[Albion] 300 Palace fans locked out of the Amex

[Thunder Bolt]

I'm afraid our own club is partly responsible for this in reality, and neither club come out of this very well.

Ultimately, you have to ask how 200 ticketless fans were able to force their way in. You also have to wonder how all those bangers and flares got in (we are all assuming they got in with the 200 who forced their way in, but we don't actually know and it was a major security issue.

But let's be clear about this - their fans need to take some responsibility for this shambles too. They need to work with plod and the Albion to find out who forced their way in, and anyone responsible needs a lifetime ban.

I agree. It's going to take some sorting out, as I understand Palace brought their own stewards, & the Met too.

 

[Foolg]

I'm afraid our own club is partly responsible for this in reality, and neither club come out of this very well.

Ultimately, you have to ask how 200 ticketless fans were able to force their way in. You also have to wonder how all those bangers and flares got in (we are all assuming they got in with the 200 who forced their way in, but we don't actually know and it was a major security issue.

But let's be clear about this - their fans need to take some responsibility for this shambles too. They need to work with plod and the Albion to find out who forced their way in, and anyone responsible needs a lifetime ban.

From the accounts of one Palace fan on twitter (who seems to be giving a balanced view of it all), they stormed a fire exit and let off a flare to distract stewards, a fair old few got in ticketless, in the process breaking one (Palace) stewards ribs. If that's the case, the only way you would arguably stop that is by having riot police guarding all the fire exits - then you ask where do you stop, do you have to also guard all home fire exits? All home entrances?

Those who charged the exit were (from albeit limited accounts), were the Holmesdale Fanatics. These were the people, all stood behind the banner behind the goal, who coincidently were letting off most of the pyros, as well as a small group at the back also dressed in black. Same person also posted about the fact that there were DOZENS of these flares/smokebombs etc on the ground after the game, and they were about the size of a lipstick, if that.

 

[Springal]

I'm afraid our own club is partly responsible for this in reality, and neither club come out of this very well.

Ultimately, you have to ask how 200 ticketless fans were able to force their way in. You also have to wonder how all those bangers and flares got in (we are all assuming they got in with the 200 who forced their way in, but we don't actually know and it was a major security issue.

But let's be clear about this - their fans need to take some responsibility for this shambles too. They need to work with plod and the Albion to find out who forced their way in, and anyone responsible needs a lifetime ban.

You can get smoke bombs and firecracker type things that are the size of a battery, they can very easily be concealed and hidden. Remember the outrage of searching womens bras at Stevenage earlier in the season? We only have 1 or the other

 

[worthingseagull]

think the police will struggle to identify these offenders as their plan was to ;
a/ storm turnstiles most with no tickets
b/ cover faces
c/ move to different seats midway through match

 

[Bwian]

Their fans will never learn

Learning requires functioning brains-they're on a hiding to nothing from birth.

 

[severnside gull]

either way i think club will be in trouble
1; not securing fire exits/maintaining emergency routes
or
2;not carrying adequate searches to prevent pyro/explosive devices inside a football stadium
both demonstrate lack of due care

There will inevitably be repercussions but that is sensationalist and unfair. Neither demonstrate a lack of due care.

How do you think someone on a fire door can withstand a gang intent on opening it to let their fellow hooligans in?
And how do you ensure that smoke bombs etc which palace fans stated afterwards were the size of lipsticks can be guaranteed to be found before entry? We are not talking rucksacks or bomb vests here.
There is a test of reasonableness.
Having found that troublemakers had gained access the correct decision was made to deny any further access even to ticket holding fans. I can remember before when fans were allowed in despite safety limits being reached and I will stand up today and say well done.

Police intelligence should have given some indication on what was planned by the palace hooligans. Arguably they could have been better prepared but to sensationalise that and push all the blame on the police is just plain wrong. Their role is to (try to) uphold the law. It wasn't them breaking it.


(Rant over)

 

[Return of the Rev]

There will inevitably be repercussions but that is sensationalist and unfair. Neither demonstrate a lack of due care.

How do you think someone on a fire door can withstand a gang intent on opening it to let their fellow hooligans in?
And how do you ensure that smoke bombs etc which palace fans stated afterwards were the size of lipsticks can be guaranteed to be found before entry? We are not talking rucksacks or bomb vests here.
There is a test of reasonableness.
Having found that troublemakers had gained access the correct decision was made to deny any further access even to ticket holding fans. I can remember before when fans were allowed in despite safety limits being reached and I will stand up today and say well done.

Police intelligence should have given some indication on what was planned by the palace hooligans. Arguably they could have been better prepared but to sensationalise that and push all the blame on the police is just plain wrong. Their role is to (try to) uphold the law. It wasn't them breaking it.


(Rant over)

Random ticket checks for people in silly clothes?

 

[Dick Head]

Brighton say a minority of Crystal Palace supporters 'came intent on causing disorder' after derby draw

Brighton have accused a number of Crystal Palace fans of causing disorder which left two stewards in hospital after Tuesday night's derby between the two clubs at the Amex Stadium.

Brighton said that a number of Palace fans had travelled to the ground without tickets and sought to gain entry shortly after kick-off, prompting the club to close the turnstiles at 7.51pm - six minutes into the match which finished 0-0.

That decision left some fans with legitimate tickets locked outside the ground, before they were escorted back to the railway station and sent back to London.

Sussex Police confirmed six arrests were made on the night and described the policing operation as "challenging" but proceeded "without a major incident".


http://www.skysports.com/football/n...e-intent-on-causing-disorder-after-derby-draw

 

[severnside gull]

Random ticket checks for people in silly clothes?

If Palace stay up (hopefully unlikely) there will surely be denial of access to anyone dressed in black next season

 

[Bozza]

Perusing the Palace sites as I have, they seem intent to put a fair amount of blame on our turnstyles being inadequate as they make it easy for people to force entry.

