[Albion] Bbc1 - Paul Barber

[Dave the OAP]

I know that and you know that, but then we've been around football for a long time.

Many people haven't and will take this as a message that going to the Amex isn't safe.
As I pointed out before, one of our own fans has been exaggerating it on Facebook by saying it happened in the stands. It's like Chinese whispers and some people like to be 'important'.

The was a lot of old "faces" at the match last week. Which was the point I was making in the thread after the game

 

[Nobby]

Why oh why publicise the club in this manner? Top besmirching Paul
Deal with it (ban em if you dont wish to do business with them), pass the evidence to the police, job done, thats where the association should end. Or go on national media and blow something out of all proportion and link the club to these idiots on some kind of "look how we do it at zero tolerance to anything at Brighton" crusade.

No idea what the thought process is behind this, but it stinks of attention seeking

Yep. I’m with you Matt. Since he’s become Assistant Chairman (or whatever his new title is), his profile in the media is increasing daily. Whereas the club’s isn’t

 

[BN9 BHA]

We really are through the looking glass now. Isn't it fans who according to the statement, unprovoked, attacked West Brom fans, assaulted a female steward and threatened to stab her in front of kids, and assaulted and abused a female crowd doctor trying to help that particular steward, who have made parents think twice.

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but I'm sure the opening post from the other thread had a club statement that mentioned a male steward.
This is the first time i have seen female steward mentioned.
I know the statement mentioned a female stand doctor.

 

[chaileyjem]

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but I'm sure the opening post from the other thread had a club statement that mentioned a male steward.
This is the first time i have seen female steward mentioned.
I know the statement mentioned a female stand doctor.

apologies. yes. my error. have edited my post.

 

[BN9 BHA]

apologies. yes. my error. have edited my post.

Thank you.

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

So, Palace fans turn up, assault a couple of stewards, Palace do next to nothing other than criticise the police response, idiots keep on going to games, their club stays very quiet on the issue, we on NSC are angered by the Palace boards response.

A couple of Brighton fans assault a steward, our club acts immediately and decisively, bans the idiots, supports the police and is proud to say its done all this , and we on NSC are angered by our boards response.

There's a lesson here on human nature, of some sort...

 

[Frankie]

Won't be long now .

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Not that I have any sympathy with these people, but the comment above is very odd as it does appear that they put " lifetime bans" on the purpotrators very quickly indeed. And it reads that they speak to the fuzz and hand over evidence then take action....but it doesn't appear that it happened. They were banned first and now the cops are looking at the " evidence"

The police collect the evidence and hand it over to the CPS for a decision.
The police can prosecute directly for 'minor' incidents like traffic, shoplifting etc.

The CPS have solicitors on duty 24/7 to look at evidence and make charging decisions. Obviously that includes a lot of major crimes too. The backlog can mount up, especially when the CPS tell the police to collect more evidence, or provide missing evidence. Because of cuts, they are all stretched.

 

[Wardy's twin]

from the Radio Sussex interview
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p06zm3qq

Barber: We’ve worked very hard to make the Amex a very safe and welcoming environment for people who want to enjoy their football. Unfortunately 1-2 people want to spoil that and we’re not prepared to accept that , and we will take very strong action, as we have done.

Presenter: I’ve yet to take my 2 children who are 8 and 10 to a football match, my daughter is particularly keen to come. When you hear of something like this, it makes people nervous even if its a very small minority.

Barber: The vast majority of people who come to the Amex, week in week out are well behaved, love the environment, respect the staff, respect other supporters and simply enjoy the football. But unfortunately there’s a few people who see football as a place to let out their aggression, behave badly towards people and other fans, make threats to our staff and when it gets to assault, then we are simply not prepared to have these people anywhere near the club. And we will do whatever we can to keep them away and we urge the police to take strong action against them criminally as well.
We can only do so much as.a football club to keep these people away from what is an enjoyable environment for most people. We need the authorities to make sure to these people that this kind of behaviour isn’t acceptable in society let alone in a football stadium.

Presenter: Presumably you’re in conversation with Sussex Police but no criminal charges so far ?

Barber: Absolutely and all we can do is hand over the evidence we’ve got . In these cases we have CCTV, we have video evidence, we have witness statements. We don’t take the decision to ban people for life lightly. We’re taking away their enjoyment of football. We don’t do that on a whim. We do that with careful evidence , we do that with witness statements, and then we simply hand over to the police and let them do what they do. We’re not in the position of punishing people for criminal behaviour but what we can do is protect our stadium and keep these people away which is exactly what we are doing.

Presenter We’ve heard about the allegation involving one of your stewards. How are they doing?

Barber: We have a responsibility, we have a duty of care to our staff. They turn up week in week out , to support the football club , but most importantly to keep people safe. And when those people are attacked by the very people that they are there to keep safe then we have to take strong action, and we will , and we will protect our staff. And if this means banning more supporters to keep these [types of] people away then thats exactly what we will do.

