What the heck were the police upto after the game?

[drew]

Has there been a stabbing or the chance of someone in a coma ?

Sorry, from my experience trying to keep fans apart that can lead to as many problems as it solves. I thought the Palace game actually demonstrated something.

The problem was the fact there was a police line stopping Millwall gettingn to the P & R but they failed to stop the West stand fans from walking past the South stand. We always walk back that way and had to push through to the police line and get them to let us through. I agree with the policy of releasing fans at the same time but Millwall are Millwall and the problem last night would have been avoided by either keeping the Millwall fans in for 10 minutes so the bulk of fans get round to the P & R queues or another police line stopping the West stand fans from walking past the south end.

 

[The Oldman]

Glad to see tht those who actually witnessed the events outside the south stand agree with me. It was frightening. There were elderly folk and parents with young children being compressed into an ever diminishing space with Millwall fans pushing into the melee. The police did not seem to understand that they had trapped Brighton and Millwall suppoerters together or that you cannot access the P & R from the coach park steps. Overall not a good night.

 

[Deleted User X18H]

I went to the Bus park about 9:55 but there was no S or P bus to be seen. So I jumped on a 25 that took ages. Went past the station which still looked heaving at about 10:05.

That was my worst experince of getting away from the stadium so far. But really not that bad!

 

[TheMajor]

Yep. From the Lewes-bound platform, at about 22:25.

Millwall fans were separated from Albion fans, by being sent down a different set of stairs and admitted to the platform via the main station entrance, rather than the side gate. Albion fans were held at the side gate while all this happened. The segregation worked really well.

No it didn't as many Millwall ignored the Lewes option and caught trains back to Brighton where fights occurred on the train.

 

[Return of the Rev]

The mass confrontations that we saw in the past haven't happened. It's small numbers, not widespread public disorder.

thats how it started before

 

[Manx Shearwater]

Bearing in mind a huge amount of Brighton fans stick around after the game, what value is there in the policy of keeping away fans in for 15 minutes?

The majority leave at the final whistle. Certainly on an evening game I would expect this to be normal. People are more likely to want to get home quickly.

If you want elderly people and young kids and women kettled into a confined space with Millwall supporters for five minutes preventing them from getting to their P&R bus, and creating a potential for crowd trouble, then great, it worked a treat.

 

[folkestonesgull]

i always think policing at football matches is over the top and makes people more aggressive, likely to push each other etc as they angrier and angrier about being held in a confined space.

 

[Commander]

They are trying to be a bit more clever at the Amex. With almost perfect success.

What? 3 games with potential for trouble so far, Leeds, Palace and Millwall. Trouble at two of them.

The policing is naive at best. Pompey will probably be even worse

 

[honey boy zimba]

edna im only saying how it was for me being frog marched back as you say stopped violence ,do you think if police let out palace and us at same time with no segregation everybody would of shaken hands and gone home quietly think its you who needs to get real .

 

[TheMajor]

What? 3 games with potential for trouble so far, Leeds, Palace and Millwall. Trouble at two of them.

The policing is naive at best. Pompey will probably be even worse

Also interesting to note that the 3 games you mention - the away side didn't lose. It will turn nasty when we spank someone - Cardiff or Pompey ?

 

[Hotchilidog]

It looks like for certain games the south stand area should be cordoned off and people in the west stand told prior to the game that they should walk round via the north and east stand to access the P+R. it sounds like this would have addressed the main issue last night.

Although sadly the elephant in the room is that we have to make these arrangements because fans of certain clubs cannot be relied upon to act like civilised human beings. I think a look at reduced ticket allocations might be in order for those clubs that cannot control themselves.

 

[chimneys]

If you want elderly people and young kids and women kettled into a confined space with Millwall supporters for five minutes preventing them from getting to their P&R bus, and creating a potential for crowd trouble, then great, it worked a treat.

Add into the mix us scoring the winner in the last miunute and it would have been carnage outside the South last night! Police got that kettling very, very wrong and hope whoever dreamt up that bright idea rethinks for future high profile games!

 

[Commander]

Also interesting to note that the 3 games you mention - the away side didn't lose. It will turn nasty when we spank someone - Cardiff or Pompey ?

Very true. A dodgy last minute winning penalty against Pompey after a niggly game could cause real problems. I just find it odd that some people still seem to pretend it doesn't happen anymore and there are no issues.

All this "Treat people like responsible adults and they will behave like responsible adults" is all very well and good, but a (despite what people say) fair number of opposition fans such as Pompey, Millwall, Leeds etc, are not responsible adults, they are scum. It's all so naive, why take the risk in letting everyone out at the same time? Hold them back for 15 minutes and put them all on the train home via Lewes and it's problem solved, especially for evening games. Or even keep the home fans back for 15 minutes and get the away fans out.

