Do you have first hand accounts of rough Stewarding at Blackpool?

We went in about 2 35 no problems at all at that time wonder if it was more the late comers who'd had a gill or 2

 

The problem is Gally that having read the complaints on here after the match it seems to me that a few have complained that people were thrown out for standing up and jumping up and down. I'm sorry but what kind of imbecile deliberately jumps up and down in a stand that they consider unsafe? What exactly are the FSF going to say? "A few of our fans refused to sit down and were in fact jumping up and down in the temporary stand that someone fell through the other week and the stewards were utter *******s enforcing the rules"? The relevant parties would laugh in your face surely?

Another complaint from Worsbrough Red was that he was detained for 25 minutes by the police (not the stewards) who were investigating an incident.

And when someone said to him "You were singing - you weren't drunk" his reply was "We'd had a few".

So we've got someone who admits he had had a few complaining that stewards and police were harsh on him and complaining that fans standing and jumping were dealt with harshly. Come on Gally, it's about time the FSF actually stood up for clubs and critised the behaviour of fans for once. I've never once seen them admit the fans were in the wrong.

Heavy handed stewarding does need sorting out but so does fans behaviour and by all accounts inside the stadium it was the fans behaviour that led to heavy handed stewarding as is often the case. Stewarding on the turnstyles on the other hand sounds different.

 

So fans should not be allowed to jump around at a game? It's not the crucible. If the stand is not safe it is not fans fault.

 

Fans aren't allowed to stand up and jump around at ANY game and you know that. It is an offence at Blackpool just like it is an offence at Oakwell.

 

So whose "fault" would it be if said fans jumped up and down in a stand that they were warned was a bit unstable (maybe even unsafe) and went through the floor, possibly falling 20 feet or so to the ground, and were then seriously injured? Would that be the club's fault or the fault of the people who caused the accident by acting in an irresponsible manner?
Nobody is suggesting we should all sit nicely with our hands on our knees but sometimes people just have to use common sense. Where my personal safety is concerned common sense wins EVERY time.

 

Yeah I said I was singing, I'd had a few like most people at that game.

I'd done absolutly nothing wrong so I think it's a bit unfair to keep someone for 25 minuites, when it only takes 2 minuites to check cctv.

If the stand isn't safe then that's not our fault. It's the club's fault for wasting the millions from the Prem that they got.

Telling a thousand town fans 'no bouncing' what do you think they're going to do??

Remember a few years ago when an announcment came over the tannoy at oakwell 'would supporters in the pontefract road end please sit down'.

Everyone in the Ponty, East and West stood up.


Just out of interest, did you go to the game SuperTyke?

 

does that make it right then? Because there are a lot of you breaking the rules does that mean that it's ok? You aren't allowed to stand up and bounce around, you might wish you were, you might choose to pretend you are, but the cold hard fact is YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO DO IT. So when you get ejected for doing it don't go crying to anyone, it's your own fault.

Now that's my opinion on inside the ground, on outside the ground I can fully understand why you were stopped if there was a chance it was you involved in trouble, I can also understand why it would take 25 minutes to do whatever checks are necessary. You might think it only takes seconds to check the CCTV but in reality it can take longer than that. I don't think the police did anything wrong stopping you for so long. Where they did go wrong in my opinion is in not apologising to you afterwards which is only courteous.

 

Seriously mate, the point here is that the stand should be fit for a football crowd. Crowds stand up and do jump up and down when a goal goes in. It's part and parcel.

If Blackpool have to employ stewards to throw people out because their stand isn't up to scratch that's their problem, not the supporters.

 

I agree with that and if what those fans have told you is correct then things need to change, I can only go off what people complained on here about and quite frankly most of their complaints were about problems they had caused themselves.