Unfortunately the BBC TV programme integrated pretty graphic footage of large scale football violence not relating to the club and some of it from the 70's. Maybe its all part of the agenda that seems to think all football fans are violent morons. Does nothing to help the case of safe standing or perhaps enjoying a pint while watching a game...Football support behaviour could still improve but has moved on dramatically since the 70's to be almost unrecognisable. The BBC TV article took it backwards.

 

[Stat Brother]

Not that I have any sympathy with these people, but the comment above is very odd as it does appear that they put " lifetime bans" on the purpotrators very quickly indeed. And it reads that they speak to the fuzz and hand over evidence then take action....but it doesn't appear that it happened. They were banned first and now the cops are looking at the " evidence"

Shirley the club can refuse entry to whoever they like for however long they like.
[MENTION=805]Kalimantan Gull[/MENTION] has nailed this in #86.

No matter how hard posters try they can't have it both ways.

 

[chaileyjem]

Yep. I’m with you Matt. Since he’s become Assistant Chairman (or whatever his new title is), his profile in the media is increasing daily. Whereas the club’s isn’t

The Barber stuff on NSC is fun and he rightly deserves scrutiny. Banning fans, increasing security measures and ticketing decisions are hard to get right and they don't always do so. But this . Come off it. The club is live on BBC TV next week for the first time in over 30 years, Last time i looked its going to be 2 hours in prime time of our players no doubt struggling to defend a lead rather than an in depth interview with PB.
Liam Rosenior has a higher media profile than Barber doing rather good punditry on Sky and elsewhere every week.
And there's profiles like this one of our players, or our manager (Glenn Murray in the Mirror today - https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/glenn-murray-reserve-match-goal-13939951 ) nearly every week.
Even on NSC , Barber chat is probably minor compared to all the other (rather good stuff) day after day after day. Outside of the hard core i doubt most football fans even Albion ones could even tell you who or what he does.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Bloody whales. Not welcome at my club.

This. It would only encourage Free Willy puns.

 

[patchamalbion]

Hope they have a pamphlet on each seat today explaining what we can and can’t do with the corresponding punishments..

If I get up and shout “that’s a f****** joke ref” will I get a 3 year ban?..

 

[Goldstone1976]

This. It would only encourage Free Willy puns.

Come off it. You should know by now that nothing is free at the Albion. Especially Willies.

 

[Ernest]

Hope they have a pamphlet on each seat today explaining what we can and can’t do with the corresponding punishments..

If I get up and shout “that’s a f****** joke ref” will I get a 3 year ban?..

4 years for that

 

[Stat Brother]

Hope they have a pamphlet on each seat today explaining what we can and can’t do with the corresponding punishments..

If I get up and shout “that’s a f****** joke ref” will I get a 3 year ban?..

The fella behind me in the Family Stand is pushing his luck on this one, no matter how many times we tell him to shut up..

I for one won't be manning the barricades on his behalf if he finally gets 'done'.

 

[drew]

Not that I have any sympathy with these people, but the comment above is very odd as it does appear that they put " lifetime bans" on the purpotrators very quickly indeed. And it reads that they speak to the fuzz and hand over evidence then take action....but it doesn't appear that it happened. They were banned first and now the cops are looking at the " evidence"

Not sure how you're reading it like that. As I understand from PB is that they have video evidence and witness statements and on the basis of those they have banned the fans. They have now handed all that to the Police for the CPS to consider criminal charges. Whether they are charged or not doesn't have a bearing on the club banning them!

 

[Bry Nylon]

If I get up and shout “that’s a f****** joke ref” will I get a 3 year ban?..

You will if you're the 4th official.

 

[Official Old Man]

The way that PB has treated this incident may have backfired.
My personal thoughts. I have to pass the away fans both before and after the game and feel very safe (I'm from the 70's and been there in mass brawls). It's great to see families at the matches, both at home and away along with away families at the Amex. Football is great again. The stewards have a job to do and again I cant fault them. Both at home and away they are always smiling and chatty. You needed to be there in the 70's to understand the way fans were treated. If 1 in 10,000 fans are bad now then maybe the same with stewards, but I've yet to meet one.
But my Mum is an outsider listening and watching PB on all the TV and Radio and is thinking that it is dangerous to go to a match now. She is asking if it was correct to take my 6 YO granddaughter last week.
Yes, make it known to fans that violence will result in a ban but I think PB may have overstepped the mark here.

 

[HalfaSeatOn]

Unfortunately the BBC TV programme integrated pretty graphic footage of large scale football violence not relating to the club and some of it from the 70's. Maybe its all part of the agenda that seems to think all football fans are violent morons. Does nothing to help the case of safe standing or perhaps enjoying a pint while watching a game...Football support behaviour could still improve but has moved on dramatically since the 70's to be almost unrecognisable. The BBC TV article took it backwards.

The BBC tv article severely exaggerated the situation but they are in the business of dramatic effect. PB is right to pursue the safety agenda but I thought he lost control and has come over as a bit nieve. It was not a good news story for the club and should have been managed as such.