[Archived] BRFC Fans Open Meeting and Protest at the Spurs game

[martonrover]

I would estimate the march from anything between 500-700 people,

The sit for the first 10 minutes was in all stands and i would say around 4500 fans stopped for these 10 minutes, then as people left stands ect there was around 3000 in Blackburn end for a further 10 minutes, and around 500 stayed for the duration of the sit in.

These are the figures which were being quoted by the police and a few I was speaking to during the protest. Its very difficult from where I was stood during protest to put my own number on it, but it was noisy and very colourfuol in terms of different types of banners.

The club NEED TO ACT, because we are not going to lie down and let them ruin our family tradition, because if they fail to act this week, then Venkys will be who the fans come for in the next game

Lots of air time on SSN. Well done and thanks for all your efforts.

[OJRovers]

Glen- have you got anything in mind for the Chelsea game?

[MarkBRFC71]

Thanks for the effort you've put in Glen.

The after match protests must continue until the faker is dumped.

While I agree the after-match protests are good I think their impact is limited. I stayed yesterday, but we looked to be a vocal minority IMO. I bet there were no more than about 500?

We're going to get nothing against Chelsea anyway so balls to our sensitive little soul £20k a week players - (I'm sure they'll have forgotten about it by the time they step into the cosseting warmth of their Bentleys) - it's time to up the ante and blast Kean with banners and chants for the full 90 minutes.

Its human nature for people to be dragged along by these sort of things - so the hardcore 500 or so could easily swell to many more if we're getting a good shellacking against Chelsea.

[sijoco]

Well done to all of you.

What numbers would you put on the march and sit in?

Myself and the little lad were about 3/4 of the way back from the front of the march and there were a good 500 or so in front of us.

[OhmiBRFC]

Does anyone who had a banner on Saturday want to donate it to me so I can take it Norwich on Saturday? My artistic skills are rubbish and I would not be able to make a decent one. I'll be able to give it you back before the next home game.

Cheers

[PAFELL]

He's welcome to his opinion (even if the majority disagree, hell, even if he's genuinely a Dingle). It's actually surprising that I know a few former posters who can actually see a few positives at the moment, but daren't post for for fear any sign of positivity resulting in them being verbally torn apart.

Please pass on our sincere hope that the tablets work and they get better soon.

[glen9mullan]

Glen- have you got anything in mind for the Chelsea game?

Going to have a debrief with club and Simon later in week, but if they don't act, then it looks like Chelsea will see the fans turn on Venkys in terms of how we protest, its in Venkys court. They are coming to the Chelsea gamne as is Mrs Desai and im lead to believe they have invited important guest also for that match, So I think they will be getting a welcoming they was not expecting.

The supporters have acted impecabbly throughout this, and talking to supporters yesterday it seems they no longer want to play nice. The club inaibilty to put a stop to all this is all going to end up in tears I fear because fans are beyone the desperation stage now

[J*B]

Glen, i asked a police man how many people he thought where on the protest march and he said they wrote between 800 and 1000 on their report. This was near the Darwen End/Riverside.

[Steve Kean's Hypnotoad]

Does anyone have the feeling though of what the heck do we do now? The people involved in the protest yesterday were incredible, the banners, the commitment, the enthusiasm, they made me proud to be a Rovers fan. But why is it STILL only a small minority doing it? Whats wrong with most of our fans? They frustrate the hell out of me, its as if they'll never get angry about the situation no matter what happens. Or that they're so lazy they're willing to take the huge risk that Venkys will sack Kean before the situation becomes unsalvagable even if the fans do nothing.

Kean has been able to (or claims to be able to) ignore the protests so far because they aren't big enough and they aren't being done during the game. It seems to me that either that needs to happen or we need to try something else, like a boycott. The trouble with a boycott is that despite the fantastic efforts of the organisers, these protests are only attracting around 1,000 people. If the boycott attracts the same number then it'll barely be noticeable.

[Mike Graham]

Going to have a debrief with club and Simon later in week, but if they don't act, then it looks like Chelsea will see the fans turn on Venkys in terms of how we protest, its in Venkys court. They are coming to the Chelsea gamne as is Mrs Desai and im lead to believe they have invited important guest also for that match, So I think they will be getting a welcoming they was not expecting.

The supporters have acted impecabbly throughout this, and talking to supporters yesterday it seems they no longer want to play nice. The club inaibilty to put a stop to all this is all going to end up in tears I fear because fans are beyone the desperation stage now

Glen, I just had Paul Hunt phone me up. I cannot, and will not repeat the contents of what was a private call but my estimation of him increased as such a cold call cannot be easy. I am sure that the Club are worriedurns the focus turns from Kean to the Venkys and I just hope that decisive action is taken manager wise and that we can turn our attentions to rebuildingnthe family image of the Club and getting some points on the board.

