[Albion] Info for AS Roma fans for Thursday

[Bozza]

The one we went through took about 30 seconds between each time someone scanned a ticket (though I've seen someone post on NSC that this was controlled by stewards to slow down the rate at which we got through).

Yeah - this was our experience. The person in front went through and the scanner then paused for quite a while before it was ready for the next ticket.

If you put a ticket in before it said it was ready, a message came up essentially saying "I'm not ready yet".

As you say, this really slowed down the flow of fans through that particular point.

 

[Ooh it’s a corner]

Is it though ?

Given the Marseille fans totally trashed the buses used for their game I suspect no company wants to provide them

Fair enough but can still see it being interesting at the station then - bearing in mind those of us who meet for a pint after the game will probably meet with the just released Roma fans

 

[Bombardier]

They’re not bloody dissolvable

I said it before and I will say it again. I am happy to remove them for you.

 

[Deadly Danson]

To them we are just English fans that rampaged across Europe in the 80’s and 90’s.

Some of the comments on here saying we should have been treated differently are as we are a nice, friendly club have been incredibly naive. They are not going to differentiate between English clubs or the English national team.

I know what you're saying and it is naive but it really shouldn't be beyond any police force to do a bit of research and classify games accordingly just as we do with the difference in our approach if we play Palace or Forest for example. I guess I just want people to do their jobs properly. Anyone watching us all queue in a nice British orderly fashion for the buses in the park would have realised that there wasn't much to worry about.

 

[Bozza]

To them we are just English fans that rampaged across Europe in the 80’s and 90’s.

Some of the comments on here saying we should have been treated differently are as we are a nice, friendly club have been incredibly naive. They are not going to differentiate between English clubs or the English national team.

This is it for me: they will have had groups of fans from many countries - and these days, mainly not England - who will have been an utter pain in the arse to deal with.

So, all away fans are largely treated the same way.

But, for us, Roma didn't seem that bad all things considered...

- Initial ticket/ID check
- Ticket entry scan
- Steward search
- Police search

...which I think took about 20 minutes in total once we'd jumped off the coach.

The police at the final search looked very menacing. You'd hope that at some point they'd have realised that we're not a group of ultras hell-bent on carnage and, perhaps, loosened up a bit. Maybe even adopted a smile instead of a scowl.

What does grate is how home fans do seem to be able to get away with almost anything, although PBOBE has taken a stance against this - possibly making us the first club to do so.

 

[The red pepper kid]

I think "light touch" is a little generous. the barking dogs, riot shields and number of checks felt to me to be a little over the top compared to other matches. Amsterdam was definitely light touch and "low-profile", but this was significantly heavier than that. That said, no-one was unpleasant doing it. They no doubt have reasons or experiences to suggest it is necessary, but I felt it to be a little over the top..

i only saw 2 dogs in the ground ............ a Black GSD was looking at the wall -the wrong direction, and a black n tan was pulling at the lead to get back in the van !
against palace we had 20+ barking dogs GSD and Maligators

 

[hans kraay fan club]

They’re not bloody dissolvable

Do you have to fly back next week to have them taken out?

 

[Hotchilidog]

If the Marseilles story is true then I understand the Bus company's reticence to supply the buses, but this has a lotto ugly potential. In the confines of the station it really only needs a handful of people to create a potentially dangerous situation.

Given what happened in Rome I am surprised the Police did not insist on the buses being used.

 

[timbha]

Is it though ?

Given the Marseille fans totally trashed the buses used for their game I suspect no company wants to provide them

I try to keep up with all things Albion but this is news to me. Do you have a link/source?

 

[Insel affe]

I can see the march to and from the train station being a major flash point

If the Marseilles story is true then I understand the Bus company's reticence to supply the buses, but this has a lotto ugly potential. In the confines of the station it really only needs a handful of people to create a potentially dangerous situation.

