[Archived] Darwen end trouble

[Glenn]

Fair play. A decent, detailed and seemingly sincere response from Brum, and a disappointing pat response from us.

Sarah Gould 1 - Lindsey Talbot 0.

When I wrote (not emailed) Birmingham to complain about safety and mistreatment of fans at St Andrews a few years back, they didn't respond at all ...

... until they sent promotional flyers for Birmingham vs Villa to "Glenn Pegden, C/O Blackburn Rovers, Blackburn". I only found out about it because somebody responsible for internal mail at Rovers happened to ask Lee if he'd heard of me.

[Kristoff1875]

Birmingham fan here, and I don't have a bottle of ###### to throw at you, so don't worry!

Firstly, with regards to the response from Sarah Gould, she is a gem.

Next, I wasn't at the game on Saturday, but I know the element of supporters that do what was being said, and they're idiots, they're also a minority, but they're slowly growing and it's making more and more 'proper' fans not want to go to the games. In all honesty, it seems as though the "We'll do what we want" (sh*t) chant, ripped off from United came about, I think, when we played Villa in the league after the cup game and there were OTT security measures for a 12pm kick off. I think from that moment on, it stuck and the element of idiots actually believe they can do what they want.

Supporters, proper ones not idiots, on some of our forums have said that it is maybe not as bad as being described and that there were things being thrown back up when you scored, but either way, a single item thrown shouldn't be tolerated.

As one of your own supporters on here has said, it's a silly decision to put one set of fans above the other. In my opinion, it's even more daft to put p*ssed up away fans in the top tier, after all, home fans are generally less likely to be idiots in the ground as you don't sh*t on your own doorstep!!

Reading through this thread, there is clearly a dislike, shall we say, of our fans. I don't understand where it has grown from prior to Saturday. I came to Blackburn a few seasons ago when Stern John grabbed us a point. We had a brilliant day out in a pub just down the road, granted a few Blues fans got a bit carried away after the game and went in to the petrol station and started booting all of the airflow footballs about, but it was taken in good humor with the Blackburn fans who joined in kicking them about!

Anyway, i'd apologize on behalf of the idiots, but i'm not going to, pretty much as I don't associate myself with them, and am annoyed they associate themselves with my club when they want to act like that. I will however say that the majority of Blues fans would not condone their actions. The majority of Blues fans are fans. We go to games to enjoy the games and support our team. I'm just sorry you were within throwing range of our idiots.

On a final note, we weren't singing "You've never won f**k all", we were singing "WE'VE never won f**k all". Years of fans telling us we'd never won f**k all, hence the ironic song!!

Good luck for the rest of your season.

Was in the Darwen Lower with my 10 year old son who got hit with two coins so I emailed the club and got a reply from Lindsey Talbot:

"Thank you for your e-mail. We are currently looking into the issue you have raised and will come back to you in due course. In the meantime, if you require any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me on the above e-mail" [email protected]

Also emailed Birmingham as it was their brain dead morons and got this reply:

"Thank you for your correspondence. We are very alarmed to learn of such actions which occurred on Saturday at Ewood Park.

Birmingham City FC does not condone any act of violence/ anti social behavior and we would have no hesitation in issuing a ban to any individual who has behaved in such a manner which is totally unacceptable.

I would recommend if you haven’t already done so, that you inform your club’s Safety Officer, Stuart Caley who will be able to further investigate this incident and he would be able to review CCTV footage to see if anything may have shown up on camera. Stuart will then be able to liaise with Pete Smith, Birmingham City’s Safety Officer, who would then be in position to investigate from our end, with a view to successfully identifying the individuals involved. Likewise any information as to the Block, Row and Seat numbers of the offenders, would help us in identifying these individuals as every supporter who visited Ewood Park on Saturday is registered on our ticketing database.

In closing, thank you for taking the time to contact Birmingham City FC, and please be rest assured that we treat matters of this important nature very seriously and will do all we can to identify such individuals." [email protected]

[Tom]

Birmingham fan here, and I don't have a bottle of ###### to throw at you, so don't worry!

Firstly, with regards to the response from Sarah Gould, she is a gem.

Next, I wasn't at the game on Saturday, but I know the element of supporters that do what was being said, and they're idiots, they're also a minority, but they're slowly growing and it's making more and more 'proper' fans not want to go to the games. In all honesty, it seems as though the "We'll do what we want" (sh*t) chant, ripped off from United came about, I think, when we played Villa in the league after the cup game and there were OTT security measures for a 12pm kick off. I think from that moment on, it stuck and the element of idiots actually believe they can do what they want.

Supporters, proper ones not idiots, on some of our forums have said that it is maybe not as bad as being described and that there were things being thrown back up when you scored, but either way, a single item thrown shouldn't be tolerated.

