[Archived] Guantanamo Bay in the Darwen End

[Roost]

C'mon Venky, we said we want 'the family feel', not 'give the family a feel'.

Thats as funny as the suitcase one above!

[den]

This whole event just supports what I've been thinking for a while. Due to their being no CEO,Chairman or anyone of influence at Ewood any more, it's looking like "while the cats away, the mice will play". In this instance the mice are building their own empires. Kean, Agnew, Anderson all three now being joined by Newsham. With no John Williams to stop them, they're all wanting their bit of the club. All taking advantage of there being no-one in. All four empire building. All four seemingly now happy to take on all fans who are hostile to their methods - with Anderson threatening legal proceedings to the fans, websites and the local paper - if they oppose him. No football club can move forwards with this kind of seperation at management level.

All this is a result of the Raos making one enormous mistake. They didn't sit down with Williams and learn about the club, it's history and the way forward for the Raos. IF JW had still been here, we would have none of the problems highlighted above. Those four would get on with their own jobs and do as they were damn well told.

[bob fleming]

+1 den.

Come the relevolution....

[rebelmswar]

Come the relevolution....

... ensure that my round is not a blank.

[Ozz]

I said earlier in the thread-What a bunch of wimps. And complaining about being searched, well that's been going on for years at football grounds (I was extremely thoroughly searched as was every away fan I could see at Man City a couple of weeks ago) , and happens at other mass attended events these days. In fact try getting on a plane without it and see what happens to you then.

But Dens post , as usual, sums up the problem very neatly. The club stinks like a ten month old Stilton thats been left in a switched off fridge.

How can people turn up at Ewood Park these days and expect the same as we had got for decades previously is beyond me. Is it any wonder there clearly are now anti protest searches being carried out in the `Militant` Darwen End home support?

I said last summer on one of the many `Season Tickets-Will You Renew?` Threads that I wasn't. I smelt the stench back then, and after years of ST purchases and £1,000s of my hard earned being put through the tills at Ewood and surrounds I said no, not while its like this.

Kudos to the protestors for doing what they can about the situation, but it's a waste of time really, All that has happended is it has split the divide between Us and Them even wider, and made the Raos more determined to suit themselves and dig their heels in. At the end of it all, they can't lose. They can be quids in whatever happens, so there is no motivation for them to bow to pressure from fans or local media at all.

So the only way I see forward for us fans, (yes I'm still a massive Rovers fan-I pretend not to care in front of other people but every defeat and every humilation stings twice as bad as ever) is to stop going to Ewood.

When my little brother used to really wind me up as a kids (god rest his soul) my parents used to say-"Just ignore him, he'll soon go away". They were right. What I'm suggesting is we just ignore the whole match day experience at Ewood till they have gone. Maybe this is the only way the Raos and the entourage of leeches, parasites and general hangers on will ever relinquish the reigns, when the spotlight of publicity moves somewhere else.

I've been to two games this year, away at Wigan and Man City and whilst I have enjoyed the day out and meeting up with old faces, the games and atmosphere have been as bad as I can remember. I'll be at Bolton on the 24th too, and I'll go because it's going to be a crucial match in our history, and it's not at Ewood. And I guess I may well get searched before going into the Reebok away end, but I won't object because it wont have been at the behest of some Venkys paid opportunist carrying out power trip trials on human guinea pigs.

[Mattyblue]

How can people turn up at Ewood Park these days and expect the same as we had got for decades previously is beyond me.

That's the rub Ozz, I am not outraged bt any of it, it's how it is at a lot of grounds, I'm just a bit sad. It's another sign that it is no longer 'that club of ours'.

[sentient]

Come the relevolution....

Well who's going to lead that? Robespiere or the 4 horsemen? Either way the ewood faithful will still need to ponder it over for a few years before taking to the streets. Perhaps the FF can point us in the right direction?

[Beta Ray Bill]

Frisked again at Wolves yesterday, and after watching the queue, so were children, elderly women, teenagers, middle aged men. In fact every demographic.