Given what happened in Rome I am surprised the Police did not insist on the buses being used.

get them to march up Elm Grove and get on the buses at the racecourse that will knacker them out, they wont have any fight in them after that and few shandies.

 

[Brian Fantana]

There was nothing wrong with the scanner.
The thing had a red cross which needed to be aligned across the QR code.

Pretty sure the fella in front of me would have had me there till halftime if I hadn't lined it up for him.

They were definitely manually controlled by the stewards just beyond the turnstile. The steward standing in front of me told me so when I asked him what the hold-up was, as there'd been a red cross on the scanner for a couple of minutes and we'd not moved anywhere. I then saw the steward beyond the turnstile walk up to it and seemingly press a button because the red cross immediately vanished and we were free to scan our ticket.

 

[Hotchilidog]

They were definitely manually controlled by the stewards just beyond the turnstile. The steward standing in front of me told me so when I asked him what the hold-up was, as there'd been a red cross on the scanner for a couple of minutes and we'd not moved anywhere. I then saw the steward beyond the turnstile walk up to it and seemingly press a button because the red cross immediately vanished and we were free to scan our ticket.

Yes the steward pressed the button once thy had let the previous ticket holder pass. I thought it worked relatively well.

 

[Sussax]

If the Marseilles story is true then I understand the Bus company's reticence to supply the buses, but this has a lotto ugly potential. In the confines of the station it really only needs a handful of people to create a potentially dangerous situation.

Given what happened in Rome I am surprised the Police did not insist on the buses being used.

Yeah understandable from the Bus company POV, but very much seems that material damage is being put before the fans safety.

Hopefully nothing will happen, but can see the station pre/post match being a bit dicey.

 

[Hotchilidog]

Yeah understandable from the Bus company POV, but very much seems that material damage is being put before the fans safety.

Hopefully nothing will happen, but can see the station pre/post match being a bit dicey.

I tend to agree. I would have thought security concerns would trump all other considerations.

 

[Hamilton]

Treat others as you would like to be treated at all times.

 

[TWOCHOICEStom]

Do you have to fly back next week to have them taken out?

"There's honestly nothing I can do honey, they're Italian stitches, I've got to go back to the same certified "Ospedale" Centre in Rome to have them specially removed. I'll be back in a couple of days don't worry"

 

[hans kraay fan club]

I tend to agree. I would have thought security concerns would trump all otters considerations.

Agreed - though what exactly could the club, or police actually do, if it is true that no bus company is prepared to supply the required vehicles? the police can't MAKE a private company put on a service.

The only thing I guess the police could 'DO' is to ban the Roma fans from the game altogether on security grounds, if no safe transport provision could be found. Which would in turn feel too much.

 

[medwayseagull reborn]

I tend to agree. I would have thought security concerns would trump all otters considerations.

Do we need to start a " save the otters " campaign.

 

[PascalGroß Tips]

This is it for me: they will have had groups of fans from many countries - and these days, mainly not England - who will have been an utter pain in the arse to deal with.

So, all away fans are largely treated the same way.

But, for us, Roma didn't seem that bad all things considered...

- Initial ticket/ID check
- Ticket entry scan
- Steward search
- Police search

...which I think took about 20 minutes in total once we'd jumped off the coach.

The police at the final search looked very menacing. You'd hope that at some point they'd have realised that we're not a group of ultras hell-bent on carnage and, perhaps, loosened up a bit. Maybe even adopted a smile instead of a scowl.

What does grate is how home fans do seem to be able to get away with almost anything, although PBOBE has taken a stance against this - possibly making us the first club to do so.

As I approached the final police search, there were two ‘free’ officers on the right. I kind of zig zagged between the two of them and then headed for the one that had a big smile on his face. As I got close, his words - with a big smile - were, “you chose me”.

I guess we all had different experiences, for whatever reason. Mine was a very positive one.

 

[jackalbion]

Do you have to fly back next week to have them taken out?

Thankfully not