As one of your own supporters on here has said, it's a silly decision to put one set of fans above the other. In my opinion, it's even more daft to put p*ssed up away fans in the top tier, after all, home fans are generally less likely to be idiots in the ground as you don't sh*t on your own doorstep!!

Reading through this thread, there is clearly a dislike, shall we say, of our fans. I don't understand where it has grown from prior to Saturday. I came to Blackburn a few seasons ago when Stern John grabbed us a point. We had a brilliant day out in a pub just down the road, granted a few Blues fans got a bit carried away after the game and went in to the petrol station and started booting all of the airflow footballs about, but it was taken in good humor with the Blackburn fans who joined in kicking them about!

Anyway, i'd apologize on behalf of the idiots, but i'm not going to, pretty much as I don't associate myself with them, and am annoyed they associate themselves with my club when they want to act like that. I will however say that the majority of Blues fans would not condone their actions. The majority of Blues fans are fans. We go to games to enjoy the games and support our team. I'm just sorry you were within throwing range of our idiots.

On a final note, we weren't singing "You've never won f**k all", we were singing "WE'VE never won f**k all". Years of fans telling us we'd never won f**k all, hence the ironic song!!

Good luck for the rest of your season.

Fair post mate, I can tell you we also have a certin idiot element at our away games, it was noticably worse last season when they were going to away games to qualify for Burnley tickets.

As you say sadly it only takes a few idiots to tarnish the reputation of the whole.

[Kristoff1875]

That's it mate. If you've got 3,000 fans, but even 10 of them are throwing things and spitting, then the other fans don't go away thinking about how good the other 2,990 fans are do they!?

[roverwhelmed]

Birmingham fan here, and I don't have a bottle of ###### to throw at you, so don't worry!

Firstly, with regards to the response from Sarah Gould, she is a gem.

Next, I wasn't at the game on Saturday, but I know the element of supporters that do what was being said, and they're idiots, they're also a minority, but they're slowly growing and it's making more and more 'proper' fans not want to go to the games. In all honesty, it seems as though the "We'll do what we want" (sh*t) chant, ripped off from United came about, I think, when we played Villa in the league after the cup game and there were OTT security measures for a 12pm kick off. I think from that moment on, it stuck and the element of idiots actually believe they can do what they want.

Supporters, proper ones not idiots, on some of our forums have said that it is maybe not as bad as being described and that there were things being thrown back up when you scored, but either way, a single item thrown shouldn't be tolerated.

As one of your own supporters on here has said, it's a silly decision to put one set of fans above the other. In my opinion, it's even more daft to put p*ssed up away fans in the top tier, after all, home fans are generally less likely to be idiots in the ground as you don't sh*t on your own doorstep!!

Reading through this thread, there is clearly a dislike, shall we say, of our fans. I don't understand where it has grown from prior to Saturday. I came to Blackburn a few seasons ago when Stern John grabbed us a point. We had a brilliant day out in a pub just down the road, granted a few Blues fans got a bit carried away after the game and went in to the petrol station and started booting all of the airflow footballs about, but it was taken in good humor with the Blackburn fans who joined in kicking them about!

Anyway, i'd apologize on behalf of the idiots, but i'm not going to, pretty much as I don't associate myself with them, and am annoyed they associate themselves with my club when they want to act like that. I will however say that the majority of Blues fans would not condone their actions. The majority of Blues fans are fans. We go to games to enjoy the games and support our team. I'm just sorry you were within throwing range of our idiots.

On a final note, we weren't singing "You've never won f**k all", we were singing "WE'VE never won f**k all". Years of fans telling us we'd never won f**k all, hence the ironic song!!

Good luck for the rest of your season.

Every respect for you for coming on here and making some good points, and sticking up for your true supporters.

I think we've all seen our own support doing things we wouldn't ourselves do - I am horrified at our own 'support' at times - screaming at opposing fans with their backs to the whole game (usually drunk at away games) - and I wouldn't want to be lumped into the same category as them.

It was out of order but I'm not going to think all Blues are scum because of it.

[roversmum]

Nice to speak to a true supporter, Kirstoff. If only all fans could be so. I sometimes get people asking "why do you support Rovers, they're sh*t?" and I always tell them it's my club, just as they support their clubs, and I wouldn't dream of making the same remarks about their choice of club. Most people are only to happy to have a reasonable chat after that.

[Mattyblue]

Nice to speak to a true supporter, Kirstoff. If only all fans could be so. I sometimes get people asking "why do you support Rovers, they're sh*t?" and I always tell them it's my club, just as they support their clubs, and I wouldn't dream of making the same remarks about their choice of club. Most people are only to happy to have a reasonable chat after that.

We are in the biggest league in the world and are in the top 10 clubs for trophies won, plus we are the most succesfful town club in British history- yet 'glory fans' will say that you to you mum.

No wonder clubs that are actually 'small' and do have a 's***' team don't have a chance of attracting more than a hardcore of supporters. Pathetic sheep mentality of people who are trying to get a bit of reflected glory for their nothing existence.

