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Supporters Club & Trust - Statement


thatcham red

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I know some of you feel we should all move on after Wednesday, but the truth is, the legacy of what happened is going to live on for a while yet.

This is how the Supporters Club & Trust view it:

"The minutes after the final whistle on Wednesday night should have been a big party for all City supporters at Ashton Gate. We had beaten the Rovers in front of an almost full house and live on Sky. The winning goal had even been scored by a young Bristolian. Instead, those minutes were spoilt by the disgraceful behaviour of some so-called fans who chose rather than to celebrate the win to invade the pitch, posture aggressively in front of the Rovers supporters and engage in scuffles with stewards and police. Despite repeated requests over the tannoy to leave the pitch, they refused to do so and we thus ultimately had the sight of police horses on the Ashton Gate turf to create a barrier between those on the pitch and the Rovers supporters in the stand. All on live TV, dragging the name of our club through the dirt.

While, as in all such situations, there may well be lessons for the stewards and police to learn about how they could possibly have handled events better prior to the pitch invasion, this does not excuse behaviour of the aggressive nature that we witnessed on Wednesday. We have nothing against exuberance or banter and few City fans can probably say that they have never been on the pitch in moments of celebration - and that is how it should be. But there is celebrating and there is being aggressively provocative. Many of those who were looking for a fight on Wednesday were not at the last game and won't be at the next one. Undoubtedly they only came because they thought it might be "a bit tasty". Because of their behaviour and that of some of the Rovers followers too we are subsequently left with the legacy of an FA investigation, damage to seats and the pitch, injuries to staff, police and fans and a tarnished reputation.

Bristol City Supporters Club & Trust is proud of our great club and we despair sometimes when seeing idiotic behaviour besmirch its good name. We therefore wholeheartedly support any appropriate action that the club and police may take against individuals shown by due legal process to have engaged in any form of violence or acted in a manner likely to cause a breach of the peace.”

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After seeing police horses trampling all over the superb pitch, perhaps the better punishment is for the offenders to be put in a locked room with the groundsman and his groundstaff.for half an hour!

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Personally I don't agree the 'legacy' will live on, on the basis we all, as we surely do, agree that the actions were out of order and entrust the authorities to do their jobs.

If the Supporters Trust feel they are in a position where it is necessary to make their position clear, and in doing so distance themselves from those who caused the trouble, then of course that's fair enough. However banding terms such as 'legacy' and dwelling on the situation is simply throwing fuel onto the fire of the very elements you're condemning, in my opinion of course.

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Honestly I despair.

Anyone would think terraces were pulled down, police beaten and the stand set on fire.

It was a pitch invasion FFS. We've seen plenty over the years.

No idea what all the fuss is about, the fuss is more embarrasing than the event itself!!

It was more than a pitch invasion, that's the point that is being missed.

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It was more than a pitch invasion, that's the point that is being missed.

Ok, fans ran over to the Rovers end, and some idiots threw coins, and?

I went to Oldham away on a Tuesday night years ago and coins were thrown accross from the home fans, so what? It happens.

We arent Milwall FFS.

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Honestly I despair.

Anyone would think terraces were pulled down, police beaten and the stand set on fire.

It was a pitch invasion FFS. We've seen plenty over the years.

No idea what all the fuss is about, the fuss is more embarrasing than the event itself!!

This!

City have invaded the pitch numerous times before,

Yes there were a few idiots vs Rovers, e.g. the guy who threw the corner flag, but tbh I think some of the fans just went over to goad and tease the rovers, without wanting to fight, which really isn't a crime at all.

A small minority, yes of City and Rovers fans, were intent on causing trouble, and throwing chairs and coins is unacceptable.

When fans invade the pitch, i'm sure it's not unusual for them to go over to the opposing fans to irritate and 'hype' about winning or celebrating.

This was a Bristol derby for christs sake, one of the biggest, or biggest, game for us in years. If anything the police should have held their line higher up the pitch so fans weren't allowed to get so close to eachother.

Punish the few who ruined it, but are we acting like all of our fans, especially those who ran on the pitch, are horrid, violent thugs. Look closely at the footage, fans ran over to JET to celebrate, nothing wrong with that.

All this media attention, and these re-occuring statments are becoming a joke!

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Honestly I despair.

Anyone would think terraces were pulled down, police beaten and the stand set on fire.

It was a pitch invasion FFS. We've seen plenty over the years.

