Norm v Staffordshire's Finest

[Fuzzy Dunlop]

Sorry that is not my understanding

It is crowd control required by Police

Thanks Norman if that is the case I stand corrected, what is your opinion of the fence, I don't think it is necessarily a bad thing as I see it as merely replacing the line of stewards and police that stop our idiots from getting onto the away car park at the end of the game, will it pay for its self in time by reducing the cost of stewards/ police that did it before ?.

[valeblue]

WBA , Wolves ,Villa , Walsall and Brum are all at home tonight , how do WM police cope and must cost them some in overtime!!! or do they know what they are doing?

[Fosse69]

WBA , Wolves ,Villa , Walsall and Brum are all at home tonight , how do WM police cope and must cost them some in overtime!!! or do they know what they are doing?

Without a game in Staffordshire, surely there are experienced crowd controllers available to show how it is done?

[TheSage]

Well, if policing 350 Rovers fans - who seemed to be well behaved as far as I could see - demanded a cavalcade of police officers, stewards and the erection of the Burslem Wall, then I dread to think what will happen when say Coventry arrive with their 2,500 fans.

Either we'll have SAS leave cancelled and the army billeted in Burslem Park or the game will be played behind closed doors.

 

How many arrests were made on Saturday? Going by the numbers of police on duty and their intelligence reports it must have been over 100 but I'm not aware of anyone being arrested at all. Quelle suprise.

 

For a big crowd with a serious risk of problems you might concede a bit of ground to the Force but not last Saturday. It was utterly ridiculous.

[Trampilot]

If we can get David Hasselhoff to Vale maybe the fence will fall?

[Davebrad]

if the little biddy one in Berlin came down, what odds on ours?

[smithie]

Could it become a tourist attraction...The Burlin Wall?

[smithie]

Thinking about this, it seems such a backward step to erect such a thing.

 

In the modern football environment, fans mix more freely than at any time in the last 30 years or so and I cannot recall any bother on the car-park in recent years.

 

I can't help thinking this fence only serves to heighten the "them v us" mentality. It also makes it easier to throw things at people knowing they can't be "got at" by the recipients of their missiles.

 

I'd be interested to know why we (in the Third Division) were compelled to install this, when most other grounds at all levels have no such segregation. United,Villa, Arsenal, Liverpool all have unhindered access from all corners of the ground.

 

It would be laughable if it wasn't so totally unnecessary.

[marc_vale]

Totally agree and I had wrote post very similar in another thread.

 

I've been to plenty of away matches where we have been kept in the stand for 10 mins to allow the home fans to disperse. Is that not a better way to control a crowd than allow them into a cage where they can give and recieve abuse, jeers and take part in the sport of throwing coins and half enders?

 

A back step in my opinion

[Fosse69]

I am afraid our wall is quite useful compared to the new rail station opened at the Ricoh, which is to be kept closed for an hour after games.

[Davebrad]

I am afraid our wall is quite useful compared to the new rail station opened at the Ricoh, which is to be kept closed for an hour after games.

 

sure it said on the central news something about only capable of 76 fans on a train!

[robf]

sure it said on the central news something about only capable of 76 fans on a train!

 

And only capable of one small train an hour.

 

It does make you wonder how on earth such a proposal got approved in the first place. Surely the first criteria for a station next to a football/rugby/conference arena is the ability to deal with occasional periods of high crowd capacity???

 

Link - http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/aug/25/coventry-city-ricoh-arena-train-station-open-football-fans-wasps

[VantaaVale]

The police come out of this looking like amateurs and money grabbers. Paranoid (hence the Burslem Wall) and operationally uncertain (hence the number of officers in attendance). In addition, some of Matthew Ellis' comments are embarrassing. But he now has to pick up the pieces and sort out this mess. A mess which he is surely directly responsible for allowing to happen, again.

 

The club are being held to ransom.

[Fosse69]

And only capable of one small train an hour.

 

It does make you wonder how on earth such a proposal got approved in the first place. Surely the first criteria for a station next to a football/rugby/conference arena is the ability to deal with occasional periods of high crowd capacity???

 

Link - http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/aug/25/coventry-city-ricoh-arena-train-station-open-football-fans-wasps

Ideal for football excursions surely. So was Burslem station, there was even talk of a platform behind the Railway Stand, maybe it would have needed an extra fence?

[robf]

I've spoken to the FSF and I'm going to put a story up on the front page of OVF soon.

 

It's not major news in itself but more a statement of intent so I hope it's useful.