Protest Against The Bans (Merged)

[myol'man]

When Bristol Rugby move to Ashton Gate will any of their players who are caught out for acts of violence receive a life ban?

 

http://www.bristolrugby.co.uk/news/8995/genge-receives-nine-week-ban/

 

Interesting to note that if you were prosecuted for biting someone at a football match it would be classed as assault, but if it happens on a rugby pitch it is

 

"an act contrary to good sportsmanship"

[SuperDziek]

Clearly an emotive topic but an interesting one as well. Are BCFC constrained by FA rules and regs when it comes to this - ie any convicted of any form of hooliganism has to be given a banning order? Does it have to be an interim or life one?

'Hooligan' is basically 'troublemaker'. You don't have to hit someone or throw a missile to be a hooligan and what this kiddy has done seems to make him a hooligan, albeit a drunken, naive one. A lifetime banning order seems to be a bit disproportionate though - after all, had he been nicked for this in town, then he wouldn't be given a lifetime banning order from the town centre.

And the issue with the players being jailed hardly helps the clubs position. If only Partridge had been given a lifetime ban from the Gate!

Some transparency from the club would be nice though, especially if they've gone against the 5 month ban. Maybe the club should just force him to watch back to back repeats of this seasons games. That would be sufficient punishment!

[CotswoldRed]

While some of the bans may have been issued harshly and with extreme prejudice I find it hard to understand the point of protesting.

At the end of the day the likelihood is that the protesters will end up..being banned.

And the bans will never be revoked anyway.

Life is not always fair, we all know that. Sometimes you reap what you sow, sometimes you just get the potty end of the justice stick.

An no, this is not Berlin in June 1945 either, lets have some perspective, just for once...pretty please.

Wholeheartedly disagree.

If there is an injustice you cannot simply put up with it.

On behalf of my disabled son we confront many injustices on a frequent basis. Personally I cannot accept this and move heaven and earth to make things better for him.

In whatever walk of life, injustice should be challenged. Beat it once and make it better for everyone who follows.

[St. Aldhelms Red]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bristol/5308624.stm

Hypocritical****!

[cider_dog]

Wholeheartedly disagree.

If there is an injustice you cannot simply put up with it.

On behalf of my disabled son we confront many injustices on a frequent basis. Personally I cannot accept this and move heaven and earth to make things better for him.

In whatever walk of life, injustice should be challenged. Beat it once and make it better for everyone who follows.

I admire your viewpoint and don't disagree with your own sense of injustice.

 

But I just can't see a comparison with the clubs banning orders.

 

I am not saying I agree with the club, I don't.

 

I just don't see any positive outcome from a protest.

 

The club has no written contract per se with the fans, so can act as they choose.

 

Bad publicity is the only threat to the club and while this is a strong weapon it is simply not enough to reverse any of the bans.

 

Look at the local / national publicity over the pitch invasion at the JPT Derby, for what ever reason that is what will stick in the minds of the majority when BCFC Fans are mentioned.

 

Not plod being heavy handed at Cardiff.

 

A sense of injustice and real injustice are just not the same thing IMO.

[Monkeh]

I admire your viewpoint and don't disagree with your own sense of injustice.

 

But I just can't see a comparison with the clubs banning orders.

 

I am not saying I agree with the club, I don't.

 

I just don't see any positive outcome from a protest.

 

The club has no written contract per se with the fans, so can act as they choose.

 

Bad publicity is the only threat to the club and while this is a strong weapon it is simply not enough to reverse any of the bans.

 

Look at the local / national publicity over the pitch invasion at the JPT Derby, for what ever reason that is what will stick in the minds of the majority when BCFC Fans are mentioned.

 

Not plod being heavy handed at Cardiff.

 

A sense of injustice and real injustice are just not the same thing IMO.

it also sticks in the minds that the majority of those arrested and charged were rovers fans

[Bristol Rob]

I admire your viewpoint and don't disagree with your own sense of injustice.

But I just can't see a comparison with the clubs banning orders.

I am not saying I agree with the club, I don't.

I just don't see any positive outcome from a protest.

The club has no written contract per se with the fans, so can act as they choose.

Bad publicity is the only threat to the club and while this is a strong weapon it is simply not enough to reverse any of the bans.

Look at the local / national publicity over the pitch invasion at the JPT Derby, for what ever reason that is what will stick in the minds of the majority when BCFC Fans are mentioned.

Not plod being heavy handed at Cardiff.

A sense of injustice and real injustice are just not the same thing IMO.

The club DID have a written charter not that long ago, it contained things like 'at least 5% of tickets will go on general sale'.

I'd imagine someone somewhere can find I it.

[BUTOR]

I think songs aimed towards the board would be more appropriate than a silent half.

[sportingmad0209]

[Libertine Dream]

I'm quoting my own post here, but has it been missed that these bans were handed out to repeat offenders?

