The Stewards, todays game and 'well hard' attitudes!

[BB]

Not being one to complain overly, today I felt compelled to go to the Security Office ( Hammy End, Gate 50! ) and have my views recorded. I await the 'suits' at FFC response....

I know that some of the "Green Coated" ones think they are "billy well hard" ( if it ever really kicks off, I suspect more than a few will find out they are not! ), but what happened in "H5" this afternoon beggared belief....

I saw a so called 'supervisor' ( 40's, short grey hair, thick set build and probably twice as thick!) try to provoke a reaction from Fulham fans, by standing face to face and goading the Fulham fans by getting right in their face... for the entire 1st half!! To say this was intimidating, offensive and a disgrace is no understatement.

Other 'stewards' made a total nuisance and a fire hazard of themselves ( Just where are the HSE when you need them! ) , by occupying the top of the 'H5' stairs/landing area and blocking other Fulham fans view ( "siddarn!" ) of the game.... and getting in everybody's way!!!!!

I am unreliably informed, that these actions are 100% supported and initiated, by the 'suits' at FFC ... owing to the "..... disgraceful behaviour of Fulham fans in Turin, in particular the 60 or so who got involved in the fighting!!!....."

If this is true... then why do the 'suits' at FFC not come clean and openly tell us, what they are doing, why they doing it and what their aims and objectives really are????? Why employ the "Heavy Mob" to act on their behalf?? Are they that frightened of the fans at Fulham???

If you where affected by these totally irresponsible, heavy handed and utterly reprehensible actions today..... please COMPLAIN TO FFC!!! (Often and loudly!!!) If you know anyone on the FFC Supporters Trust/Fan Club... let them know and ask them to get stuck into the 'suits' at FFC.

Alternatively, hit FFC, "well hard" in the pocket... Buy nothing from the shop and tell them why!! Buy nothing from the vendors inside the ground and tell them why!! Delay renewing your Season Ticket/Membership and again tell them why. This maybe the only way, to drive some sense into the lack of brains in the 'suits' at FFC!!!!!!!

[mrska]

I agree with you're post..  haven't we be voted the best behaved fans for the last 3 years???  Yes there was an incident in Turin..  but im sure that was isolated...

The heavy Handed response was NOT called for...

[SHADY1]

Oh its 60 or so fighting in Turin now ....  :035:

[HammyH3]

I went to the security hut at half time to complain also. Suprisingly I was told by Ian Weller, head of security that he wasn't in charge of the stewards and I should speak to a Dominic Hubert who was in charge of them.
He came after the 2nd half had started and spouted usual health and safety reason and the woman with him said the stewarding had been beefed up because supporters in the Hammersmith had been complaining about people standing.
I asked if there had been any complaints last Thursday, she couldn't say. Muppet!
After what Roy had said in the press, on the offal and in yesterday's programme about keeping up momentum, atmosphere etc at the Man City game because there was a danger of deflation after the Juve result. Yesterday was NOT the day to be experimenting with a new stewarding approach, it went against everything Roy was trying to achieve and the resulting atmosphere was subdued. My son and I were told to sit down 3 times in H3!
I have written to Tommy Guthrie, head of supporter relations at [email protected] , putting 'ATTENTION TOMMY GUTHRIE' in the subject line. I suggest you do the same if you feel like BB and me.

[BB]

MMMMmmmm........

78 "Views" and only 3 responses..............

I guess the good folks of FoF really just don't care....... :016:

[finnster01]

MMMMmmmm........

78 "Views" and only 3 responses..............

I guess the good folks of FoF really just don't care....... :016:

If it makes you feel any better, I agree mostly with what you wrote but I wasn't at the game so I can't really comment. But I have seen my share of bad stewarding, especially with respect to away fans in home stands, and complained on the same deaf ears before.

Besides there isn't all that much to comment on is there, other than email the club and that wouldn't show up here anyways?

[TonyGilroy]

The bottle top thing pisses me off but by avoiding eye contact and hurrying through I miss being stopped 9 times out of 10.

That's the extent of my personal interest. I used to be concerned at the way stewards acted at the back of the Hammersmith End but I don't sit there and having seen how SOME of our away supporters NOW act I frankly don't have a problem with heavy handed stewarding.

[Peabody]

Yesterday was totally different to anything before. I arrived just before the opened the gates and amassed outside the ground were loads of security men, they were all stood in front of the turnstiles, as though to prevent people from standing there. When I got into the ground there was the usual stewards waiting to search me, I told them that I object to being searched and they let me through. I do think it is about time that someone from the club who is resposible for stewarding, came out from behind their desk and make a statement about the clubs attitude to its fans and its policy on stewarding in general. As for the person above who made the comment on "the good people of FOF" he obviously has missed the many previous discussions on this subject.

