Ross County chief fears 'wider problem' creeping into Scottish football after Livingston fan spits at staff
Boss Don Cowie made the claim following penalty controversy at the end of the Premiership playoff first leg
Ross County chief executive Steven Ferguson fears there is an unwanted fan culture creeping back into Scottish football.
The Staggies supremo was talking after his assistant manager, Carl Tremarco, was spat at after their injury-time leveller at Livingston.
It came just days after Aberdeen defender Jack MacKenzie was hit by a chair and various missiles were thrown in the last Rangers v Celtic game.
Ferguson acknowledged: 'I think, like you said, that's a wider problem.
'My concern and my duty here is always to our team and our staff.
'The fact that one of our members of staff was spat in the face is disappointing.
'But like you said, there seems to be a bit of culture keeping back into the game.'
Ferguson admitted what Tremarco had to endure at Set Fare Arena is totally unacceptable.
'The line was crossed when that happened,' Ferguson added.
'Obviously, there's been a reaction at the dugout and it was pretty clear for everybody that Livingston supporters spat in the face of one of our staff.
'You've got two teams that have got a lot at stake on fighting it out on the pitch.
'I get the emotion bit, but we as a football club cannot accept somebody spitting in the face of one of our staff.
'For me, that doesn't belong in football and doesn't belong anywhere, so, we're disappointed in that.
'But what I will say is, Livingston were excellent and very quick to react.'
The County staff have all rallied around Tremarco. Ferguson admitted:'He's cleaned himself up and he's obviously disappointed, but he'll be absolutely fine.
'Carl certainly wasn't expecting that. There were words exchanged which we all saw.
'Again, I'll state the emotions are high. Their team has conceded a penalty kick in the last seconds of the game, so I totally understand that.
'We can understand the emotion, but I think that's definitely crossed the line.'
Ferguson admitted the culprit has been identified.
He confirmed: 'I believe the person's been identified and it's out with my hands now.
'The people that need to know about it do know about it.
'Nobody wants to see that. For that to happen at the end is just unacceptable.'
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