Racist extremists are once again planning to target the fans of one of Scotland’s biggest football clubs.
The National Front has confirmed it plans to canvass support outside Pittodrie Stadium.
The group’s Aberdeen branch has announced it intends to distribute literature outside the home of Aberdeen Football Club to try to boost its membership.
The National Front is a far right political party widely considered a racist group. The British prison service and police forbid employees to be members of the party.
But Grampian Police is powerless to prevent members from selling papers and handing out leaflets on the streets around the ground.
The club is adamant, however, that members will be thrown out if they try to enter the stadium.
A spokesman for the group said they will be campaigning on local issues that are “relevant to the citizens of Aberdeen”.
He said: “This may be child molesters, muggers, immigration problems with the expanding immigrant population in the city.
“All these topics are of interest and we will have leaflets printed that show our views on these topics.”
He said the group would specifically target the visit of Celtic in December.
He added: “We have had a lot of success at our paper sales at Pittodrie in the past and the Celtic game is always a popular game for us to canvass support.”
The club is already preparing for the group’s advances.
Dons spokesman Dave Macdermid said: “We have made it clear the National Front is not a group we want to see associated with a family club.”
The group has targeted the club in the past. In 2003, there were fears that its presence at the ground would cause trouble.
The club’s first match programme of the 2003/04 season contained a statement telling fans not to be intimidated by anyone trying to sell them anything outside the ground.
Later that season, the club revealed it had kicked out a bid by the National Front to sponsor one of its matches.
Press and Journal