It may be two days since Bristol City qualified for the Coca-Cola Championship play-offs final by beating Crystal Palace, but the dust has not settled on the explosive encounter at Ashton Gate that ended with Neil Warnock, the Palace manager, being punched as he tried to reach the players' tunnel at the end of extra time.

The FA is launching an investigation into the pitch invasion by about 5,000 City fans after their team's 4-2 aggregate victory and Simon Jordan, the Palace chairman, told The Times yesterday that he feared for his safety when he left the stadium to smoke a cigarette at half-time.

“I was called every name under the sun by hundreds of morons outside the ground,” Jordan said. “They called me a poof, they called me orange and plenty of other insults that you could not print in your newspaper. They were being particularly vitriolic, but I just kept my head down. What can you do? They are morons.”

Jordan left the stadium as soon as Howard Webb, the referee, blew the final whistle, but Warnock was not so lucky. The outspoken Palace manager had accused City players of being arrogant for celebrating at the end of their 2-1 win in the first leg at Selhurst Park last Saturday and the Palace manager needed an escort of six security guards at the end of Tuesday's game to walk the 50 metres from the dugout to the players' tunnel. Warnock was pushed, tripped and jostled as he headed for the dressing-room and at least one fan threw a punch at the former Sheffield United manager. Although Warnock was shaken by the experience, he has decided not to make an official complaint.

“I saw the scenes and they were disgraceful,” Jordan said. “It's not for me to say what action the FA should take, but no one should ever be physically attacked in any walk of life.”

The FA will wait for Webb's report before deciding what action to take and will also want to know why Keith Millen, the City assistant manager, appeared on the pitch before the start of extra time despite having been sent to the stands by the referee at the end of the first half after being involved in a confrontation with Clinton Morrison, the Palace striker.