Fans

[Draytonian III]

If this recent behaviour continues at the away matches until the turn of the year I wouldn’t be surprised if one or two of the young gentlemen are given banning orders. The police will be onto it already and will be just be biding their time and getting enough evidence

[Jimmydee]

Get your phones out and film 'em. Get the footage online.

I saw some pre match footage of the young rovers idiots on YouTube when they were being escorted to the ground by the Stockport police, they passed a pub full of home team fans and were goading them to come out of the pub and ‘have a go’, during the game, the same lad got a slap from a fellow rovers fan (much older), I hope that he learned his lesson to respect his elders.

[bpoolrover]

Get your phones out and film 'em. Get the footage online.

I saw some pre match footage of the young rovers idiots on YouTube when they were being escorted to the ground by the Stockport police, they passed a pub full of home team fans and were goading them to come out of the pub and ‘have a go’, during the game, the same lad got a slap from a fellow rovers fan (much older), I hope that he learned his lesson to respect his elders.

in fairness the guy who gave him a slap was out of order aswell, the way he spoke to the lads at the front was not acceptable either, when he asked them to move it was in a very agressive way

[Pancho Regan]

Get your phones out and film 'em. Get the footage online.

I saw some pre match footage of the young rovers idiots on YouTube when they were being escorted to the ground by the Stockport police, they passed a pub full of home team fans and were goading them to come out of the pub and ‘have a go’.

I was in that pub Jimmydee.

I was literally the only Rovers fan in there, surrounded by a pub full of Stockport fans. I'd stopped at the door of the pub, disappointed when I saw the sign "HOME FANS ONLY". But a Stockport fan about to enter the pub said to me "Go on in mate, just keep your shirt covered up".
I did eventually take my jacket off in the pub because it was too hot, but the Stockport fans were all absolutely fine. I covered up my Rovers shirt when I went to the bar, so as not to cause any issues or put the staff in an awkward position.

A little later, I heard a commotion outside. I looked out of the window and saw the Rovers 'Stone Island' division being escorted by a very heavy police presence, with several police vans. These 'fans' started shouting and gesticulating towards the pub. I couldn't make out what they were shouting but it clearly wasn't friendly!
The Stockport fans around me in the pub where also looking out of the window and shaking their heads at the sight.

I was extremely embarrassed.
I put my jacket back on and covered up my Rovers shirt, but more because I didn't want to be associated with these idiots, rather than because I felt threatened by the Stockport fans in the pub.

All the Stockport fans I spoke to on the day were very friendly, as indeed are most of the Rovers fans of course.
Such a shame our reputation is sullied by a few bad apples.

[TonySoprano]

Every club has bad apples

[Donnywolf]

Yeah but ours are Fanny Smiths I reckon

[Glyn_Wigley]

Get your phones out and film 'em. Get the footage online.

Not a good idea Glyn.
It really would be inviting confrontation with the idiots.

I'm not suggesting people directly next to them do it, but people further away who can see them acting like t**ts. Even better if half a dozen people do it at the same time.

[drfchound]

Get your phones out and film 'em. Get the footage online.

Not a good idea Glyn.
It really would be inviting confrontation with the idiots.

I'm not suggesting people directly next to them do it, but people further away who can see them acting like t**ts. Even better if half a dozen people do it at the same time.

That is why I thought that it could be done by club staff or stewards with proper video cameras.
You see police doing it all the time when crowds get out of hand.

[Glyn_Wigley]

Get your phones out and film 'em. Get the footage online.

Not a good idea Glyn.
It really would be inviting confrontation with the idiots.

I'm not suggesting people directly next to them do it, but people further away who can see them acting like t**ts. Even better if half a dozen people do it at the same time.

That is why I thought that it could be done by club staff or stewards with proper video cameras.
You see police doing it all the time when crowds get out of hand.

But they don't put it online for all to see who the arseholes are.

[silent majority]

Get your phones out and film 'em. Get the footage online.

Not a good idea Glyn.
It really would be inviting confrontation with the idiots.

I'm not suggesting people directly next to them do it, but people further away who can see them acting like t**ts. Even better if half a dozen people do it at the same time.

That is why I thought that it could be done by club staff or stewards with proper video cameras.
You see police doing it all the time when crowds get out of hand.

It’s a bit of a minefield doing it like that, it’s possible of course, with special training and permits required, but does the club seriously want to be filming its own fans at away games?

No, there’s other ways.

[drfchound]

Get your phones out and film 'em. Get the footage online.

Not a good idea Glyn.
It really would be inviting confrontation with the idiots.

I'm not suggesting people directly next to them do it, but people further away who can see them acting like t**ts. Even better if half a dozen people do it at the same time.

That is why I thought that it could be done by club staff or stewards with proper video cameras.
You see police doing it all the time when crowds get out of hand.

It’s a bit of a minefield doing it like that, it’s possible of course, with special training and permits required, but does the club seriously want to be filming its own fans at away games?

No, there’s other ways.

