Queen of the South have issued “a fuller apology” to fans amid a backlash over politician George Galloway attending Saturday’s match with Dundee.
The 66-year-old, who was present with his family, tweeted a photo during the Scottish Championship game in Dumfries.
The image provoked an angry response from supporters not allowed to attend due to Covid-19 restrictions.
Having apologised on Sunday, Queens added on Monday that they “fully accept and understand” the fans’ anger.
The club insists Galloway was given permission to attend when Dumfries was in tier one of lockdown, which permits a partial crowd at games.
But mainland Scotland was put into tier four at midnight on Christmas Day, which forbids stadia being open to spectators, and Queens admit they “should’ve informed Mr Galloway that he could no longer attend the match”.
“We realise it was a total error of judgement and we should have been more considerate of our loyal supporters,” the club added.
“We would again like to issue an unreserved apology to our fans. It was a genuine mistake that shouldn’t have been made.”
The former MP, who originally tagged Dundee’s Charlie Adam in his tweet during the game’s first half, took to the social media site to defend his attendance, claiming he lives in Dumfries and Galloway, has a season ticket and “is about to become a sponsor”.
One supporter wrote on Twitter it left “a nasty taste in the mouth”, while former Queens player Colin McMenamin described Galloway’s admittance as “quite shameful”, insisting that the club had “let their fans down”.
Queen of the South lost the match 3-1 and remain bottom of the Scottish second tier.