[Albion] Paul Barber "embarrassed" by our support

[Guinness Boy]

Just out of interest do you miss the Formula 1 of the 70s and 80s aswell, when it was much more dangerous plus the glamour girls? Things move on. I'm nostalgic about the surges of the North Stand and the "danger" of the aways of my youth but would I want it back? Probably not.

I'm sure there are F1 fans who would vastly prefer that to watching noiseless hybrid turbos procession round a car park in a corrupt rich persons plaything like in Sochi or Qatar.

In reality there are good and bad things about all eras.

Take snooker from that time. I recently watched the iPlayer documentary about Higgins, White and the Matchroom Mob. Some of it was awful. The cigarette adverts are literally from another era. You've got White and Kirk Stevens addicted to coke, Alex killing himself with drink. And yet, it gripped the nation in a way that the English Open on Eurosport never will. Only O'Sullivan plays like that now, say what you like aboit White and Higgins, you didn't have to be a snooker player to appreciate it, they were box office entertainment. So then Hearn and satellite media saw this and started to monetise it, and the clean cut, dedicated players came to the fore and it was somehow both more a marketable product and less good.

Same with cricket. Look back at batsman facing the likes of Lillee or Holding, helmetless, within an inch of losing their lives but also, occasionally, taking it back to the quicks and hooking them for 4 and six, wearing not much more than some flares and basic padding. Incredibly glamourous, violently dangerous and often (if Tavere or Boycott were batting) surrounded by four and a half days of absolute nothingness. So what did we do? We stripped out the four and half days of nothing, wrapped the batters in cotton wool so no one sued and distilled cricket down to 20 overs of sixes, yorkers and bouncers. All killer, no filler, no danger and brought to you in conjunction with Mastercard, Ford and Vitality.

Football cannot be distilled down to a product. It has to keep the working man involved, Again, Sky took it on because of the fans not in spite of them. Look at lockdown football. How shit was that? Very. The fans must stay in touch with the game and the game must stay in touch with the fans.

None of that at all gives a bunch of pissed up dildos the right to hit each other at a football ground though.

 

[Perkino]

There is no doubt whatsoever that there are utter c*nts in our fanbase. There are plenty posting on this forum. Barber is right to find the behaviour of some to be embarrassing. Because by any reasonable standard, it is. He gave good examples, can anyone disagree that the behaviour quoted is unacceptable?

Football matches have historically been a useful event for such behaviour to hide within a large crowd. The Amex has always been zero tolerance on such matters with a community theme and a club for all mentality. I hope Barber's message reduces the incidents and combats the idiots who cannot control themselves

 

[Bozza]

I hope Barber's message reduces the incidents and combats the idiots who cannot control themselves

I'm not convinced that lads, lads, lads out for a day at the football whilst on the lash/charlie...

1. Buy the programme, read it and carefully consider the messages contained within it.
2. At the point of committing "embarassing behaviour" are of a state of mind which will cause them to stop, consider the programme article they didn't read, and assess which course of action to take.

 

[doogie004]

I'm not convinced that lads, lads, lads out for a day at the football whilst on the lash/charlie...

1. Buy the programme, read it and carefully consider the messages contained within it.
2. At the point of committing "embarassing behaviour" are of a state of mind which will cause them to stop, consider the programme article they didn't read, and assess which course of action to take.

Football innit


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[Thunder Bolt]

I'm not convinced that lads, lads, lads out for a day at the football whilst on the lash/charlie...

1. Buy the programme, read it and carefully consider the messages contained within it.
2. At the point of committing "embarassing behaviour" are of a state of mind which will cause them to stop, consider the programme article they didn't read, and assess which course of action to take.

They don't but it does show the council that the club is trying to reduce arrests, and comes in handy when applying to renew the licence to sell alcohol. It's a tick boxing exercise.

 

[Badger Boy]

The printed message is how the bans are justified when the idiots misbehave, get caught and get banned. When they argue they weren't warned, the programme is exhibit A. Ultimately, the club needs to make sure it's effective at identifying the wrong'uns and sacking them off. As well as effectively stopping them attending future games, and banning anyone who helps them get access using a ticket intended for someone else.

 

[Springal]

I still can't get my head around what appears to be an over reaction. Has anyone on here received any kind of warning or ban for their behavior and why? Surely this applies to the very small minority who are fighting other fans, throwing drinks at fans in the coach park queues, very drunk, caught with drugs etc?

 

[rippleman]

Hilarious bringing morals into it. I was pointing out that Paul Barber is running the club exactly the way Tony Bloom wants him to.

I read somewhere recently that Mr Chairman asks "Paul, what do I need to know?".

It is unlikely that Mr Chairman, with his various global business interests, involves himself in micro-managing every aspect of the club.

I really can't see Mr Chairman telling Barber "Ban flasks. That will piss some fans off". "Oh, and ban bottle tops, coz that will upset plenty of fans". "And ban bags too. That will upset another lot". "And just in case, stiff all those who want to hand their ticket to a friend or family member with a £25 charge. They will love that"

I could of course be wrong. This may all be Mr Chairman's work. I would however be surprised and very disappointed.