It could be argued though that by filming our own fans at away games, it might make the unruly ones think twice about moderating their behaviour.

[silent majority]

Get your phones out and film 'em. Get the footage online.

Not a good idea Glyn.
It really would be inviting confrontation with the idiots.

I'm not suggesting people directly next to them do it, but people further away who can see them acting like t**ts. Even better if half a dozen people do it at the same time.

That is why I thought that it could be done by club staff or stewards with proper video cameras.
You see police doing it all the time when crowds get out of hand.

It’s a bit of a minefield doing it like that, it’s possible of course, with special training and permits required, but does the club seriously want to be filming its own fans at away games?

No, there’s other ways.

It could be argued though that by filming our own fans at away games, it might make the unruly ones think twice about moderating their behaviour.

As I said it’s a minefield. You need special training and licensing to do that.

But filming your own fans, if the home club allow you to, us a step too far. It’s hardly a great example of ‘fan engagement’.

We’ve argued for a long time that the indiscriminate filming of supporters is an intrusion that’s not welcomed, it certainly doesn’t happen in other sports.

[redandwhitewizard]

Yes it's an intrusion and I suppose we should try and stay on the right side of morality but for crying out loud it's expensive to attend away games and I believe society has become too soft if we don't actively challenge the behaviour of these morons

[drfchound]

You are so right wizard, but I don’t think that the people in question are the type to respond favourably to requests to behave so what is the answer?
To be honest, I think that they treat it as a badge of honour if they are ejected from the ground.

[redandwhitewizard]

Ps I was an over excited youth who was out of order at times but when I was a lad we baited police and the opposition (politically incorrect) but never never never our own fan base

[roversdude]

As DW says there is no way we ever want to go back to watching from behind fences.
We need to build our family club reputation and values to ensure our fan base expands and sticks with us, unfortunately the look of terror on some of the small kids being pushed out of the (I don’t mean jostled)on the way out at Stockport is not conducive to that

[NickDRFC]

Get your phones out and film 'em. Get the footage online.

Not a good idea Glyn.
It really would be inviting confrontation with the idiots.

I'm not suggesting people directly next to them do it, but people further away who can see them acting like t**ts. Even better if half a dozen people do it at the same time.

That is why I thought that it could be done by club staff or stewards with proper video cameras.
You see police doing it all the time when crowds get out of hand.

It’s a bit of a minefield doing it like that, it’s possible of course, with special training and permits required, but does the club seriously want to be filming its own fans at away games?

No, there’s other ways.

What other ways are the club pursuing to deal with them? There’s been a following like this for a good few years now and it’s been getting worse rather than better.

[roversdude]

Hopefully SM or Derek can update on that

[Campsall rover]

From what I saw, there didn't seem to be enough empty seats to accommodate everyone who was standing in the aisles.

There were no attempts by the stewards to get people who were standing into what empty seats there were, but its not helped by fans leaving gaps - you know the game is old out so don't leave an seat empty between you and Joe Bloggs.

The queues for food at half-time were ridiculous too.

That’s why it should be allocated seats only allowed when the allocation is sold out. Surely that is common sense. Stops people leaving gaps of one or two seats not allowing larger numbers to be able to sit together.

Everyone purchasing tickets should be  asked if they want to stand and those that do sold only the back row or 2/3 rows depending on the allocation given.

[pib]

From what I saw, there didn't seem to be enough empty seats to accommodate everyone who was standing in the aisles.

There were no attempts by the stewards to get people who were standing into what empty seats there were, but its not helped by fans leaving gaps - you know the game is old out so don't leave an seat empty between you and Joe Bloggs.

The queues for food at half-time were ridiculous too.

That’s why it should be allocated seats only allowed when the allocation is sold out. Surely that is common sense. Stops people leaving gaps of one or two seats not allowing larger numbers to be able to sit together.

Everyone purchasing tickets should be  asked if they want to stand and those that do sold only the back row or 2/3 rows depending on the allocation given.

It was allocated seating at Stockport, but most people don't adhere to it (not a complaint by me, just a fact). I couldn't have got to my allocated seat last Saturday even if I'd wanted to. It didn't bother me, but I don't know how any club would enforce allocated seating when, en-masse, people sit/stand where they want.

In terms of the second part, how would that work with online sales?

[Jimmydee]

SM quote
We’ve argued for a long time that the indiscriminate filming of supporters is an intrusion that’s not welcomed, it certainly doesn’t happen in other sports.

Filming does go on, that’s how I had seen a YouTube clip of rovers fans goading the Stockport fans outside the pub and then saw the same idiots stood at the front and goading our own fans during the game.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

SM quote
We’ve argued for a long time that the indiscriminate filming of supporters is an intrusion that’s not welcomed, it certainly doesn’t happen in other sports.

Filming does go on, that’s how I had seen a YouTube clip of rovers fans goading the Stockport fans outside the pub and then saw the same idiots stood at the front and goading our own fans during the game.

What S_M is saying is there's a big difference in folk filming things on their own phones for personal use, than an organisation filming people for other purposes.

