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Old 31-08-2010, 18:28   #219
choirboy
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Re: FANs not criminals!!!!

I was at the Newcastle match last Wednesday and stayed on singing with the Ultras after the match and saw the distressing scenes that produced a very sour ending to a fabulous night.
I have read every entry on this post and have reflected carefully over the last few days.
The main point that I would like to comment on is that we have to look at the CONTEXT of the events during the evening and how this affects people's behaviour.

Context;
1) BIG GAME - Possibly the biggest game in Stanley's modern history along with the Fulham match last season. Everyone at the club; officials, staff, management and players and many fans, especially some of the Ultras, had worked very hard to get Accrington Stanley seen in the public TV domain noticed in a POSITITVE way. (Read some of the comments by Newcastle supporters on their websites which were very complimentary.)
2) PASSION - Passions run high at football matches and none more so than amongst the Ultras who put so much into their support. (Pound for pound they must be just about the best supporters in the land.)
3) STEWARDING AND POLICING - Extra stewards and police were brought in. In my view there seemed to be an overreaction by some stewards and some police who are not usually at Stanley matches.
4) Finally BEHAVIOUR - Bearing in mind the first two points - BIG GAME atmosphere and PASSION, Behaviour is easily changed both individuallyand as a group.

My Conclusions;
a) A few individuals in the Ultras may have behaved a bit too enthusiastically, eg. throwing a few till rolls during the match. Surely such a small amount of silliness could have been tolerated.
b) Some police and Stewards too were affected by the same atmospheric factors and similarly went over the top, OTT, in the way they treated some of the fans.
c) The result to one attempted "questioning" of a fan was a total escalation into unnecessary mayhem.

Lessons to learn;
Ultras – Better to have no till roll throwing and definitely no smoke flares. Also don’t get involved if anything kicks off even the smallest problem.
ASFC – Club stewards must be allowed to be “In charge” and to fully brief any additional stewards / police before the match. It should also be the ASFC senior stewards who make any decisions about approaching individual supporters.
Police and Additional Stewards – Learn to apply some common sense and respect the people who they are supposed to be helping. ie The fans.

I was in the middle of the Clayton End and stayed there singing and blowing my horn until the police came over the wall as the real fuss was going on. One LARGE policemen laid a hand on my back and rudely told me to leave the ground. I had to ask him politly THREE times to take his hand off me before I would move. In my opinion he was unnecessarilly rude and disrespectful to a fan who had done absolutley no wrong. He did not offer any kind of apology. As I deprted through the gates I was nearly trodden on by an even larger Police horse!
I hope the the Ultra lads who have been charged are treated fairly and that they receive no banning orders. I think a warning not to get involved in the future should be sufficient.
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