[TonyGilroy]

Yesterday was totally different to anything before. I arrived just before the opened the gates and amassed outside the ground were loads of security men, they were all stood in front of the turnstiles, as though to prevent people from standing there. When I got into the ground there was the usual stewards waiting to search me, I told them that I object to being searched and they let me through. I do think it is about time that someone from the club who is resposible for stewarding, came out from behind their desk and make a statement about the clubs attitude to its fans and its policy on stewarding in general. As for the person above who made the comment on "the good people of FOF" he obviously has missed the many previous discussions on this subject.

Yesterday I walked through unmolested with my coke and bottle top. Other times I've been stopped. Seems to me its just luck. Whilst a steward is searching you, several people walk past with whatever weapons of mass destruction they might happen to have on them.

[Jimpav]

Can't say I had any problems but I sit down the front with all the camera toting mutes.

However at the end of the match there was a heavy presence of stewards though at the end of the match which seemed really uncalled for. The atmosphere was tepid at best and abosultely no sign of boiling over.

Secondly - why make such a fuss about bottle tops when you are then going to allow a sponsor(?) to hand out tubs of rice at half time which are the perfect size and weight for throwing at players or opposition fans?

A bit of consistency wouldn't go a miss.

[finnster01]

I rather take a few packs of rice and bottles than a rain of darts which wasn't that uncommon back in the day. Away, that is.

[The Equalizer]

From H6, where I was sitting next to BB, I counted 6 stewards at the 3 blocks where the Man City supporters were. At the time there were 3 at the top of H5, with a further 7 at the stairwell and 3 coppers. I mean, who's more likely to cause trouble when we have absolutely ZERO history of it?

Also, the steward at the stairs at the top of H6 stared at me like I was a serial killer when I asked him to step aside so I could get to my seat.

There was something quite distopian about that matchday experience...

[bobby01]

As i am getting old and forgetfull there was a game last season when the number of stewards was as high as yesterday in an inconsiquential game, i cannot remember who it was. It seems every so often we have a mass show of force for no reasons. I walk past the away supports coaches every ame on my way out and have never even seen a single policeman there. So there seems no rhyme or reason to this. After being searched for the last 6 matches they left me alone on Sunday, perhaps because last game i went to the steward and hugged him before he searched me, every time i have been searched its been on the orders of a woman steward?

[NorfolkJim]

They wanted to search me so I said "Go ahead, let me know if you find any money"

The club has no clue about stewarding and probably never will. The only way forward is the introduction of safe standing like in Germany. This isnt hard to achieve, you just limit it to STHs and have small corals to prevent mass migration - but the politicians wont have it, so this will drag on forever.

[Rupert]

I had a minor altercation with a steward, I was walking along when he suddenly thrust his arm out to stop me.
Turned out it was to let an elderly bloke go past, fair enough, but I told him that he really needed to use his mouth when communicating, ie ask me to stop whilst the old'un tottered by.
Amazingly enough he apologised.

[Chopper]

I didn't see what went on but heard a bit of a commotion. It might be worth talking to the Football Supporter's Federation http://www.fsf.org.uk/contact-us.php. They seem pretty hot on tackling over zealous stewarding and policing. Then again, it's probably worth getting the Fulham Supporter's Trust involved. I'm sure the management team at Fulham would want to get it right, like you say they can't have it both ways.

[ron]

Quality of stewarding is proportional to cost. Most organisations in Britain would rather spend nothing on security. FFC in this respect has much in common with airports, etc. The general law abiding public therefore suffers queueing, unsocial behaviour, inconvenience and hassle perpetrated and permitted by a group of persons that might be better employed elsewhere...........

[NorfolkJim]

Oh its 60 or so fighting in Turin now ....  :035:

There was never 60 fighting, thats just nonsense. There might have been 20 meaningfully involved and about 5 who were the main protagonists. IMO, its those 5 who should be the clubs focus, not all the noisy boys up the back who just want to sing and have a good time.

[The Swan]

At the end of the game on Sunday we had a lot of stewards standing in front of the Hammy End.
I asked why they were there and were they expecting the Fulham fans to run onto the pitch, I said that we never did but one of the stewards corrected me by saying we had run onto the pitch when we beat Chelsea 1-0. I told him that was a one off. I asked him again why they were there and he said that it was as a request from Fulham.
I then went and asked one of the supervisors if he was in charge of the new stewards and he said he was. When I asked him why they were there he just said that Fulham had requested them.
What a waste of money.
When we played Spurs at home in the cup the Putney was full of Spurs fans and they were standing in every gangway throughout the game. The stewards on duty that day did not attempt to move them on . Double standards one for the home fans and one for the away fans. :028:

[NorfolkJim]

Those double standards have applied for a long time.

I suppose they dont bother with the away fans because they are there just once a season but the home fan is there every week.

Could there be anything in the idea that clubs get charged with failing to control their own fans but not with failing to control their opponents fans in the event of trouble?