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Falmer - Headache for the Old Bill?



Lady Whistledown

Well-known member
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Jul 7, 2003
47,501
But there will be loads of Albion fans on these trains too, which makes them less likely to be targeted.
 




Crispy Ambulance

Well-known member
May 27, 2010
2,515
Burgess Hill
True but don't think that will bother them. They'll just see it as a bit of a scalp if they can put a few windows in if Millwall/Leeds,etc are in town. With your knowledge of how these things work, do you see the Hikers as a bit of a potential hot-spot?
 


Lady Whistledown

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Jul 7, 2003
47,501
Probably not, more because it's more of a hassle for away fans to get to than most pubs in town.

And, genuinely, because the appetite for that kind of stuff is nowhere near as strong as it was going back to the 1980s Goldstone days. Most "trouble" surrounding modern games (which really isn't much) is hugely talked up by the participants. And any risk groups get followed all around town by spotters half the time, reducing the opportunity for any stupidity.

We had a thousand or so Pompey fans in town this season, with no trouble, we've had Leeds and other clubs at Withdean with no issues, so I don't anticipate anything catastrophic going on simply because crowds will be bigger. There's only a finite number of people who want to fight their way through life, no matter what size the crowd is.
 


Sussex Nomad

Well-known member
Aug 26, 2010
18,185
EP
No more to say on the matter, my politely asked initial question has been answered with ridicule and assumption (and that's just from coppers!). I just pray the police football intelligence units take their jobs a bit more seriously than our resident law enforcers!
 


Lady Whistledown

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Jul 7, 2003
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I'm not ridiculing anyone apart from grown men- not suggesting you're one by the way- who want to snarl and pose and fight each other to get their kicks, and then brag about it afterwards like children in a playground scrap.

And whine when the police and the law abiding majority object to it :shrug:
 




Elvis

Well-known member
Mar 22, 2010
1,413
Viva Las Hove
If I may return to the original post, if in the Championship next year I reckon Falmer will be the most sought after away ticket in the division. I expect most clubs to have massive interest in this fixture. Not only because it is a new ground but also because finally they can have a decent away day in Brighton. To me that will be great, because a better away atmosphere creates a better a better atmosphere all round.

Of course there will be small outbreaks of trouble, to be honest most of us can probably name those teams already, a few boozers will get smashed windows although the same boozers will be increasing their turn over at the bar.

With the amount of CCTV cameras in the uk, you've got to be mad to get involved in football violence nowadays. There is always the chance of the OB coming around your house for an early breakfast.

I don't feel there will be a massive increase in trouble, although I have a feeling we may get a few Sunday 11.00 KO.
 


8ace

Banned
Jul 21, 2003
23,811
Brighton
Having lived in that area for the early part of my life, I can foresee a couple of potential flashpoints.
Firstly, The Hikers is a notorious BHA pub and will be the second nearest to the ground. It might be seen as a bit of a 'challenge' to some of the livelier away teams (in much the same way as the Duke of thingy pub just off the Holmesdale Road was in 2005).
The other is the opportunity for some of the locals to use the trains coming in to Falmer from Brighton as target practice as they pass through the woods around Lucraft Road, etc, again when the livelier teams are in town. That will be more difficult to police/prevent.

The locals like to throw things at the trains anyway, one of them was firebombed a few years back.
 


Napper

Well-known member
Jul 9, 2003
24,344
Sussex
I can only recall 2 possibly 3 minor punch ups with away fans at Withdean so of course there will be more trouble,

Trouble happens week in week out at grounds across the country, it doesnt take much digging on google to get examples. It is nothing new.

BHA has an element as do all teams but I can't see them looking for it every game. There will be a handfull of games where it is inevatable however. Just look at the Pompey game this year and that was on a small scale.

As with all these things you are unlikely to just get dragged in unless you want to so don't worry about it.

IMO we need our element there, I'm not saying I want mindless violence everyweek but I certainly don't want all and sundry coming to Brighton and taking the right royal piss all day. Especially Pompey and Palace !!

It's blokes being blokes , its the football culture, its the lads on the piss situations. Its going to happen but lets not piss our pants. Football needs an edge and after 10 + years in the wilderness lets be a proper club again , on and off the pitch.
 




sir albion

New member
Jan 6, 2007
13,055
SWINDON
Its not a nightmare as the pigs get paid for it,trust me the extra revenue it will bring to the city and those police fines will make up for it.Goner be many interesting nights and days in brighton:)
 


sir albion

New member
Jan 6, 2007
13,055
SWINDON
The difference some of you seem to be missing is that our ground now welcomes 2,000 (two thousand) away fans, and the ground is an amazing tempter so most other fans will want to come, this is different to 800 tickets for a roofless shithole.

All fans, home and away will be travelling in the same direction afterwards on only 1 mode of transport (train).....(ok, the odd coach too, but brighton and the ground is easy to get to on train).

Also, as poster says above, the club are trying to get fans to stay in the ground after games (to spend more money) and therefore, a few hundred can wait for the away fans to come out.


trouble is very inevitable.
2400 actually:)
 


bhaexpress

New member
Jul 7, 2003
27,627
Kent
Christ on a bike, football related trouble is minimal these days, much to the disappointment of some, quite clearly, and the rare moments when problem do arise are always talked up tenfold by the idiots involved, compared to the actual reality (twenty balding, slightly overweight blokes in their forties shouting "come on then" across the safety of a railway track then both sets proudly boasting afterwards on their web forums how they definitely "ran" the other team).

