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Shout: Toon Army's Reaction To The Boro Sit Down |
Toon Army supporters comments: 12th August 2004
A few less than happy Toon supporters wrote in to Newcastle-Online as
well as the forum following the news that our away allocation has
been cut for Saturday's game at Middlesbrough due to persistent standing
at the Riverside. As promised I have collated the views and published
them. Check out the responses below.
P.S Thanks to all who wrote in and anyone who would like to take issue
with this debate there is a website called Stand
Up-Sit Down that you may find interesting.
Peter B - As the words of the Cocksparrer song "Take
'em all, take 'em all, put 'em up against a wall and shoot 'em. What
I want to know is where is the evidence that the councils up and down
the country rely upon, that standing is dangerous and more of a serious
health risk than sitting. I note Charlton have had the common sense
and backed down on cutting our allocation. Their view is that as long
as the aisles and exits are clear then let the away fans stand. Oh!
and the fact that the club can charge an away fan £30 a ticket where
their own fans only pay about £15 and would not pay this much, as
I found out from a Charlton fan last year. Keep standing lads! They
will get sick before we do as the clubs will start to lose revenue.
Paul S - So this is why I didn't get my usual ticket.
I'm fuming and I fully agree with your rant. I've had no problems
for the past 3 games at their ground with tickets and now I'll have
to watch it in the bar. Great!
Dave M - I expected this, especially from them lot.
I stand and I will stand on Saturday as will most and so we should
if we want to. The design of modern grounds should cater for those
who want to stand. There should be one end housing standing fans with
the rest remaining seated areas. It's proved successful in Germany
and other Countries yet over here we just get the usual safety crap.
Stewards don't help either. I have to stand because I get aches and
pains in my legs and back and standing straight alleviates this, try
telling that to a steward. They've killed the atmosphere at home now
they want to do it away from home. Furthermore those who didn't get
tickets will just buy some in the home end and that could lead to
trouble. It seems these people don't have any brains. They are creating
bigger problems by brushing this issue under the carpet.
Martin N - Well we were warned but that's beside
the point. What's at issue here is the total ignorance towards fans
up and down the country. Not content with repackaging our national
sport as an entertainment package they don't want you to enjoy it
either. Like you said they are happy to take our hard earned money
and get us drunk but we aren't allowed to stand. Tell me - does every
single fan when standing to celebrate a goal not contradict this 'safety'
aspect? What a naff excuse they have peddled. Hillsborough was years
ago and that wasn't caused because of standing but because of overcrowding,
piss poor policing and shabby pens. It's all very well having all
seater stadiums but most of them are cramped. In their greed for an
extra few quid they've bolted as many placky seats as possible to
stands in order to cash in on higher numbers.
Unlike SJP where there is quite a bit leg room Boro's stadium is so
cramped you have to stand because you crack your knees off the seat
in front of you and the piss poor views at the front make you stand
up so you can see what's going on. It's like this at lots of away
grounds. I can accept some fans want to sit, some older fans and some
younger fans and that standing can cause obstruction but please this
'safety' spin is bull. I went to every away game last season and I
never seen anyone being crushed or anyone being hurt because of standing.
I saw a lot of fans injure themselves through the drink but they wouldn't
stop selling us peeve now would they?
Fans will keep standing and I'm not going to stop standing, not on
Saturday not ever. The day they throw me out for standing I'll listen
to the match on the radio or in the pub and spend my money on wor
lass. So will other fans. That'll fuck them off. If fans can stand
in Germany why not in England? If fans want to sit, fine, give them
the first couple of rows and let those who want to stand do so behind
them. We put enough into the game for there to be the funds to pay
for this kind of system.
Tossers!
Bring Back Standing - Typical crap from people who
have probably never went to a match in their life. Standing isn't
a problem it's the state of football that's the real problem. What
next? Leaflets telling us to keep the noise down. What a joke our
game has become and those who run it make me sick. Instead of finding
a way to allow those of us who want and do stand they just tell us
to stop it and when we don't they stop us going. Ridiculous. It's
getting like America where you sit down, put on your foam hand, coo
over the cheerleaders and sing along to the pig-bag music...oh that's
the Riverside. STAND UP IF YOU LOVE THE TOON! What would happen if
everyone in the ground stood up? Would they tell us to sit down and
if we didn't then threaten to ban us all? They would go bust in a
week. That's what we should all do, let them know that we have all
the power, that we are the ones who put them in their desks. We may
be rivals but our game is being destroyed by people who haven't the
foggiest. They treat us like consumers well I'm not happy with the
service. This stinks and football should be ashamed.
Gary W - I'm 62 and standing for long periods can
become intensely tiring at my age let me tell you but for more sprightly
fans standing is a tradition that is every much a part of the game
as scoring goals is - the thing that gets us off our seats. Clubs
and those in authority need to look at this situation and address
the concerns of a large group of people who all have differing needs.
I for example need to sit and having someone stand up in front of
you is a plain nuisance. This goes for kids too. Long gone are the
days when kids got passed down to the front and if clubs and authorities
aren't careful long gone will be the days of enjoying seeing your
club away from home. I see no harm in allowing fans who want to stand
to do just that provided it isn't at the expense of those who want
to sit and that is the balance that clubs and those in authority need
to look at instead of a general sweep of the brush that doesn't do
the game we all love any good at all. The home team loses out in revenue,
people lose out on a pay packet and a large percentage of fans lose
out on seeing their team away from home. The most enjoyable experience
for any football fan. Regards, Gary from Chopwell.
