The Green Fence.....

[sunny boslem]

The police may have made a mistake letting both sets of fans onto hamil road at the same time but i thank them for keeping the sheff fans behind there lines if they had not there would of been some serious trouble and nasty attacks on yes fans who wanted trouble but also fans leaving the ground who just wanted go home

[jeffers]

One problem is the number of vale fans that leave the ground via the Hamil, either to go up it or down into Burslem. Keeping visiting fans, particularly with the numbers we are talking of yesterday, behind until those Vale fans have left would help to minimise any confrontations. It happens to us away from home but I rarely see it at VP. My previous point was not to criticise the police line but ask why it was across the Hamil and not inside the wall to keep the Sheffield fans contained.

[Bluedevil]

I struggle to get my head around a relatively simple problem for the police. If all away fans were kept behind for 10 minutes and then a further 5 minutes inside the compound created by the Hamil car park walls and the new fence, most away fans would be safely on their coaches and the surrounding areas would be relatively clear of Vale fans. I just don't see why the police and the club are so baffled on how to address these kind of problems. Police do have the right to keep fans behind after the game and it goes on every week up and down the country. A simple and cheap solution.

 

Everybody knew there would be a sizeable away following yesterday, bringing the potential for trouble. Why were the police caught out yet again?

[Mario]

In answer to the two posts above the question surely shouldn't be "why can't the away fans be held back?" but "why should they need to be in this day and age?"

 

Could not agree more.....................There is an element that just go looking for trouble just what kind of social problems do they have ? There is another element that just wants to blame the Police, I agree the organisation is awful, but those coppers facing that bunch of idiots are not to blame they react to instructions from superiors, lets not forget one WPC is suffering a broken ankle this morning, they shouldnt have to face risk, thank goodness there are those who are prepared to run the risk.

 

Can you imagine a game at Vale Park with no Police presence ? I dread to think.

[nowag]

Let's hope Matthew Ellis stayed at home and read 'coppers weekly' because if he was there today we are in trouble !

 

The police let Sheffield fan on to Hamill rd & that where the trouble was, And the cones used as missiles, Vale fans never got that far as most were still inside the vale perimeter ground, the fence saved a lot of trouble, the problems & trouble can be put squarely at the tactics of the police,

I feel sorry for the steward that had blood running down his face.

[Howjy04]

In answer to the two posts above the question surely shouldn't be "why can't the away fans be held back?" but "why should they need to be in this day and age?"

 

Exactly.Would home fans stay behind while away fans are put on their coaches ,allowed to get into their cars etc?If more problems persist ,whether it be Vale fans or away fans,I can see exits only at the Bycars/ Railway for home fans.Maybe it should be that anyway.

[beasty77]

I see a lot of people blaming the Sheff Utd fans. Yes they were well up for trouble, but Vale had a lot of trouble makers out in force too, which they do most home games where the away fans bring a decent following. Vale Park is a very intimidating place for away fans, especially if you have to walk down the Hamil after the game. I was walking down the Hamil after the game and I saw 3 lots of scuffles, not just with the younger lads too, bloke in their 40s. The return game in Feb will be very interesting.

[Vital Spark]

I'm not so sure keeping away fans behind is always a good idea - remember Wolves away a couple of years ago? The streets were empty when we were allowed out of Molineux, leaving small groups of Wolves yobs to ambush innocent Vale fans. All leaving at the same time at least gives innocent fans to safely mingle into the crowd.

[Vital Spark]

I see a lot of people blaming the Sheff Utd fans. Yes they were well up for trouble, but Vale had a lot of trouble makers out in force too, which they do most home games where the away fans bring a decent following. Vale Park is a very intimidating place for away fans, especially if you have to walk down the Hamil after the game. I was walking down the Hamil after the game and I saw 3 lots of scuffles, not just with the younger lads too, bloke in their 40s. The return game in Feb will be very interesting.

 

Walking down Hamil Road for away fans is perfectly safe if they cover up any colours, keep their gobs shut and heads down. It shouldn't be like that but unfortunately it's the way of the world.

[Jacko51]

Well done, we're what 10 games in?

 

Nothing to shout about is it?

 

Does it not suggest, though, that the issue was not with the home fans but with the away following?

 

The reason there is rarely trouble with away fans by the ground at Stoke is the manner in which the away end is policed there. There are huge numbers of police and fans have to walk through a channel completely closed off from every other part of the ground to get to the turnstiles. At the end of the game all of the away coaches and the buses for the station are inside this restricted zone. If you actually live in Stoke and want to walk home you have to walk miles around the fence in the wrong direction to get back to the railway bridge. At Vale the Police just let everyone out onto Hamil Road with no segregation apart from a fence which serves no useful purpose at all in keeping fans apart on the road.

 

Both Vale and Stoke have idiots. That is undeniable. The policing at Stoke is, however, far more effective in segregating them from opposition idiots.

[sunny boslem]

If the new fence was not there yesterday jacko the hamil road car park would of erupted into large scale trouble it served its purpose

[smithie]

It's no longer the way of the world though, fans across the land mingle in pubs before and after games. We're not talking a high profile derby game here we're talking a run of the mill League Two clash between two clubs with no real history......

 

That's a bit patronising, isn't it?

 

It's League 1, not League 2 first of all.

 

No real history?

 

Vale and the Blades have been having it for years and years.

 

And I'm not sure many visitors to the Britannia would identify with your notion of fans mingling in pubs or indeed outside the ground. I'm sure you don't need me to remind you of the many, many incidents of violence at SCFC.

[jeffers]

In answer to the two posts above the question surely shouldn't be "why can't the away fans be held back?" but "why should they need to be in this day and age?"

 

In this day and age is exactly why they need to. Maybe you can tell me why there is no segregation at other sporting events, Rugby for a good example. Alcohol freely available, no segregation, plenty of banter....NO CROWD PROBLEMS. It is some tribal attitude behaviour of a minority of football fans that means we have to have these security measures.

[smithie]

Playing devil's advocate a little, I wouldn't swap Vale (warts/wars and all) for any other club.

 

It's our rather edgy, old-fashioned nature that I find quite appealing - particularly when I watch the motionless crowds in the Premier League sitting there like sheep and celebrating goals with mobile phone pictures.

 

I know a lot of away fans like visting Vale for that reason as well....we're in a town, with a great range of pubs, and the walk to the ground isn't the usual walk through a retail park that you find at so many grounds these days.

 

I don't condone for one moment innocent people (or the police/stewards) getting attacked and I walk a mile to avoid it......but let's be honest, without that undercurrent of aggression the game as a whole loses an awful lot.

[sunny boslem]

Sheffield at home is always going to be a big game with a big following which brings the trouble makers out but improves the atmosphere go down vale Tuesday and u will think it's the most boring home ground ever with no need for police or stewards