I thought the Met's policing of the game at Selhurst was really good. The vast mjority of fans were kept apart completely and apart from the odd scuffle on the walk to the station and a few coins thrown, it all passed off relatively peacefully. Had they let us all out together, that would not have been the case.

There are only 3 games a season or so the police need to use this kind of tactic at the Amex, for the rest of them they can carry on doing as they are, which to be fair to them they are doing well.

I'm sure a big part of it is down to Sussex police not being used to it as they haven't had large away followings coming to town for 15 years, and hopefully they will get used to it soon enough. As for the 'Brighton is protest central' argument, that's just nonsense. A few crusties and students with stop the war banners is not in the same league as Millwall or Cardiff coming to town for the football.

Hopefully next season we will do away with this ridiculous idea of playing any game with a possibility of trouble on a Tuesday night, as it only increases the problems because of the transport issues in getting away from the stadium. Surely every club cant say they want any high risk game to be an evening game or Millwall / Leeds etc will never play on Saturdays?

 

[Lady Whistledown]

But we both know when there is a tree-hugger or right wing march, there are twice as many police as protesters.

Do the police ever ask sensible fans for their views, fans who have lived through all the nastiness from the 70s and 80s?

All the police want is the scum off their patch, in the same way they want West Street cleared in the early hours of the morning.

A big fat blind eye is turned against dozens/hundreds of criminal offences.

That's not acceptable, and hopefully when we have an elected Police Chief things will change.

TB

You have 2,500 away fans here, give or take. I don't know what the exact numbers are, but there are nothing like that number of police at a game. There's only about 3,300 officers in the whole of Sussex Police at any time. I see what you're saying about some offences being ignored, but if every football supporter- of either team- was arrested for everything that constituted an offence last night then there would not be a single officer left in the ground, I absolutely guarantee it. There would simply not be enough cells in the county to take them all either. Fact.

So you're left with a situation where the people committing the more serious or flagrant or persistent offences are the ones who are nicked, or ejected, whereas others will, inevitably, get away with certain things. And that, I am certain, applies to Albion fans too, you know that as well as I do. Don't tell me you didn't hear any Albion fans giving it large last night, or swearing in an unacceptable manner, or trying to start stuff (just in case you actually didn't: trust me, there were a few).

I am genuinely intrigued to see what you think a police commissioner- some eager local worthy with no experience of either public order situations, football or the legal system- might be able to do about that. Makes no odds to me who gets the job, it's all just a government PR stunt if you want my opinion: I just can't see how you expect it to impact on the Albion games.

 

[Seagull over Canaryland]

Very true. A dodgy last minute winning penalty against Pompey after a niggly game could cause real problems. I just find it odd that some people still seem to pretend it doesn't happen anymore and there are no issues.

All this "Treat people like responsible adults and they will behave like responsible adults" is all very well and good, but a (despite what people say) fair number of opposition fans such as Pompey, Millwall, Leeds etc, are not responsible adults, they are scum. It's all so naive, why take the risk in letting everyone out at the same time? Hold them back for 15 minutes and put them all on the train home via Lewes and it's problem solved, especially for evening games. Or even keep the home fans back for 15 minutes and get the away fans out.

I thought the Met's policing of the game at Selhurst was really good. The vast mjority of fans were kept apart completely and apart from the odd scuffle on the walk to the station and a few coins thrown, it all passed off relatively peacefully. Had they let us all out together, that would not have been the case.

There are only 3 games a season or so the police need to use this kind of tactic at the Amex, for the rest of them they can carry on doing as they are, which to be fair to them they are doing well.

I'm sure a big part of it is down to Sussex police not being used to it as they haven't had large away followings coming to town for 15 years, and hopefully they will get used to it soon enough. As for the 'Brighton is protest central' argument, that's just nonsense. A few crusties and students with stop the war banners is not in the same league as Millwall or Cardiff coming to town for the football.

Hopefully next season we will do away with this ridiculous idea of playing any game with a possibility of trouble on a Tuesday night, as it only increases the problems because of the transport issues in getting away from the stadium. Surely every club cant say they want any high risk game to be an evening game or Millwall / Leeds etc will never play on Saturdays?

Totally agree. Policing a few thousand good natured flower waving baby buggy pushing tree huggers on a nice summers day along the seafront is not relevant experience for dealing with hundreds of beered up opposition neanderthals bent on causing grief especially if squeezed into a totally unnecessary pinch point and confrontation with thousands of home fans including children. Last night was a classic case of Policing with consent - they were very lucky that the crowds 'consented' and chose not to properly kick off, IMHO this was a fluke and not down to responsible Policing. B&HA has created a fabulous 'Community' stadium that it wants families and all fans (home and away) to feel safe attending so I hope it is going review how these matters are managed by the Authorities.

