POOLE Town vice-chairman Chris Reeves pledged his full support for under-fire Tom Killick and revealed the club had considered appealing their manager’s six-match stadium ban.

Killick this week received the sanction from the Football Association having admitted a charge of improper conduct during Dolphins’ home fixture with Redditch United on January 17.

The allegation included “a reference to sexual orientation” according to an FA spokesperson with Killick fined £300 and ordered to attend an educational course.

Reeves politely declined to comment on what Killick was alleged to have said and while he acknowledged it had been “inappropriate”, added that there had been “a significant difference” between Killick’s version of events and that of match referee Ben Knight.

Reeves told the Daily Echo: “We’re very disappointed. On the occasions when Tom does speak out of turn towards referees, it is the only area of his involvement with us in which he lets himself down.

“He has apologised profusely to the board and the players and I do think he has learned a lesson.

“We felt the sanction was particularly harsh and would have appealed but knew the case would not have been heard until early April. Had we not been successful, Tom would have missed the end-of-season run-in.

“There was a significant difference between Tom’s version of events and the referee’s but having discussed it at length with Tom, we felt it did not serve any purpose to argue the point.”

Reeves added: “The good that Tom does is immense. He does let himself down periodically but his positive attributes outweigh any negatives.”

A statement on the matter, published on Poole's official website, read: "It is with regret that the club has to announce that Tom Killick has received a six-match stadium ban from the FA following a misconduct report lodged by the referee following the fixture with Redditch United on the January 17.

"Both Tom and the club were taken aback by the severity of the penalty but Tom does accept that his past record in such matters counted against him and is all the more frustrated by virtue of the fact that he has made strong efforts in recent seasons to ensure that his behaviour at matches and his reaction to refereeing decisions is beyond reproach. 

"He realises that he has let himself down and has apologised profusely to both the board of directors and the players.  After much deliberation the decision was taken not to appeal the penalty imposed by virtue of the fact that the timing of that appeal could well result in Tom missing crucial games at the end of the season when points could be critical in terms of securing the league championship."