Asim - Why don't Sky just take over the pictures
and screen matches and do away with stadiums - turn them into fields
for cows or something because they are no use if we can't enjoy the
match. SJP is dead and so is most stadiums in the PL. I blame money
and they will keep punishing true fans in the name of money. It's
got nothing to do with safety they just don't want blokes going to
the footy, blokes who swear, drink and have a good time. They want
sheep who sit in their chair, chewing their gum, drinking their water.
We must take a stand and get back our game by refusing to bow down
to these pen pushing idiots who hide behind safety to stop thousands
of fans going to the match. How dare they stop fans from following
their team, how dare they take away our game that we have built with
our love, money and loyalty. Not them - us. What would they all do
if we all decided to stay at home to watch it on Sky? What am I talking
about that's what they want so they can give our seats to sheep. Where's
me sheer's...
HttPaul - We are currently obliged, supposedly, to
sit at Premiership football matches. I can understand how supporters
want to get behind the team by singing and shouting - it's just not
the same when we sit down. On the other hand, my 72 year old step
father doesn't come with me to away matches anymore because he's not
up to standing or constantly standing up/sitting down for 90 mins.
nor can the people in the rows at the end or back see the game because
some stadia (eg Chelsea) are not designed for people to stand and
see. Nor can the people with disabilities see the game properly at
Charlton because of the people who continue to stand in front of the
gantry they are in. Recognise that standing whilst fun for most, cuts
out the fun for many...so I vote we sit in designated seating areas
and lobby the authorities to reinstate safe standing areas.
Gattuso - Should the local council dictate how you
can use your property? NO, because that is fascism, if Boro FC demand
fans should remain seated then as you are on their property you should
respect their decision. I don't see a problem with getting off your
seat and standing, but an all standing area would be bring back the
possibility of a rush and crush.
Hully - So our allocation for the Boro game has been
reduced for the so called crime of standing up, well it looks like
the fan of yesterday who always stood up at away matches is being
forced out or made to sit in a ground like a stuffed puppet, apart
from the fact it costs a fortune to watch the Mags home and away they
now want to reduce our allocation, for supporters like myself (and
there are many of us) who would rather follow the Mags away from home
due to the chronic lack of passion and atmosphere at St. James' Park
this is another kick in the teeth, as football is big news at the
moment and in general football grounds are full week in week out I
hate to think what will happen when the bubble bursts, it will happen
and I will put money on it next season at St. James' Park that any
fan who wants a Season Ticket will be able to get one due to people
not renewing. Football clubs have to listen to their fans otherwise
they will drive them away from the grounds, it's a passionate game
and not one were you can just sit there like a zombie.
We have all seen the recent atmosphere at our ground due to things
like this and it will only get worse, clubs must realise that fans
views must be taken in account. I have lost count how many times people
who I know say attending St. James' Park for a match is becoming like
a choir and that they are thinking of not going back due to costs,
heavy handed stewards, atmosphere etc. Put it this way with all the
games nearly always on TV these days why do we need to go to the games
(that cost a fortune) when you can STAND yes STAND in the pub and
watch the match surrounded by a great atmosphere in great surrounding?
P.S After watching Rangers fans at the recent home game and all of
them standing up what happens at their matches, I bet they can stand
without getting into trouble. Probably due to the fact clubs would
suffer if their allocation was reduced, its a good pay day when Rangers
travel to away games and clubs rely on that extra income. As our game
(the Premiership) is popular now this does not mean it will always
be like this.
Sparks - Standing in stands which have seats bolted
onto old terraces is more safer than seating in my opinion. As Nufc.com
pointed out these stands like the Charlton away stand are incredibly
cramped and if an emergency happened many would die. The views sitting
down are awful, that's why most people stand up. Standing isn't dangerous
what caused Hillsborough was overcrowding, a poorly organised police
and badly designed stands, there have been no problems in standing
area's in the past decade. If the stands have plenty of leg room and
good views there are no reasons to stand up however if this is not
the case then fans have a right to stand.
Billy t'fish - First lets make one thing clear I
love standing. I agree about Charlton, Pompey et al being awful to
sit. Trust me I know I'm 6' 2" tall and 18 stone these seats aren't
built for me But this is now a case of just using our brains regardless
of the rights and wrongs of the standing debate. We've been warned
for years that our allocation was going to be cut and took no notice
so we can't whinge now. Last year at Charlton we got a polite notice
requesting we sit explaining Man Utd had had their allocation cut
but we had a a second chance. Result: Some muppets in front of me
insisted not only on standing but making a point of standing 2 deep
in their row and ignoring the stewards. Who do you think will be squealing
now they can't get tickets?
Cla1dwa - At the end of the day you have to think
about fans of, for instance, many lower division teams, as well as
rugby league and union fans, who still have to stand at games, as
do many fans on the continent. the problem comes when you are allocated
a specific place in a seated area as opposed to just being put into
a stand. This means that if everyone stands, the older and younger/smaller
spectators cannot just make their way to the front, which would have
been the case. Therefore, because they have seats, its only fair to
use them so that others around you can see. |
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