Every other police force deals with it quite adequately, in the main, Sussex will be no different. If it wasn't the case then every major railway station in London would be utter mayhem every Saturday. Which they aren't, ergo most people are perfectly civilised, enjoy a bit of banter, but have no interest in anything other than the football and a beer or two.

Thanks Edna, I don't think your opinion can be argued with.
 




SussexHoop

New member
Dec 7, 2003
887
Every club has its share of morons. Some of yours will return to the fold next season. As someone has already said, Falmer will be a very popular away day and will attract more undesirables than Withdean.

The likes of Millwall, Cardiff, Swansea and Leeds will come looking for trouble. Others will have some looking for trouble but in smaller numbers. There will not be riots every other weekend, there may be the occasional scrap but if the police know what they're doing, they'll nip it in the bud quite quickly.

The games we've had this season where there have been reports of trouble are the usual suspects as mentioned above - Cardiff, Swansea, Millwall with a bit of bother from Bristol City.

The reality is the vast majority of football supporters including those of us who are follicly challenged, well built and over forty are normal decent people.
 


bhaexpress

New member
Jul 7, 2003
27,627
Kent
I can only recall 2 possibly 3 minor punch ups with away fans at Withdean so of course there will be more trouble,

Trouble happens week in week out at grounds across the country, it doesnt take much digging on google to get examples. It is nothing new.

BHA has an element as do all teams but I can't see them looking for it every game. There will be a handfull of games where it is inevatable however. Just look at the Pompey game this year and that was on a small scale.

As with all these things you are unlikely to just get dragged in unless you want to so don't worry about it.

IMO we need our element there, I'm not saying I want mindless violence everyweek but I certainly don't want all and sundry coming to Brighton and taking the right royal piss all day. Especially Pompey and Palace !!

It's blokes being blokes , its the football culture, its the lads on the piss situations. Its going to happen but lets not piss our pants. Football needs an edge and after 10 + years in the wilderness lets be a proper club again , on and off the pitch.

Tell you what, why not Google a few examples from last Saturday. In fact to make it easier Google a few from this season.
 






bhaexpress

New member
Jul 7, 2003
27,627
Kent
Err...if Edna thinks there was no trouble after the Pompey game then I beg to differ with your statement.

Where and when ? Still if you know better than Edna I bow to your superior knowledge, I must admit I prefer Edna's version though.
 


Joey Deacon's Disco Suit

It's a THUG life
Apr 19, 2010
854
Lancing, after the game. And then later there was a massive police operation in Worthing (after a huge police operation in Brighton before the game).
 


Lady Whistledown

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Jul 7, 2003
47,501
All I will say is that perhaps two or three seasons ago, I ended up working at an Albion home game, deemed a low risk one as almost all of them are, and then during the game got dispatched to the city centre where there was supposedly large numbers of away fans causing mayhem and trashing the place.

We arrive on scene, and there's maybe twenty guys from the away team standing outside a pub, all together of course (safety in numbers) shouting, singing and posturing towards a group of about eight Albion lads on the other side of the road, who were of course doing the same back. At some point I think a plastic pint glass with a small amount of lager in might have been lobbed on to the tarmac from one side (oh, the humanity!). A short while later, the away fans, whose club shall remain nameless, were directed towards a train and left the city.

Reading the write ups from some sources online afterwards, however, you'd have thought a massive, 1980s style kicking had taken place, with windows put in, the police struggling to cope, and blood & bodies flying all over the place. All I remember doing is standing around in front of the away lot to prevent them from leaving, if they could actually have been bothered to try. But you'd never have believed it was so tame from the bragging that was going on in various forums afterwards: you'd have thought they'd re-enacted the Football Factory for the day :rolleyes:
 


seagullsovergrimsby

#cpfctinpotclub
Aug 21, 2005
43,888
Crap Town
The problem will be away fans coming down for the Friday night piss up rather than on the day antics. You'll always get the nutters looking for trouble but they'll be closely observed. After the game not all away fans who came by train will travel back to Brighton on the train from Falmer because they will use the buses instead to ensure getting their train connection from Brighton.
 




bhaexpress

New member
Jul 7, 2003
27,627
Kent
All I will say is that perhaps two or three seasons ago, I ended up working at an Albion home game, deemed a low risk one as almost all of them are, and then during the game got dispatched to the city centre where there was supposedly large numbers of away fans causing mayhem and trashing the place.

We arrive on scene, and there's maybe twenty guys from the away team standing outside a pub, all together of course (safety in numbers) shouting, singing and posturing towards a group of about eight Albion lads on the other side of the road, who were of course doing the same back. At some point I think a plastic pint glass with a small amount of lager in might have been lobbed on to the tarmac from one side (oh, the humanity!). A short while later, the away fans, whose club shall remain nameless, were directed towards a train and left the city.

Reading the write ups from some sources online afterwards, however, you'd have thought a massive, 1980s style kicking had taken place, with windows put in, the police struggling to cope, and blood & bodies flying all over the place. All I remember doing is standing around in front of the away lot to prevent them from leaving, if they could actually have been bothered to try. But you'd never have believed it was so tame from the bragging that was going on in various forums afterwards: you'd have thought they'd re-enacted the Football Factory for the day :rolleyes:

I have to say once again I prefer Edna's version as I too think that some people get a bit carried away. I also think that some people are trying to glorify the myth.
 


smudge

Up the Albion!
Jul 8, 2003
7,370
On the ocean wave
That would have been Swindon outside the Railway Bell then.

If it is going to teturn to the 80's then the trouble will be in town the night before the game & the lunch time on the day of the game.
Maybe the WSF will be reincarnated.
Nothing will happen at Falmer, pretty obvious.
 


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