I can't say whether this is accurate, but I'd be interested to hear whether this is true!

No this is not true the lad I know has never been in trouble with police before let alone a football match.

[CotswoldRed]

Assuming injustice has been dished out I think this really should concern everyone.

Just imagine how you'd feel of you were banned for life and you were innocent to boot. It's not like being banned from Tesco is it? It's a core part of your life.

The average suit on the board will subconsciously assume everyone is a toe-rag and they get what they deserve. Guilty until proven innocent may suit them, but it destroys any goodwill they might desire from the fans.

I've got no time for them at all. Their approach should be "these are our fans and we're not going to treat them all like criminals until they've had a fair hearing".

Clearly some deserve bans but it seems some definitely not and other fans are prepared to back them up.

The flag waving just demonstrates borderline contempt for fans in general without a passing thought for the support they and their families may have provided for decades.

Not happy.

[sportingmad0209]

No this is not true the lad I know has never been in trouble with police before let alone a football match.

Well if this is the case, the club should re-look at these bans and right those who have been wronged.

After all this was a direct quote from a club spokesman, and they are either lying through their teeth or have be misinformed.

Either way the club has a duty to rectify this.

[Forza Revolution]

Any empty eastend would make the club pay attention I'm sure but don't see how the no singing idea would at AG. However, I know clubs in Europe have sat in silence for 10 minutes and then gone nuts to show the difference support make

[Stylus]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bristol/5308624.stm

 

Great quote from SL - "We feel the sentences are harsh, bearing in mind it would seem the players were provoked." 

 

I'm quoting my own post here, but has it been missed that these bans were handed out to repeat offenders?

 

I can't say whether this is accurate, but I'd be interested to hear whether this is true!

 

I think you've misinterpreted what they've written / it's not written very clearly. I'm assuming they are trying to say that the 33 who received lifetime bans have already received national banning orders for the Cardiff game - not that they all had bans prior to Cardiff. 

 

I would be interested to know if Doug Harman replies to the letters sent to the club from fans. I expect not.

[Nogbad the Bad]

Any empty eastend would make the club pay attention I'm sure but don't see how the no singing idea would at AG. However, I know clubs in Europe have sat in silence for 10 minutes and then gone nuts to show the difference support make

 

Boycott the first half of a game, wall of noise and support right from the start in the second.

 

The club, and media, couldn't fail to take notice of that.

[Bristol Rob]

Boycott the first half of a game, wall of noise and support right from the start in the second.

The club, and media, couldn't fail to take notice of that.

Not going to be worth going at this rate. As a Dolman season ticket holder, I have an obligation to leave early as it is.

[TV Tom]

Not going to be worth going at this rate. As a Dolman season ticket holder, I have an obligation to leave early as it is.

The 33 banning orders are a disgrace, we should enter the ground on 33 minutes and make a right racket.

[Bristol Rob]

The 33 banning orders are a disgrace, we should enter the ground on 33 minutes and make a right racket.

Can't help but think 'if some of you hadn't been so vocal about the ticket problems at the start of the season, that 33 minute boycott would have taken care of itself. '

[Ian M]

For all the stick Colin Sexstone took whilst he was here, I remember him fighting the fans' case after distinctly poor treatment up at Walsall and can't help feeling that the club may have reacted differently to the Police provocation at Cardiff if he were still here.

 

And from that BBC news report, it is clear that Steve Lansdown has great sympathy for those whose only crime is reacting to provocateurs

[Club and Country]

For all the stick Colin Sexstone took whilst he was here, I remember him fighting the fans' case after distinctly poor treatment up at Walsall and can't help feeling that the club may have reacted differently to the Police provocation at Cardiff if he were still here.

And from that BBC news report, it is clear that Steve Lansdown has great sympathy for those whose only crime is reacting to provocateurs

What bbc report?

[Ian M]

What bbc report?

 

The one linked above where SL says the punishment meted out to the players was harsh, particularly as they had been provoked. Just like the fans were by Cardiff plod. They knew what they were doing, cameras raised skywards, batons swung, cameras point back at fans.

[Rob k]

I wonder if Dave L will respond to this thread.

Will be interested to see his thoughts

[leftwingfullback]

Right, I think I've jumped to a conclusion here- sorry. So to clarify, he was arrested and convicted of some bad behaviour at the Cardiff game, signed a behaviour contract with the club, attended more games and then the club arbitrarily went back and decided to ban him for life? If so, that is pretty harsh and he has my sympathies, but it does seem odd that the club would go to the trouble of having him sign some sort of agreement and then ban him for life arbitrarily after a couple of months where he's attended games and done nothing- that's the bit I'm confused about

Apologies for jumping to the wrong conclusion

What you have said, at the start of the post, is what I was trying to get across.

Hope that explains it better for others.

[chipdawg]

What you have said, at the start of the post, is what I was trying to get across.

Hope that explains it better for others.