On leaving the ground was just ahead of the scuffles with the police and Wolves fans. Not sure what started it, but presumably some over enthusiastic Rovers fans not realising it was winding up the home supporters?

Had a brief chat with a Wolves fan who said its not unusual as the two sets of fans merge too soon, and the police should corral supporters far more, as that's the way most away grounds work.

Interesting we complain about too much security and control, whereas another clubs fan says his club doesn't do enough!

[bob fleming]

Come the relevolution....

Come the what?!? "revolution". No wonder we're in this mess.

[roversmum]

Frisked again at Wolves yesterday, and after watching the queue, so were children, elderly women, teenagers, middle aged men. In fact every demographic.

On leaving the ground was just ahead of the scuffles with the police and Wolves fans. Not sure what started it, but presumably some over enthusiastic Rovers fans not realising it was winding up the home supporters?

Had a brief chat with a Wolves fan who said its not unusual as the two sets of fans merge too soon, and the police should corral supporters far more, as that's the way most away grounds work.

Interesting we complain about too much security and control, whereas another clubs fan says his club doesn't do enough!

I suppose that's Rovers fault as well... Though to be fair I didn't get searched although it happens more often than not at away grounds.

Apparently things were kicking off with angry Wolves supporters protesting - does anyone know if any Rovers were involved because the press didn't seem to think so and we didn't see anything.

[arbitro]

Frisked again at Wolves yesterday, and after watching the queue, so were children, elderly women, teenagers, middle aged men. In fact every demographic.

On leaving the ground was just ahead of the scuffles with the police and Wolves fans. Not sure what started it, but presumably some over enthusiastic Rovers fans not realising it was winding up the home supporters?

Had a brief chat with a Wolves fan who said its not unusual as the two sets of fans merge too soon, and the police should corral supporters far more, as that's the way most away grounds work.

Interesting we complain about too much security and control, whereas another clubs fan says his club doesn't do enough!

I wasn't frisked but a scanner was passed over me which is acceptable to me as it means nobody is touching me. I asked what they were looking for and the steward pointed to a sign on the wall with all the prohibited items. However my nine year old nephew was not searched.

[Stuart]

I wasn't frisked but a scanner was passed over me which is acceptable to me as it means nobody is touching me. I asked what they were looking for and the steward pointed to a sign on the wall with all the prohibited items. However my nine year old nephew was not searched.

Therefore the whole system is flawed. You say your nephew wasn't searched. Well that's a good thing but it makes the whole process pointless.

Unless they are discriminatory targeting prejudged demographics and then you are into a whole different territory.

There are so many CCTV cameras nowadays that they could simple make everyone walk through a metal detector checking for weapons, and anything else they can root out the perpetrator should a banner be waived.

Let's face it a small flask could do a lot of damage if used in anger but that could happen anywhere.

There is absolutely nothing to prevent a determined person bypassing security so all this fussing searching people is just showing that you distrust every single person entering the ground. And for what? A few banners?

[Stuart]

You may mock, meadows. But it's one thing opening a bag (something I'm asked every week - by the same bloke) and having yourself or your children patted down..

[gumboots]

You may mock, meadows. But it's one thing opening a bag (something I'm asked every week - by the same bloke) and having yourself or your children patted down..

It's also very different when you know the vast majority of fans in other areas of the ground are not being searched. I have no problem with being frisked if it's done by someone appropriate and if it happens to everyone. However, if i thought I was being singled out because I'm female or because i sit in the Blackburn end upper or whatever, and if the whole system had been arranged with no notification so that I was not aware I had to arrive extra early or risk missing the start of the match, then I'd be very annoyed too. When i go to watch Lorient I know they will serch my bag, frisk me and ask me to queue for a while to do so. It happens to everyone regardless of what stand they sit in. Still doesn't stop away fans taking in flares etc anyway, but it happens to all. Non-discriminatory and everyone knows that's what happens. It's the singling out of the Darwen end, and the fact that the away fans managed to take banners into the ground when home fans were prevented from doing so, along with the fact that people didn't know and that some females and children appear to have been frisked by males if I read the reports correctly that is angering so many. It's down to a basic lack of communications from the club again, and a total disregard for the ethos of the club and the trust that should be present between fans and officials. They may not have done anything wrong, but they have definitely done things that, with an ounce of thought beyond "We'll stop those pesky fans carrying banners" they definitely would not have done without consultation and communication.