No idea what all the fuss is about, the fuss is more embarrasing than the event itself!!

Totally agree so amazed at it all.

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those minutes were spoilt

Personally I'm sick to death of reading statements such as this and other articles which have words such as "overshadowed", "ruined" etc etc. What happened after the final whistle has done nothing to detract form what happened on the pitch. The only detraction is the media hype/lies and constant exaggeration of matters. Do we still remember JET's goal? Yes. Do we remember Joe's goal? Yes. Do we remember all the tackles, atmosphere and singing? Yes. So nothing was spoiled, nothing was lost, and nothing was overshadowed by the nonsense that followed.

For anybody who was around in the 80's and 90's, I'm sure you'll agree with me that what happened on Wednesday night was laughable in comparison, and the over-reaction is symptomatic of the PC nanny-state we live in. A bunch of pissed-up idiots gesturing and posturing to each other, after a culmination of 6 years frenzy from us not playing them. If the Police would have moved to one side, there would have been a few scuffles, but the majority of those idiots would have run for their lives.

Do I agree with the pitch invasion, no I don't, and yes there were a small number of isolated incidents (mainly outside the ground) which need to be investigated, but statements like this do nothing to put a realistic angle on what happened, all it does is put fuel on the fire to exaggerate what ACTUALLY happened, which was very little!

Oh and before I get accused of being "one of them", no, I am not the sort to go on the pitch and I don't get involved in violence. I'm just an educated professional who looks at things objectively.

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Yes, it is a bit late in the day coming out, but that shouldn't detract from the sentiments expressed. Taking a day or two to step back and reflect on what happened rather than rush out with a knee jerk reaction has been helpful. I am sure not everyone will agree, but that's life.

On a personal note, I am concerned about some of the opportunities missed to nip the pitch invasion in the bud and have expressed this to the club.

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Massive over reaction. These things happen all the time.

Regarding City fans scaring petrified Rovers women and kids maybe the Rovers lads shouldn't of charged towards the disabled section of the Williams stand...

This is football, I don't understand what was so wrong. I didn't run on the pitch I thought it was a bit sad but its as if there was an hour long riot on the pitch. With the few exceptions (corner flag, seats thrown and spitting) everything else was par for the course.

It was great to get a win, great for Joe Bryan to score the winner, great to have 3 Bristolians in our team and two of them being young and finally it was great to witness an excellent atmosphere and JET's wonder strike.

The rest of it as JET would say "Leave It Yeah..."

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On a personal note, I am concerned about some of the opportunities missed to nip the pitch invasion in the bud and have expressed this to the club.

If you think it would have been possible to stop the inevitable pitch invasion if we won, then you're deluded. At the end of every season people are asked in various forms such as the official website etc, not to go on the pitch, do they listen, no? So throw in a 6 year wait for a 'competitive' derby, a derby which is well known to be one of the most hostile in UK football, and it was always on the cards if we won.

The problem is where the pitch-invasion ended up, and what was(or more importantly wasn't!) done by the stewards/police to stop it continuing. The problem wasn't the invasion itself.

As above, I want to state that I do NOT condone the invasion, nor take part in them, I'm just giving an objective view.

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Honestly I despair.

Anyone would think terraces were pulled down, police beaten and the stand set on fire.

It was a pitch invasion FFS. We've seen plenty over the years.

No idea what all the fuss is about, the fuss is more embarrasing than the event itself!!

Spot on

Infact, that's quite a bizzare and embarrassing statement to release all off a sudden

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I know some of you feel we should all move on after Wednesday, but the truth is, the legacy of what happened is going to live on for a while yet.

This is how the Supporters Club & Trust view it:

"The minutes after the final whistle on Wednesday night should have been a big party for all City supporters at Ashton Gate. We had beaten the Rovers in front of an almost full house and live on Sky. The winning goal had even been scored by a young Bristolian. Instead, those minutes were spoilt by the disgraceful behaviour of some so-called fans who chose rather than to celebrate the win to invade the pitch, posture aggressively in front of the Rovers supporters and engage in scuffles with stewards and police. Despite repeated requests over the tannoy to leave the pitch, they refused to do so and we thus ultimately had the sight of police horses on the Ashton Gate turf to create a barrier between those on the pitch and the Rovers supporters in the stand. All on live TV, dragging the name of our club through the dirt.