[Seggie]

Does anyone have the feeling though of what the heck do we do now? The people involved in the protest yesterday were incredible, the banners, the commitment, the enthusiasm, they made me proud to be a Rovers fan. But why is it STILL only a small minority doing it? Whats wrong with most of our fans? They frustrate the hell out of me, its as if they'll never get angry about the situation no matter what happens. Or that they're so lazy they're willing to take the huge risk that Venkys will sack Kean before the situation becomes unsalvagable even if the fans do nothing.

Kean has been able to (or claims to be able to) ignore the protests so far because they aren't big enough and they aren't being done during the game. It seems to me that either that needs to happen or we need to try something else, like a boycott. The trouble with a boycott is that despite the fantastic efforts of the organisers, these protests are only attracting around 1,000 people. If the boycott attracts the same number then it'll barely be noticeable.

I think it's time to act during the games now if Kean is not removed. Problem with the marches and sit ins is that some people don't want to have to dedicate more time than they have to, I'd say continue doing them but we need to do it when there's no possibility of covering it up or glossing over it as well and during a game is the best time to get the point accross with media sources from around the world watching. Don't forget that once the games finished on international Channels that's we're the coverage ends. I think the next protest should feature heavily on Red wear red take a4 pieces of red, just get the anger accross, good thing about red is that we have had many red away shirts over the last few years . Red card protests as someone suggested previously. Or we could all dress up for a funeral for the club they have killed.

[J*B]

A few images I took from yesterday.

[J*B]

A few images I took from yesterday:

Sorry they're so big.

[ABBEY]

He's welcome to his opinion (even if the majority disagree, hell, even if he's genuinely a Dingle). It's actually surprising that I know a few former posters who can actually see a few positives at the moment, but daren't post for for fear any sign of positivity resulting in them being verbally torn apart.

Bloody hell glenn , tell me anything positive the V's have done!!!

[nellybc]

Glen, Please can you tell me how you know that anybody from venky's is going to turn up against chelsea ?? Do you believe the person that told you ?? Didnt Venky's themselves the 9 that went out to india that they would be at ewood yesterday ??

Going to have a debrief with club and Simon later in week, but if they don't act, then it looks like Chelsea will see the fans turn on Venkys in terms of how we protest, its in Venkys court. They are coming to the Chelsea gamne as is Mrs Desai and im lead to believe they have invited important guest also for that match, So I think they will be getting a welcoming they was not expecting.

The supporters have acted impecabbly throughout this, and talking to supporters yesterday it seems they no longer want to play nice. The club inaibilty to put a stop to all this is all going to end up in tears I fear because fans are beyone the desperation stage now

[DE.]

So I think they will be getting a welcoming they was not expecting.

To be honest Glen, if they're not expecting a hostile reception it shows how far their heads are up their backsides.

[only2garners]

Well done Glen, can you possibly ask in advance so you get an answer at the FF meeting rather than them saying "we will investigate and get back to you".

Mike - that's generally what we do anyway. When I do the agenda I give the club a one liner on each item so that they can investigate and have an answer ready if poss at the meeting.

Good to hear Paul Hunt rang you up - that sounds much more like him than the letter you got, which was obviously a standard one.

[phildinio]

i remember sparkys last game in charge and how birmingham fans got the board to resign after the match

[Ste B]

Well done Glen, can you possibly ask in advance so you get an answer at the FF meeting rather than them saying "we will investigate and get back to you".

I'd hope GlenMullan would get that answer at his debrief. My guess was that this was preplanned by the club to drown out the protests and encourage the fans to leave in a controlled and safe manner. Posting Gerald Jacksons home address on the LET site was well out of order, and if anybody did similar on here, they would cop a ban. I know its in the public domain, but putting it on a topic where many people are already heated could lead to somebody doing something stupid.

[Glenn]

Hell, I've suffered 10 years of guilt for posting a link to Gerald's online guestbook, let alone his home address !

[OhmiBRFC]

I'm on that third picture and quite a few people I know.

[rovgers]

I was talking to my Bro-in-law, who is a policeman, he said that they had officers around the pitch because they'd had a tip off that people were going to try and get on the pitch and confront Kean. I can't really see any Rovers fans being so militant but if all todays rumours are to be believed than the chances of an incident like that happening is only going to increase!

[Rovers_786]

we should boycott games to, a idea guys by me.

[DE.]

I was talking to my Bro-in-law, who is a policeman, he said that they had officers around the pitch because they'd had a tip off that people were going to try and get on the pitch and confront Kean. I can't really see any Rovers fans being so militant but if all todays rumours are to be believed than the chances of an incident like that happening is only going to increase!

I can definitely see something like this happening in the future, especially if we keep losing and Kean keeps taking the proverbial. many don't just dislike him, they despise him.

[Mike Graham]

Mike - that's generally what we do anyway. When I do the agenda I give the club a one liner on each item so that they can investigate and have an answer ready if poss at the meeting.

Good to hear Paul Hunt rang you up - that sounds much more like him than the letter you got, which was obviously a standard one.

john, the easiest thing to do in this world is criticise, I am have given out my fair share of it, so it was only fair to give public credit to the guy, and not betray any private conversations.