[Stuart]

It's also very different when you know the vast majority of fans in other areas of the ground are not being searched. I have no problem with being frisked if it's done by someone appropriate and if it happens to everyone. However, if i thought I was being singled out because I'm female or because i sit in the Blackburn end upper or whatever, and if the whole system had been arranged with no notification so that I was not aware I had to arrive extra early or risk missing the start of the match, then I'd be very annoyed too. When i go to watch Lorient I know they will serch my bag, frisk me and ask me to queue for a while to do so. It happens to everyone regardless of what stand they sit in. Still doesn't stop away fans taking in flares etc anyway, but it happens to all. Non-discriminatory and everyone knows that's what happens. It's the singling out of the Darwen end, and the fact that the away fans managed to take banners into the ground when home fans were prevented from doing so, along with the fact that people didn't know and that some females and children appear to have been frisked by males if I read the reports correctly that is angering so many. It's down to a basic lack of communications from the club again, and a total disregard for the ethos of the club and the trust that should be present between fans and officials. They may not have done anything wrong, but they have definitely done things that, with an ounce of thought beyond "We'll stop those pesky fans carrying banners" they definitely would not have done without consultation and communication.

Excellent post - the bit in bold is bang on.

[roversWASmylife]

Oh dear.

Well, I was searched before the Villa game. I'm not overly fussed by it, if stewards/Police want to search you, they'll do it till the cows come home. I've got nothing to hide, I'm going to the football to watch Rovers.

I'm sure the majority of people on here have been searched before a game before, whether it's at Ewood or not, I'm not going to lose sleep over it.

When someone runs on the pitch and tries to clog a player in a drunken manor pundits says,"he could have had anything".

It's security at the end of the day, you don't know the reasons by it. If you don't want to be searched, fair enough, you probably won't get let into the ground. Police may have intelligence who knows.

As for CRB and stewards having them. I seriously don't think every steward has CRB check. I'm CRB'd and it's not one of those things that can be checked by just a quick phone call.

Now, against Villa. There was one Villa fan who I could see from a distance who was clearly goading Blackburn fans in the Darwen End for a period of time, not once was he told to behave himself. Always been the case with away fans at Ewood, behaving outside, by the Fernhurst I wonder what the Police and stewards see.

[S60tti_BRFC]

Reports that just the Darwen End is having the same procedure taken out against them AGAIN. (Please don't use that word again) OFF Newsham

[Bluefudge]

Same again in the Darwen end.

Only stand with barriers!!! No strip search yet !!!

But looks like they have rubber gloves and intend to use them xx

[Stuart]

Sounds pretty targeted to me. Unless the trial results were chucked out with the confiscated Kean Out banners.

[nellybc]

Never seen so many police and stewards outside the darwen end! You would of thought it was back in old days when there was a real hooliganism problem!!

[Glenn]

2 horses and a van outside the Brown Cow when I was there too, not seen that on a none-protest day before.

[Kendalrover]

2 horses and a van outside the Brown Cow when I was there too, not seen that on a none-protest day before.

The two horses were hidden by the side of the Chinese, I think the riders were sharing a bag of chips.

[Will]

There was a lot of police about tonight. I think it can only be because of the Fernhurst being closed to away fans and maybe a practice for Thursday night?

[ABBEY]

Police outside bbe too . Plus riot vans!

[SAS]

Saw nothing on the way into the riverside. Walked straight in