Well if that is the case I think that's very harsh and I'd be asking the Supporters Trust to take my case to the club

[reddoc]

Kind of saddens me, there's an irony here, so many threads related to how the club has lost touch with the fans, yet reading this thread, and seeing how well meaning people are having their accounts questioned and dissected by fellow fans, it seems to me that we fans are losing touch with each other.

East End vs the rest of the ground, those that went to Cardiff and were screwed by the Heddlu vs those that scarily want to accept the police account of events, we appear to have some amongst us that claim to represent us, ST, something that claims to be a Parliament chummying up to the board and only asking questions when it's far too late.

What's going on? Walsall gave us an opportunity to stand up and collectively say we were not going to accept being treated in that way. I was there, nothing bad happened to me , but I could see what was happening and like many others spoke out and people had to listen.

Wasn't at Cardiff but I'd be very surprised if people were bothering to come on here claiming that they or their friends were being unjustly treated if there wasn't a grain of truth to it. Why bother? Those suggesting there is no point protesting are plain wrong. We should do and it should be organized. Who's good at that? And please don't suggest the Trust/Parliament as they have their own self serving agenda.

[CotswoldRed]

Kind of saddens me, there's an irony here, so many threads related to how the club has lost touch with the fans, yet reading this thread, and seeing how well meaning people are having their accounts questioned and dissected by fellow fans, it seems to me that we fans are losing touch with each other.

East End vs the rest of the ground, those that went to Cardiff and were screwed by the Heddlu vs those that scarily want to accept the police account of events, we appear to have some amongst us that claim to represent us, ST, something that claims to be a Parliament chummying up to the board and only asking questions when it's far too late.

What's going on? Walsall gave us an opportunity to stand up and collectively say we were not going to accept being treated in that way. I was there, nothing bad happened to me , but I could see what was happening and like many others spoke out and people had to listen.

Wasn't at Cardiff but I'd be very surprised if people were bothering to come on here claiming that they or their friends were being unjustly treated if there wasn't a grain of truth to it. Why bother? Those suggesting there is no point protesting are plain wrong. We should do and it should be organized. Who's good at that? And please don't suggest the Trust/Parliament as they have their own self serving agenda.

I think the issue is this:

Most people want bad behaviour punished.

They want a sensible slap on the wrist for minor misdemeanours.

They want the club to be pragmatic and thoughtful, not the bloody gestapo.

They want to be able to trust the club and the police.

Until the final one is addressed there's little hope of a consensus, especially if you're one of those treated unfairly.

From where I'm standing it seems the club exhibit very little pragmatism or empathy. Even less than Arnold Schwartenegger in Terminator.

[Cambridge Batch Red]

Too many spineless and gulable fans on here believing anything spouted by the Avon & Somerset propaganda machine and the club lickspittles.

[tiz]

So far the only side of these bans that I've heard are the fans side. Which could be quite one sided and biased. I'm by no means chucking the book at them as they very well may have done nothing wrong. But until I've seen a balanced argument from both sides I can't comment, nor protest. I'm sure people on here know those who have been banned or were even witnesses to the events that led to the bans, but I get the feeling that you don't ban your paying costumer for no reason at all.

That is what the protest about.......the club banning people without appeal. One sided unfair if they are unwilling to listen

[jeade]

I'm 50 went to Cardiff on train and was corporate. I asked a policeman if it was ok to leave escort and he said yes and off they went to Great Western. I was on the phone outside station and a riot cop came over and asked where was I from. I joked about my accent and he said get in the pub as all Bristol people were to go there. I explained that I had spoke to his colleague who said I could go to the ground. This Heddlu was having none of it and said I looked like a hooligan as I had a Barbour jacket on (his words). He pushed me with his shield and said move to the pub. I explained again that I was corporate and mtg a work colleague and he had no right to push me. In his words he said " your in my ******* city, I'll do what I want and move now or I'll arrest you for breach of peace"

I had to go to pub and walked straight through city fans inside cordon and asked another copper if I could leave and he was fine.

My point here is if you get a "wrong un" you can get in trouble and a banning order so people need to be aware that it could happen to them before judging others.

[reddoc]

I think the issue is this:

Most people want bad behaviour punished.

They want a sensible slap on the wrist for minor misdemeanours.

They want the club to be pragmatic and thoughtful, not the bloody gestapo.

They want to be able to trust the club and the police.

Until the final one is addressed there's little hope of a consensus, especially if you're one of those treated unfairly.

Ok but lets cut to the chase, the club needs us and should at the very least pay lip service to giving a listening ear to it's paying customers, as we appear to have become. I'm 52 and a GP and in my experience the Police are not to be trusted. And I've had a lot of interaction over the years. Got lucky with the football bit as currently I'm still allowed to go,but probably simply because I'm usually with the wife or kids. And ok lucky is a poor choice of word under the circumstances but who knows maybe things will improve.