The problem of stewarding has long been a bug bear of many of the more vocal sections of supporters who wish to be a part of the atmosphere on a match day. Not merely sit on their hands for 90 minutes and at the end, win, lose or draw applaud both teams and say a very well done to the visiting fans.
This problem came to a head when during Saturday's game with Middlesbrough their were reports of seven young fans (albeit the club claimed four) being ejected from the Holmesdale for offences ranging from 'jumping up and down', standing, making hand gestures and swearing. Now I'm sorry if this makes me a criminal but I do believe I have in the past directed hand gestures towards away fans and maybe once or twice have even sworn at the bastards; pardon my French.
People need to get it into their heads that this is how Football is and any more attempts at sanitising it further will result in the death of it and our club. Yes there are kids in the ground and some parents would prefer it if their children didn't hear such language. But if that is the case sit in the family stand or the main stand, in fact at Selhurst you can have the privilege of sitting in most areas of the ground without being subjected to these perceived atrocities.
However I don't believe these latest goings on have anything to do with this. The Police and stewarding were to blame for grossly over-estimating the number of police they needed at this 'high-risk' fixture between two clubs that hadn't played each other for years and who's fans were sharing pints in the same pubs before the game. So the Police were left with a heavy presence inside a football stadium with nothing to do; they must have been a bit worried at this point "how will we possibly explain this to the chief? He's going to have my guts for garters if we don't justify this."
Luckily some fans in block B had the temerity to swear in a singing section of a football ground and acted; one eye witness reported that a young lad was swamped by seven Policemen and was left badly bruised.
The club have released a statement regarding these events and in reply to the number of complaints they received from affected fans. In this they reiterated that it was a high-risk game although they did not care to elaborate on this.
They also regurgitated the stadium rules on standing and swearing which is relatively funny in this instance considering the Boro fans were not treated in a similar way to the youngsters at the front of block B despite standing the whole game. Moreover did anyone approach Mr Jordan who, as always was stood by the entrance to the directors box and in doing so partially blocked a fire exit, another crime committed by Palace fans on Saturday.
Fans should be free to support the team in whatever way they wish; if they prefer to observe quietly then they should be able to and if you want to make some noise then you should also be able to do that. There is enough room in the ground as maore and more fans are driven from Selhurst Park by the overbearing stewarding and continual harassment. Fair enough rules are rules but why have they not been enforced previously and why now only partially i.e. targeting the supporters groups?
We are not Millwall, we're not Cardiff infact our support could be called docile, it always has been. In my lifetime I remember only a handful of incidents actually in the ground which all involved away fans, more specifically Millwall and Bristol City.
So where are the grounds for this 'clampdown'? Hopefully we shall get some answers when the protest happens on the 28th when the organisers are hoping to be able to present their petition to Simon Jordan personally.
1 comment:
there will be a bigger protest after we beat you!
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