However, I think there's also a difference in a fan driven desire to identify poor behaviour that spoils fellow fans enjoyment, to purely filming people with a view to reporting them to police and/or banning them.

Of course we would like to hear and see what other measures are being taken, otherwise, if this issue is not addressed more folk are simply going to stop going to away matches.

[Campsall rover]

From what I saw, there didn't seem to be enough empty seats to accommodate everyone who was standing in the aisles.

There were no attempts by the stewards to get people who were standing into what empty seats there were, but its not helped by fans leaving gaps - you know the game is old out so don't leave an seat empty between you and Joe Bloggs.

The queues for food at half-time were ridiculous too.

That’s why it should be allocated seats only allowed when the allocation is sold out. Surely that is common sense. Stops people leaving gaps of one or two seats not allowing larger numbers to be able to sit together.

Everyone purchasing tickets should be  asked if they want to stand and those that do sold only the back row or 2/3 rows depending on the allocation given.

It was allocated seating at Stockport, but most people don't adhere to it (not a complaint by me, just a fact). I couldn't have got to my allocated seat last Saturday even if I'd wanted to. It didn't bother me, but I don't know how any club would enforce allocated seating when, en-masse, people sit/stand where they want.

In terms of the second part, how would that work with online sales?

Maybe it should have been allocated seating only allowed. We were told to sit anywhere by the steward when we came into the ground.
As it happened we sat in our allocated seats.
The stewarding at Stockport was farcical. They looked as though they had no training whatsoever.
Same at Wrexham, it was non existent. People allowed to stand wherever they wanted.
It’s a joke and needs sorting.

Buying tickets on line there is usually a seating plan but yes that could definitely be a problem if people don’t pick seats at the back.

[pib]

How do you enforce allocated seating though? I doubt clubs will get stewards to go round checking everyone's tickets to make sure they're in the right seat. And if they're not are they going to manhandle people into the correct seat?

[silent majority]

SM quote
We’ve argued for a long time that the indiscriminate filming of supporters is an intrusion that’s not welcomed, it certainly doesn’t happen in other sports.

Filming does go on, that’s how I had seen a YouTube clip of rovers fans goading the Stockport fans outside the pub and then saw the same idiots stood at the front and goading our own fans during the game.

I haven't said filming doesn't occur, what I've pointed out is that asking a club to film its own fans is a) legally challenging, b) duplication of other actors responsibilities, c) a hammer blow to any meaningful attempts at fan engagement.

My objection to filming by Police has been based around the indiscriminate 'collection of evidence' (to give it its proper term) when filming perfectly law abiding supporters.

[silent majority]

Get your phones out and film 'em. Get the footage online.

Not a good idea Glyn.
It really would be inviting confrontation with the idiots.

I'm not suggesting people directly next to them do it, but people further away who can see them acting like t**ts. Even better if half a dozen people do it at the same time.

That is why I thought that it could be done by club staff or stewards with proper video cameras.
You see police doing it all the time when crowds get out of hand.

It’s a bit of a minefield doing it like that, it’s possible of course, with special training and permits required, but does the club seriously want to be filming its own fans at away games?

No, there’s other ways.

What other ways are the club pursuing to deal with them? There’s been a following like this for a good few years now and it’s been getting worse rather than better.

SYP have had a programme in place for a few years which they've actively pursued which comprises of several particular actions all geared towards stamping this behaviour out of SY clubs. I'm not going into detail because that would be a breach of trust. However they do have two activities I can mention. Firstly they are operating a 'restorative justice' campaign in partnership with clubs and the other is a 'pre-emptive' campaign where some of the younger elements of our support would be visited if they are part of the 'risk element' which will have been identified.

I can guarantee that SYP, and the clubs in SY, have  a lot of knowledge of who consists of 'risk supporters'. It's not new, its been around for years, but it fluctuates in terms of how many are involved. Sometimes it grows and gets out of hand, which is where we appear to be at the moment.

[i_ateallthepies]

SM, that all seems very high-principled but seems to me only to favour those who don't want their antisocial/unlawful conduct to be evidenced.  As a law-abiding supporter I have no problem being filmed scratching my backside or picking my nose as last time I checked those activities weren't against the law.

[silent majority]

SM, that all seems very high-principled but seems to me only to favour those who don't want their antisocial/unlawful conduct to be evidenced.  As a law-abiding supporter I have no problem being filmed scratching my backside or picking my nose as last time I checked those activities weren't against the law.

Again, I’m repeating myself here, filming those misbehaving is not a problem for me.

[TonySoprano]

Can't tar everyone with the same brush.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

For those favouring allocated seating, you might end up losing more than you gain.

We don't want to stop people having a good time. It's about enjoying a football match, supporting the team, singing, clapping etc, predominantly with friends and/or family.

We want to see the 'singers/standers' group together, just as others want to sit in their own groups. Allocated seating would detract from this.

We don't need a sledgehammer to crack a nut, we just want those few who cross the line to behave respectfully whilst still having fun.