We are now in the 7th season of the Amex, meaning we've probably had around 150 games there, many of which were sellouts. We've hosted a fair few clubs with "reputations" and as far as I'm aware groups of fans forcing their way into the ground has never happened before last night.

The ethos of the Amex, the stewarding and the policing has long been to treat people like grown-ups since most people will do the right thing.

I'm simply not having "the turnstyles aren't fit for purpose" because it seems to be coming from the same school of thought that suggests if a woman dresses up a bit "she's asking for it".

 

[Blue Valkyrie]

Perusing the Palace sites as I have, they seem intent to put a fair amount of blame on our turnstyles being inadequate as they make it easy for people to force entry.

We are now in the 7th season of the Amex, meaning we've probably had around 150 games there, many of which were sellouts. We've hosted a fair few clubs with "reputations" and as far as I'm aware groups of fans forcing their way into the ground has never happened before last night.

The ethos of the Amex, the stewarding and the policing has long been to treat people like grown-ups since most people will do the right thing.

I'm simply not having "the turnstyles aren't fit for purpose" because it seems to be coming from the same school of thought that suggests if a woman dresses up a bit "she's asking for it".

If they went in through a fire exit opened by mole ultras from the inside, would there be any turnstiles anyway ?

 

[Springal]

Perusing the Palace sites as I have, they seem intent to put a fair amount of blame on our turnstyles being inadequate as they make it easy for people to force entry.

[...]
I'm simply not having "the turnstyles aren't fit for purpose" because it seems to be coming from the same school of thought that suggests if a woman dresses up a bit "she's asking for it".

This seemed the tone of a lot of tweets last night... basically nothing is their fault and it is all ours because they managed to get away with it. Look forward to them being kettled even more, bubble buses etc next season to give them NO opportunity to misbehave. Then it won't be out fault

 

[hopkins]

Can we stop using the term “ultras” ? I don’t want to be homophobic here BUT it sounds sooooo Gay.

 

[soistes]

Perusing the Palace sites as I have, they seem intent to put a fair amount of blame on our turnstyles being inadequate as they make it easy for people to force entry.

We are now in the 7th season of the Amex, meaning we've probably had around 150 games there, many of which were sellouts. We've hosted a fair few clubs with "reputations" and as far as I'm aware groups of fans forcing their way into the ground has never happened before last night.

The ethos of the Amex, the stewarding and the policing has long been to treat people like grown-ups since most people will do the right thing.

I'm simply not having "the turnstyles aren't fit for purpose" because it seems to be coming from the same school of thought that suggests if a woman dresses up a bit "she's asking for it".

All of this. 100%. I see no reason why the club should change its approach to handling away fans, which is civilised, modern and adult. If there's a fanbase of one team, and one team only, whose fanbase does not respond in kind, there is a clear and obvious solution.

 

[Renegade]

Those 300 fans should consider themselves lucky that they didn't have to witness a bore draw.Wish I was locked out.

 

[Brovion]

Have to disagree. Football policing in this country is entirely set up to handle situations like last night. Unlike many countries abroad where innocent fans would end up getting battered by police. It’s very annoying to watch (particularly last night) but if you send in police and stewards in that situation, it just gives the idiots someone to fight - as used to happen all the time. While the smoke bombs and fireworks are irresponsible and idiotic (what else would we expect), they weren’t actually a danger to anyone other than the morons who brought them in. That said, agree that a few of the bigger, riot style police pitch side standing in front of those pathetic little idiots with the banner wouldn’t have gone amiss, just to give them the message to calm down (and protect Ryan).

I see where you're coming from and I have an element of sympathy with your view. However surely that's the debate? Is old-school diving in necessarily worse than the modern approach of standing aside? Because they were allowed to continue they felt empowered and innocent people continued to suffer. I work with a Palace fan who was there last night, and he said when they were corralled in some of their morons were still letting off smoke bombs, and a couple of the older fans were suffering from the smoke.

 

[Wellesley]

Surely if you've paid for a ticket, got your ID, it's not too much to ask the riot police or stewards to go and remove the spotty oik that is in your seat. The genuine Palace fans (don't think I've ever used that expression before) have a right to be fuming with their own fans and the pathetic lack of policing. Are the police really worried by these pillocks?

 

[Gilliver's Travels]

...maybe we need the floor-to-ceiling revolving door cages in the away end to cater for the animals on these occasions when they descend.

No. This is the 21st-century. Reverting to those mediaeval torture-chamber gates would send a hugely negative signal to all visiting fans. Last night was the first such incident after six trouble-free seasons at the Amex. To allow a bunch of black-clad cretins to force us back into the 1970s would be an admission that they had won.

 

[Del Fenner]

How on earth could that happen? They are steel bars with one man entry. Surely that must be bollocks.

I haven't been to this ground but how the **** can you jump over turnstiles these days? are they not floor to ceiling?

Nope. They’re like the kind of things you see at a theme park rollercoaster queue - waist height on an adult, they are locked in place until you scan your ticket and then you just push the bar through. To jump them would be very easy for anyone under the age of 70 that doesn’t have dodgy knees.

They were terrible turnstiles. The sort I'd expect at a non-league ground except for the fact they scanned your ticket. They were like those turnstiles you get at train stations where you have to pay to go to the toilet, but even more flimsy.

Liverpool are going to have a field day with these.

 

[Moshe Gariani]

Liverpool are going to have a field day with these.

They won't though, will they?

In 6 years of much bigger and better clubs than Palace visiting our stadium we haven't had any trouble at all with people trying to jump the turnstiles.

Palace have created their own problem with the Always gang and it was lovely last night to see it rebound on Palace fans.