SOUTHEND United manager Phil Brown has been handed a four-match touchline ban.

Brown also received a fine of £3,000 after heavily criticising assistant referee Barry Gordon following Blues’ 3-2 defeat at Bury on the final day of the League One season.

And the Shrimpers boss will now have to start the new League One season in the stands after deciding not to contest the verdict.

“I’ve taken on board what’s been said and I won’t be appealing, so I’m definitely not going to be in the technical area for the first four games of the season,” said Brown.

“That doesn’t include our pre-season friendlies but of course it presents a problem we will have to try and work round.

“But I feel as though I’ve been dealt with fairly and will learn from it moving forward.

“I was wrong in my actions and I apologise to everyone associated with the club, along with the officials from the Bury game.”

Brown was left fuming after Bury were awarded a stoppage time spot-kick against the Shrimpers when Sam McQueen was adjudged to have deliberately handled the ball by the assistant referee.

Brown called the decision, which condemned his side to a 3-2 defeat, an “absolute disgrace” and called for Gordon to never run the line again.

Adding to Brown’s punishment was his reluctance to leave the dug-out after it transpired he was requested to do so by referee Trevor Kettle.

But Brown felt it would not have been safe for him to position himself in the stands at Gigg Lane.

“I was asked to move out of the technical area and I did that by going backwards and to the side of where I was, which I thought would be OK,” said Brown.

“There were 3,000 fans in the stand behind me singing “Phil Brown is a w****r” and I didn’t really want to go and sit with them if I’m being entirely honest.

“I think where a manager can go when he’s sent off is something which needs to be looked at by the authorities.

“I think we all remember that iconic image of Arsene Wenger at Old Trafford but it’s something I’ll be bringing up because it’s an ongoing problem which I think does need to be sorted.”

Brown’s ban will include the first three games of the new League One season along with the first round of the Capital One Cup in August.

The fixtures for Blues’ league campaign will be released on Wednesday, June 22, at 9am.