BNP man banned from Orient ground says boss

| Thursday, 18 May 2006 Source: Ilford Recorder

FAILED far-right election candidate Jason Douglas had already been banned from Leyton Orient's Brisbane Road ground for violence when he was pictured during a scuffle on the front page of last week's Recorder, the club revealed this week.

The British National Party hopeful, who polled the lowest share of the vote in Chadwell ward in this month's council elections, said he was "defending" Leyton Orient player Gabrial Zakuani when an Oxford United fan attacked him after a crunch match between the two clubs.

But Leyton Orient bosses have distanced themselves from Mr Douglas, saying they banned him following "a violent incident" at a match against Southend in the 2004/05 football season, and he is no longer welcome at Brisbane Road.

The club's chief executive Matthew Porter told the Recorder: "I don't think it is the role of any supporter to start defending players.

"In football we have a code where you defend your own club against others, but there are ways of ways of defending people and violence is not the way. We would never condone any form of violence, particularly within a football stadium."