Being a football fan is not a crime

[SBW]

Not sure where to post this so I'll just post it in here... It is a good read especially with whats happening to active supporters across the A-League

 

 

Being A Football Fan Is Not A Crime

The conditions placed on away fans travelling to the playoff semi-final between Brighton and Crystal Palace are ludicrous & dangerous, says Nick Miller...

 

The end to the Championship season on Saturday was utterly frantic. Surely the phrase 'as it stands' has never been used quite so frequently, with basically every possible permutation in place at some point over the afternoon. Hearts were broken and reassembled, dreams crushed then put back together with Pritt-Stick.

 

When all the fun was over, it turned out that Crystal Palace held on to their place in the playoffs by beating Peterborough, and will thus face Brighton in the semi-final, the first leg of which is this coming Thursday. As you'll probably know, Palace and Brighton have one of the Football League's more unlikely rivalries, being as they are 45-odd miles apart, a rivalry that is nevertheless rather fierce.

 

Even with that rivalry, the conditions placed upon those wishing to travel to the respective away legs are at best draconian, at worst set a dangerous precedent. The full list of rules travelling fans have to comply with is here, but the highlights include every fan requiring 'a separate document which confirms their identity' and failure to provide said document will result in refusal of entry to the game. Oh, plus only season ticket holders can buy tickets, and anyone found to have passed a ticket on to someone else will be banned for a year.

 

And the kicker is, these conditions were apparently a compromise, with police wanting to ban away fans completely.

 

But hey, given the rivalry between the two clubs and sets of fans, there's probably a strong history of violence in this fixture, so the restrictions are at least in reaction to previous incidents, right?

 

Here's what Chief Inspector Paul Betts of Sussex Police had to say about the corresponding league fixture in March:

"There was a small number of potential flashpoints between rival groups of fans at Brighton and Falmer railway stations, but these involved a small minority and we were able to deal with them very quickly.

 

"I should like to thank supporters from both sides who heeded appeals from the clubs, supporters' groups and the police to enjoy the game in a spirit of rivalry, not violence."

 

Of course, we've heard about police demanding ID from fans before - Margaret Thatcher's ludicrously misguided Football Spectators Act of 1989 demanded that any fan attending football carried the relevant papers, in a typically heavy-handed attempt to deal with the fan violence of the 80s.

 

Failure to comply with those regulations could have landed you in prison. The rules laid down this time are not quite that strict, but it's the same principle, and one that is now regarded as a joke, an anachronism of a bygone age.

 

Football games must be a pain in the arse for the police, but that is no excuse - indeed, it may actually be counter-productive. As anyone who has spent any time travelling to away games will tell you, the more aggressively police treat fans, the more aggressively they are likely to respond. Such over-the-top measures have become common of late, the ludicrous demand that Hull fans could only attend their game at Huddersfield - teams with no notably antipathy between them - if they travelled via official coach being just one example.

 

Supporters are being treated as if they are hooligans, or even criminals. It really should not need saying, but being a football fan is not a crime.

 

 

[theguyyouwishyouwere]

written by a criminal i bet

[Tranquilo]

a smooth criminal

[Davo]

From Albion's website:

 

6. Failure to produce the ticket and an identity document for examination will result in refusal of entry to the match and any future matches this season.

 
Imagine if some grub nicks your wallet as you're walking to the ground and you can't produce ID. Not only do you miss out on the match but you get banned for the rest of the season. I'd be mighty pissed.

[Burgerman]

 

http://au.news.yahoo.com/latest/a/-/latest/17015960/hull-clinch-premier-league-promotion-on-dramatic-final-day/

 

maybe this is why after pitch invasions

[Davo]

Fans running on to celebrate a win is probably going to be harmless.
 
On the other hand, fans trying to bum rush the dressing rooms when their team's about to be relegated...
 

Edited May 6, 2013 by Davo

[AEK]

WHAT! That's not what channel 9 and 7 have been teaching me, now I am Confucius in the head!

[Burgerman]

Fans running on to celebrate a win is probably going to be harmless.

 

On the other hand, fans trying to bum rush the dressing rooms when their team's about to be relegated...

 

yeah i seen that video last week the Wolves fans  were going after the manager and were pissed off after being relegated again.

 

its very harsh the rules imposed especially the Margaret Thatcher law lol and we though Hamatoge was bad.

[marron]

It's not that odd to have to present ID is it... it does look fairly draconian though in terms of not being able to get tickets for others and being banned for doing so. I wonder how well it would be policed or whether it would be a complete dogs breakfast re: gate c.

 

I went to a Brighton/Palace fixture many moons ago, didn't see anything but remember catching the train down and overhearing Palace fans talking about trouble.

[West13]

For Serie A i had to have name on tickets as well as present photo ID at the gate. Seemed normal enough and i understand why they do it.