Ahead of the stadium opening I enthused about our new home but also expressed concern at the potential pinch points around the Amex and at the Stations but if fans are properly managed / segregated by Police & Stewards the chance of a flashpoint will be substantially reduced. It seems to me that currently the Police match day Commander has a flawed risk assessment and unless they get a grip Cardiff or Pompey might not be so compliant. Now the authorities have experience of the Amex there is no excuse for not getting the crowd control right.

They are not perfect but I have no problem with how the Met deal with matches at Selhurst (or The Old and New Den or Upton Park). As a away fan since the early 70's I've seen a very robust Police approach based on segregation and a degree of what is now fashionably called kettling (but I call it common sense) which although a tad inconvenient is not a problem. This puts out a firm message and deterent, so anyone kicking off knows they will feel some pain.

 

[StillHateBellotti]

I would for games like this, as Southampton and Portsmouth do, make it a coach only journey where you get your ticket on the coach. On arrival at the Amex there is temporary but not shitty herrace fencing (that can be bolted down and then removed) down from the coach park and the same near the seperation of the West Stand and South.

This will prevent away and home fans mixing at high profile games or Cat C games, save costs of policing the town centre, Brighton station. Away fans kept in for 5 after game (if Necessary), led on to coaches, police escort out of the stadium and on to motorway!

The costs saved on policing could be ploughed back in to subsidise the coaches! At the end of the day all we want to do is watch the match and get home alive Would make the falmer station scenario a lot easier to stomach.

If clubs are not prepared to do this then give them less tickets!

Awaiting the human rights argument, I don't live near my Club or work in London arguments!

I was at the Millwall v West Ham game earlier in the season at the Den, No trouble, hell of a lot more police on duty, away fans escorted in and out of area. Individual offences dealt with robustly, it worked.

END.............

 

[Tony Meolas Loan Spell]

I think this shows that for high profile games (those clubs with nob ends) we need a midday k/o on a weekend. Its all made worse for the mad dashes for the trains. Was the friday game with leeds ok I stayed behind till bars shut so by then it was all clear? We also have cardiff on a weds any idea if they will sell out?

Pompey is a saturday so it will be interesting to see what happens there with a 3pm k/o.

 

[Bozza]

I think this shows that for high profile games (those clubs with nob ends) we need a midday k/o on a weekend. Its all made worse for the mad dashes for the trains. Was the friday game with leeds ok I stayed behind till bars shut so by then it was all clear? We also have cardiff on a weds any idea if they will sell out?

As I posted elsewhere, I'm pretty sure the next Palace game at the Amex will be early lunchtime on a Sunday.

 

[Hungry Joe]

I struggle to understand how you could caught up in anything if you simply walk away. After the Palace game (up here), three of us followed the Palace fans. Police didn't want us to go at first, but I showed some id that proved I live in London and off we went. Police probably thought we were Palace fans.

Naive. I was kettled with the Millwall last night along with my 82 year old dad. He was getting shoved left right and centre and had no way to get out. I was close to losing it with the police until one sensible officer let us through.

 

[Commander]

I would for games like this, as Southampton and Portsmouth do, make it a coach only journey where you get your ticket on the coach. On arrival at the Amex there is temporary but not shitty herrace fencing (that can be bolted down and then removed) down from the coach park and the same near the seperation of the West Stand and South.

This will prevent away and home fans mixing at high profile games or Cat C games, save costs of policing the town centre, Brighton station. Away fans kept in for 5 after game (if Necessary), led on to coaches, police escort out of the stadium and on to motorway!

The costs saved on policing could be ploughed back in to subsidise the coaches! At the end of the day all we want to do is watch the match and get home alive Would make the falmer station scenario a lot easier to stomach.

If clubs are not prepared to do this then give them less tickets!

Awaiting the human rights argument, I don't live near my Club or work in London arguments!

I was at the Millwall v West Ham game earlier in the season at the Den, No trouble, hell of a lot more police on duty, away fans escorted in and out of area. Individual offences dealt with robustly, it worked.

END.............

There is no rivalry with Millwall. It isn't a serious enough problem to make it a 'bubble' game for God's sake. Millwall are like that everywhere. Just stick them all in a couple of pubs, march to them to the ground, keep them in for 15 minutes afterwards or better still keep the home fans in for 15 minutes afterwards (and make this clear before the game so people know it is going to happen) and then put them all on a train out without mixing with the home fans. They have this everywhere they go, and the police do this up and down the country for loads of games, why don't they do it at the Amex?

It makes the police look so naive, on the Sussex Police Twitter account yesterday they were giving it all this "Welcome to all Millwall fans, you are welcome in any pub in the city, we know you can be trusted etc" only for Millwall to turn up and smash the place up and start fighting. Well what a surprise.

IAwaiting the I don't live near my Club or work in London arguments!

Is that not a fair argument then? I live in London, if we had this situation away at Millwall, should I get the train from London Bridge all the way down to Brighton, only to get on a coach to bring me all the way back up again? Why?