Perhaps the FSF could campaign for clearer, hard and fast rules to help everyone out rather than simply campaigning against 'harsh' stewarding. Worsbrough Red admits he'd 'had a few' when he went to the game. Should he have been kicked out for this? Was he lucky to be allowed in? Perhaps like with driving there should be a clear limit as to what is acceptable because I'm not sure how many you're allowed to have before you're refused entry. Is one or two ok? Is it ok to be above the drink drive limit? To be 'merry'? Or is it only when you're absolutely **** faced that it is considered too much? Worsbrough Red believes 'had a few' is acceptable, I'm sure others would disagree with him though so maybe it is time to set a clear limit for football grounds. Same with the 'known trouble causers', in my opinion only the police themselves should be able to eject somebody for this or deny them entry and the FSF should be campaigning for this to be the case

 

So then if you're playing high and mighty:

Do you ever speed in your car?

Have you ever downloaded anything illigally?

Have you ever done anything in your life you were told you shouldn't have?

Thought so.

My mate who got pulled with me is a CSO, and he aassured me that it does not take 25 to check cctv for something like that. I it did then for whatever reason then they should have apologised afterwards.

You're right, they should have apologised. I never said I was going to cry to the authorities about it. I thought the way some poeple said they were being searched etc on entry to the ground was out of order.

 

They were kicking people out for breaking the rules surely? Standing up and jumping up and down is against the rules at every football ground is it not? My point about the stand being a bit dodgy was more that I believe this is the reason people were jumping up and down, simply to prove a point. I've seen posts on a few forums since the fan fell through all to the tune of 'i'm going to jump up and down and see if I can make it collapse' (I **** you not). In my opinion that is just stupid.

 

It's like going to McDonalds and kicking them out for eating a burger.

Your example is f.cking stupid but again, they should provide adequate seating and safety that holds a group of 1500 people who've had a few drinks.

 

We go to matches now and sit on our hands after some of the lads were given banning orders for play fighting at Newcastle a few years ago.

At the last away match l attended l couldn't even see the far goal without squinting through one eye because we'd found some decent ale pre kick off.

U reds.

 

Yeah i'd had a few.

To me had a few doesn't mean shitfaced. I was probably classed as 'tipsy', knew everything that was happening and i was not being a knobhead. Was happy at being an away match watching the club I love going through some kind of revival.

Or is it against the rules to have a little drink and be happy at a match these days?

Still had a reight day though.

You Reds.

 

I can vouch for the fact he wasn't drunk- I was next to him in the queue. Those lads weren't causing a scrap of bother - they were singing ! They arrived around 2:30 - not late for a match at all . They were pulled aside by the police and asked to show their tickets - fair enough but were then held for no reason. That's the sort of things that cause trouble - people get wound up. As for the standing up my mate was amazed we remained seated for the majority of the time. He goes away with man utd and they stand the whole game!!

 

Supertyke is being a bit of a tw$t and obviously didn't go to the match.

We arrived at the ground at 2.15. Pretty surprised at having to queue to be body searched in a rough manner (I'm not into man on man - some may have liked it!). Only other time I've ever been searched like that was at a match in Graz, Austria and there we could queue in line to be searched by female security or fast track search by a male!!!) Why were we searched? Do home fans get searched? One older guy had a small thermos taken off him and was very roughly treated (pushed and shoved away) by an Eastern european security guy. In the ground I didn't personally experience a problem but I think that's because I was near to the centre of the ground. Saw several people pulled out (one with a very red looking mark above his left eye) towards where the stewards and police were massed (alot of them!). Don't think there should have been any bother and wouldn't have been at most other grounds.

Guess they'd stepped up security because they were worried about the stand? Does make you think twice about going to these places where you are treated as hooligans right from the off. No alcohol on sale, sub-standard facilities and totally aggressive stewarding. Compare this with going away to Brighton! Amazing difference.

 

Thank you!

Forgot that you'd seen me there. Said we weren't drunk (had a 'few', nothing wrong with that) got there early to soak up the atmosphere, asked to see our tickets which we obviously had.

Away fans always stand up, every game in the prem the whole away section is usually stood up. Not our fault if their stand isn't up to the standards required for championship football.