While, as in all such situations, there may well be lessons for the stewards and police to learn about how they could possibly have handled events better prior to the pitch invasion, this does not excuse behaviour of the aggressive nature that we witnessed on Wednesday. We have nothing against exuberance or banter and few City fans can probably say that they have never been on the pitch in moments of celebration - and that is how it should be. But there is celebrating and there is being aggressively provocative. Many of those who were looking for a fight on Wednesday were not at the last game and won't be at the next one. Undoubtedly they only came because they thought it might be "a bit tasty". Because of their behaviour and that of some of the Rovers followers too we are subsequently left with the legacy of an FA investigation, damage to seats and the pitch, injuries to staff, police and fans and a tarnished reputation.

Bristol City Supporters Club & Trust is proud of our great club and we despair sometimes when seeing idiotic behaviour besmirch its good name. We therefore wholeheartedly support any appropriate action that the club and police may take against individuals shown by due legal process to have engaged in any form of violence or acted in a manner likely to cause a breach of the peace.”

Some people have something to say, and some have to say something.

What is needed now is a period of quiet whislt we wait on the resuilts of police, club and FA investigations and the prosecutions and sanctions that will follow. This statement adds nothing new or useful to the situation - IMO it only serves to keep the whole unhappy event in the news for bit longer to the detriment of the club.

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Will rovers supporters trust or what ever their equivalent is issue a statement apologizing for attempting to attack our disabled section +rip up our seats? don't think so. Oh and how about the racist tweets, the club and the authority's will investigate and deal with any body who caused trouble! this incident has already been magnified enough, we don't need our own supporters trust putting the boot into our own supporters-we've already got a board who are keen enough to do that!

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It was more than a pitch invasion, that's the point that is being missed.

there was a lot of shouting and bouncing around by most on the pitch...as long as you didnt lob anything i cant see the problem,it was pure adrenalin,and delight why most went on.yes a few divs started lobbing stuff bang out of order in my book. i think a lot worse happened outside after.. granted not on camera,by the kentucky it was going of big time...nobodys mentioned this,also the sag heads in ashton park 23.30 full on older blokes.?..why keep the gash in the crosshands?? those dicks who came in late,the list goes on and on.fuel to the fire i think..lets now put this to bed and fcking get 3 points next week....c.o.y.r..

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  • SC&T Board Members

I was around in the 70, 80s, 90s etc., been there done that. Rovers derbies at Eastville, Twerton and the Mem. Passion aplenty, which is fine. What we saw from a fair number of people on Wednesday night, however, overstepped the mark.

Running onto the pitch to celebrate a win with the players and fellow fans is one thing, making a beeline for the opposition fans and seeking to provoke a violent reaction is another. It was out of order in the 70s, 80s and 90s and in my humble opinion remains out of order today. As Robbored rightly says, it would be odd if as a supporters organisation the Club & Trust (a) did not express a view on events of Wednesday night and (b) did not roundly condemn violent and/or aggressive behaviour.

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It takes 2 to tango and the sags were looking for a row miles before the "invasion" in fact they were battered back by riot police at an attempted invasion of there own into the Williams.

There were no riot police and hardly any stewards when hoards descended from the front of the Dolman and elsewhere; were they asleep it was obvious ages before final whistle that City were going on the pitch but dispite this and a police control box overlooking the area and countless cameras nothing was done until it was to late.

IMO there was no real effort to get at the gas it was mostly verbals. Yes coins, bottles and seats were thrown but it was like that all through the game.

Over 200 police was it and god knows how many stewards, where were they apart from stopping people leaving?

Can we not have a pinned thread on this and all the other threads, stuck at the top,,,,,, to stop the endless threads on it. :fastasleep:

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It takes 2 to tango and the sags were looking for a row miles before the "invasion" in fact they were battered back by riot police at an attempted invasion of there own into the Williams.

There were no riot police and hardly any stewards when hoards descended from the front of the Dolman and elsewhere; were they asleep it was obvious ages before final whistle that City were going on the pitch but dispite this and a police control box overlooking the area and countless cameras nothing was done until it was to late.

IMO there was no real effort to get at the gas it was mostly verbals. Yes coins, bottles and seats were thrown but it was like that all through the game.

Over 200 police was it and god knows how many stewards, where were they apart from stopping people leaving?

Can we not have a pinned thread on this and all the other threads, stuck at the top,,,,,, to stop the endless threads on it. :fastasleep:

Apparently not according to them, they were defending themselves in the face of extreme provocation ;)

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