The Palace Conspiracy

seagull on the wing said:

what is this 'handbags' stuff you talk about....it is violence,any fan who wanted to avoid trouble kept away from the station area.some people go to these flashpoints to join in the violence,then whinge when they get clobbered and arrested,...and the first thing they do is complain about the police.there was plenty of trouble when the london clubs came down,west ham,arsenal,chelsea late 70s early 80s,we knew where it would kick off,sometimes they would infiltrate the north stand,so in those games i took my son and went in the far end of the ground.so if you think that the ob wanted trouble to justify their existance then you're on the wrong track...i'm sure they would rather be having a peaceful time of it....remember,you go looking for trouble you'll find it...also the club have to pay for this policing so your harming your own club.

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Keyser Soze said:

All I've said is my opinion and facts. It's a free country. You think I don't know who reads this forum?

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Return of the Rev said:

so the far end of the ground against west ham would have been the south stand THAT HAD A BIGGER PUNCH UP THAN THE NORTH STAND

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lamierobertson said:

hmm..i was in south stand then i don't remember a bigger punch up...maybe i wasn't conscious..hmm..i do remember getting stuck in a phone box outside the cliftonville as west ham fans piled off the train

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Uncle Spielberg said:

Come on who are we trying to kid ?. The BHAFC " fans " who were at Brighton Station drinking in the pubs where there for one reason, a chance of a ruck with CPFC fans.

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Return of the Rev said:

just after kick the albion piled into the west ham bodies all over the floor,got seperated by the police line,albion fans got into the south stand seats ran down the steps and jumped on top of the hammers! The west ham were very coplimentary in the cells at hove police station to the albion fans! I so glad we have come such a long way since those dark days

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Commander said:

I was drinking in the pubs near Brighton station on that day because I came into Brighton by train and wanted a couple of drinks before the football, and they are the closest pubs to the station. Not because I wanted to punch anyone. So that is a ridiculous comment.

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Keyser Soze said:

There is a common saying; only the very stupid think the law is stupid.

This week, Sussex Police released pictures of people they want to speak to in relation to the disorder that occurred on the 27th September prior to the match with Crystal Palace. They have also indicated more arrests (and presumably pictures for snitches to peruse) are to come as part of the post match investigation.

Am I the only one who thinks there should be a serious inquiry into the way the day unfolded, but not an enquiry into the behaviour of the fans, but those who were supposed to Police the fixture.

It's not secret to anyone, least of all the police that there was going to be a LOT of people hell bent on having a bit of fun. It was discussed on forums like this from the moment it looked like we would get promoted, so how did they get it so wrong? Answer - they let it.

Take before the game, they had approximately 200 Palace fans under wraps in Wetherspoons on West Street. At the pubs around Brighton station a similar number of Brighton herberts had congregated with a large Police presence. Now obviously the Police had to move the scum from their drinking hole to Brighton station at some point, but they way they did it leaves a lot of questions. In my view they had 2 options. Option 1. Take the Palace on a straight march up Queens Road directly through the waiting Albion hoards. Or Option 2. Take the Palace fans up Queens Rd as far as the junction just before the Standard pub, then take a left and go around onto Trafalger St, come out of the tunnel under the station. The only pubs the Palace would get anywhere near would be The Prince Albert and the Grand Central. Meanwhile they could have kept the Albion lads cooped up in The Standard, The Queens Head and The Railway Bell. It would be unlikely either side would even see each other in Option 2, whereas Option 1 almost garunteed trouble. Well geuss what? Our devoted Police force chose Option 1. If a humble observer such as myself could spot this, then why couldn't someone paid to keep the peace?

After the game was a similar story, the Police allowed Palace fans to come back to Brighton station when there was absolutely no need to. Now we all know that Sussex Police are incompetent beyond belief, but does anyone think they are that stupid? The whole affair stinks to high heaven. The press and the Police are calling for the heads of people, but they pretty much arranged the entire incident. It was all done so that the handbags that unfolded could be filmed, and the overtime wages being paid to the football unit could be justified. As a result at least one person was injured (by the cowardly baton weilding thugs I might add), several windows were smashed, and I have it from a good source that one man walking his dog was assaulted.

In short, Sussex Police knowingly endangered people and allowed a breach of the peace, just to justify the millions needlessly pumped into policing football. Either that or they truly are f***ing stupid. If heads should roll for this it should not be those they are parading in front of the media, it's whoever was tasked with policing this fixture.

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Uncle Spielberg said:

I suspect you were very much in the minority then. All the " top boys " knew the rendezvous was Brighton station and thats why they were there.

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Westdene Seagull said:

just so I can take a balanced view of your post please could you enlighten us all to your expert experience in policing ? I assume you've been a policeman, or maybe an intelligence officer or possibly even a member of the Albion police liaison team ? Just interested like.

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Commander said:

I think he's going to struggle to do that seeing as he's just been banned.

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edna krabappel said:

Just so I can get this clear in my head: on the one hand we have people giving it the old "boys will be boys" attitude, that it should be completely acceptable for grown men to act like it's still 1981 and to start hurling abuse and lobbing drinks across the street the second a rival football supporter walks past....and on the other, the same people are complaining that the police failed to protect them from the nasty Palace fans?

Do you want to be allowed to fight or not...? Sorry, I'm just confused.

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