contacted lawyers over allegations by AFL chief Gillon McLachlan and revealed the toll of a week in the headlines.

Footy's flog man has contacted lawyers over AFL chief Gillon McLachlan’s claim he ran "across two bays" to abuse umpire Mathew Nicholls.

Carlton member “Frankie”, evicted from Marvel Stadium on Saturday, has revealed he is on stress leave as a result of the furore, while his heavily pregnant fiancee is also suffering.

McLachlan this morning claimed an official incident report detailed how “Frankie” ran aggressively towards Nicholls while calling him a “bald-headed flog” during the clash against the Brisbane Lions.

The Blues supporter is adamant he never left his seat on Level 1 and believes he has been defamed.

Family friend and business owner Romeo D’Amato told the Herald Sun he had approached solicitors on “Frankie’s” behalf.

“We are exploring legal options to correct the record,” D’Amato said.

“It gives me no joy to see a friend turn up at my home in tears worried about returning to work or whether he can go to the footy again.

“What is happening here is a travesty of justice.”

“Frankie”, who does not want his identity disclosed, is awaiting an official explanation from the AFL integrity department.

“I don’t reckon it was just because of those words,” McLachlan told 3AW.

“Mathew Nicholls is a very experienced umpire, I got the notes about it, I followed it up, he said it was the most intimidated he's been in his hundreds of games of football.”

Told “Frankie” denied running towards Nicholls, McLachlan said: “That was in the report. He will have his views, I don’t want to go into the ins and outs of it.”

Pressed again on whether he had run at the umpire, McLachlan said: “Yes, that was the assessment in the briefing I had, absolutely, across two bays, and the umpire felt intimidated.”

“Frankie” said today: “That’s a load of crap. They’ve thrown me under the bus. Go and get the footage. They (the AFL) own the ground, so it shouldn’t be that hard for them to get the footage of me running across the two bays,” he said.

“If my hand in my pocket and the other hand holding a radio is intimidating, we've got a few issues in society."

McLachlan insisted there had been no crackdown on fan behaviour, despite a spate of bans and evictions.

“Everyone should feel comfortable at the football … there's been no change in policy, I want to be clear that they should go and express themselves at the game, but it has to be respectful, and that's the way it's always been,” he said.

AFL field umpire Mathew Nicholls.

The AFL supremo said he was happy to speak to die-hard Collingwood fan Jeff “Joffa” Corfe, who has vowed to boycott games until McLachlan apologises for the league’s heavy-handed treatment of fans.

“I’ll hopefully see Joffa at the Collingwood game next week,” McLachlan said.

“I’ll talk to Joffa if he wants to talk to me. He’s a great part of our game, he adds colour and theatre and it’s fantastic.”

McLachlan said it was acceptable for fans to boo umpires “unless it’s in situations where it is intimidatory”.

"Booing has been part of our game for 100 years … people boo the umpires all the time,” he said.

“I can't prescribe for you respectful behaviour, what words are and aren't (acceptable) … the fans decide in the end.”

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Originally published as Legal action? Carlton fan calls in lawyers over Gillon McLachlan claims

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