That's why I have never had a football conversation with a non Manc or Scouse glory 'supporter'.

[CAPT KAYOS]

Carry on as we are at the moment in the league - and I think those planning on going to Wolves better prepare to wear Helmets and suits of armour!

[roversmum]

No, I try to avoid them too, Matty, you can see them coming lol! Whats worse is when you get jumped up kids at it - sitting in the coach at Arsenal some tiny kid in Arsenal kit gave us the finger from the safety of his father's shoulders!! Nice.

Capt - we have more trouble with our own fans at Wolves, insisting on standing in front of the disabled area so the folks in wheelchairs have no hope of seeing the match.

[CAPT KAYOS]

No, I try to avoid them too, Matty, you can see them coming lol! Whats worse is when you get jumped up kids at it - sitting in the coach at Arsenal some tiny kid in Arsenal kit gave us the finger from the safety of his father's shoulders!! Nice.

Capt - we have more trouble with our own fans at Wolves, insisting on standing in front of the disabled area so the folks in wheelchairs have no hope of seeing the match.

Think you may have more than that to worry about if its them or us scenario to go down come the game.

The missiles from above, is traditional at Wolves whatever the game - even when we used to be behind the goal they used to have netting upto the roof splitting the supporters.

[sijoco]

Got a lengthy reply from BRFC:

We were disappointed to receive your comments about missile throwing by the Birmingham City fans at last weekend’s match.

Our Safety Officer and staff have confirmed that there were a number of instances of objects being thrown by Birmingham City supporters from the upper tier of the Darwen End Stand and that some of these struck home supporters in the lower tier. Prior to this happening there had been a gradual build up of ‘banter’ between supporters of both sides. This became increasingly aggressive, and stewards had warned several individuals in both the upper and lower tiers regarding their conduct and possible ejection from the stadium. As the tension between the two sets of supporters increased there were a number of items thrown from the upper tier. These items included plastic bottles, coins and food packaging. We have been unable to verify the reports of glass items being thrown, nor was there any glass bottles or broken glass found during the post match cleaning operation.

In response to the items being thrown additional stewards were deployed to the front row of the upper tier in an effort to identify those concerned and to act as a deterrent to others. In addition the stewards on the perimeter track were specifically tasked to watch the crowd in the upper tier in an attempt to identify those responsible. The stadium CCTV was also being used to constantly monitor the away supporters. However, the random manner in which such items were being thrown did mean that it was impossible to identify individual offenders unless the steward or CCTV operator just happens to be looking at the perpetrator at the exact moment the items is thrown. In addition police evidence gathering officers were also monitoring the crowd but again were unable to identify specific offenders. It was also apparent that some of the items were being thrown from the centre of the crowd diagonally towards the lower tier and not from directly above those affected.

It was both disappointing and surprising to hear your comments concerning the behaviour of certain stewards and this is an issue I have taken up with our Safety staff. Generally speaking we receive positive comments about the stewards at Ewood Park and these have been borne out by recent fan surveys.

It is understandable following incidents such as this that some fans have questioned the rationale of locating away fans in the Darwen End upper tier. The whole ‘Taking Back Ewood’ initiative, introduced at the start of last season, involved locating home fans on the Darwen End lower tier in order to improve the atmosphere in the stadium. This has worked spectacularly and both the Manager and our players appreciate the support they receive from this part of the ground. We are committed to developing the home fan presence in the Darwen End and to extending it along the whole of the lower tier once demand exists.

A consequence of this policy is, however, that we now locate away fans in the upper tier and this has been the case at 13 of the 16 games played at Ewood Park so far this season. The visiting team is entitled under Premier League rules to receive 3,000 tickets and this was the allocation taken and sold by Birmingham. Prior to every game, we look at reports of the away club’s fans visits to other stadia that season, and behaviour patterns, and there was nothing to suggest that there would be a problem with missile throwing. Whilst we have had the odd occurrence previously the Birmingham game was the first occasion that we have encountered object throwing of this magnitude.

We are clearly anxious to maintain the policy of locating our fans on the lower tier of the Darwen End. We will, however, continue to monitor the situation closely and look at initiatives used by other clubs to try and prevent missiles being thrown when home fans are seated above away fans and vice versa. The practice is not unusual for example at Newcastle, our fans are above the home supporters, whilst at Wolves away fans are usually in the John Ireland lower tier with Wolves fans in the upper tier.

Yours sincerely,

Tom Finn

Managing Director

[blue_and_white]

Well nice to know the man at the top is taking it seriously. For the life of me I can't understand why they don't split it right down the middle when they want to sell it out with cheap tickets. Away fans have the left side upper + lower, we have the right side upper + lower, and then the 2 sets of entrances are separated as well. Interesting about the 3,000, didn't realise that was a rule, hope we take that to Wolves!