 

[Stat Brother]

I read somewhere recently that Mr Chairman asks "Paul, what do I need to know?".

It is unlikely that Mr Chairman, with his various global business interests, involves himself in micro-managing every aspect of the club.

I really can't see Mr Chairman telling Barber "Ban flasks. That will piss some fans off". "Oh, and ban bottle tops, coz that will upset plenty of fans". "And ban bags too. That will upset another lot". "And just in case, stiff all those who want to hand their ticket to a friend or family member with a £25 charge. They will love that"

I could of course be wrong. This may all be Mr Chairman's work. I would however be surprised and very disappointed.

No he doesn't micro manage Barbie.
But by the same token he pays PB a small fortune and promoted him deputy chairman, in order to run the business in Tony's name.

If you think Mr Bloom, super fan, is oblivious to how Mr Barber does the day to today running of the club then I wonder if I could interest you in some magic beans I have for sale.

 

[Perkino]

I'm not convinced that lads, lads, lads out for a day at the football whilst on the lash/charlie...

1. Buy the programme, read it and carefully consider the messages contained within it.
2. At the point of committing "embarassing behaviour" are of a state of mind which will cause them to stop, consider the programme article they didn't read, and assess which course of action to take.

No it didn't have an impact on their initial behaviour on Saturday but it may have increased the likelihood of individuals being prepared to report mindless behaviour which can be addressed by the club before becoming criminal offences.

99.9% of supporters go with the right intentions and never cause any negative issues but a small minority of mindless individuals are behaving in a way that the club don't want.

 

[chaileyjem]

New Stadiums attract new people they aren’t hardcore support we did have between 7-10k of them hopefully that number has grown who knows.

I've no idea what is a hardcore fan. A season ticket holder ? Someone who attends multiple away games ? Someone happy to watch us in L1 or in the Championship or at Withdean in the rain.

But i think your saying that the the fans that have grown up with the Amex must be by definition less loyal, genuine, "hardcore" and only there for the nice seats and nice pies and that we'd lost 15K fans at a stroke if we were relegated - because they aren't authentic and "like the stadium" - is at best not borne out by the facts (tickets, shirts, age of fans), and at worst - insulting.

 

[Bold Seagull]

New Stadiums attract new people they aren’t hardcore support we did have between 7-10k of them hopefully that number has grown who knows.

Did we? I must have imagined we didn't sell out the Withdean every week...

 

[Fat Boy Fat]

I've no idea what is a hardcore fan. A season ticket holder ? Someone who attends multiple away games ? Someone happy to watch us in L1 or in the Championship or at Withdean in the rain.

But i think your saying that the the fans that have grown up with the Amex must be by definition less loyal, genuine, "hardcore" and only there for the nice seats and nice pies and that we'd lost 15K fans at a stroke if we were relegated - because they aren't authentic and "like the stadium" - is at best not borne out by the facts (tickets, shirts, age of fans), and at worst - insulting.

Didn't you know a hardcore or genuine fan is born that way, a bit like a natural goalscorer or left back

 

[Springal]

Did we? I must have imagined we didn't sell out the Withdean every week...

This was our average attendances at Withdean ...

2009-2010 (so far) 6293
2008-2009 6092
2007-2008 5936
2006-2007 6047
2005-2006 6802
2004-2005 6426
2003-2004 6247
2002-2003 6650

 

[drew]

New Stadiums attract new people they aren’t hardcore support we did have between 7-10k of them hopefully that number has grown who knows.

So you think the 25/30k that used to turn up in 76/77 season were all 'hardcore' fans?

And what is a hardcore fan? Are you talking about 7/10k that sing or 7/10k that just turn up

 

[Stat Brother]

I should imagine if these grumblings ever did find their way onto Barbie's desk, let's face facts they certainly aren't getting there directly, he could easily palm them off as the ramblings of a few cantankerous tosspots who would NEVER be happy.

 

[Bold Seagull]

This was our average attendances at Withdean ...

2009-2010 (so far) 6293
2008-2009 6092
2007-2008 5936
2006-2007 6047
2005-2006 6802
2004-2005 6426
2003-2004 6247
2002-2003 6650

Yep, capacity was 8800 in the later years wasn’t it? Highest attendance was 8691 v Leeds - a massive club!.

 

[amexer]

All supporters are important whether following club for 1 or 30 seasons. Important to encourage youngsters for the future and from what I can see club does this well. Appreciate tickets sold for each game has been great but with more seats and no waitng list our level of interest has now peaked. I see still 1500/2k tickets available for Spurs game. Only a few years ago all tickets would have been snapped up in days for a Spurs game

 

[Lower West Stander]

Let’s face it - all clubs have their fair share of dickheads. Us included.

I’ve never been a fan of Barber - he’s the CEO of a club with a large captive customer base. It’s a bit like being a school headmaster.

And he does have a tendency to talk to us as if we were kids. There will always be some naughty ones - but please stop being so bloody patronising.


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[Pretty pink fairy]

All supporters are important whether following club for 1 or 30 seasons. Important to encourage youngsters for the future and from what I can see club does this well. Appreciate tickets sold for each game has been great but with more seats and no waitng list our level of interest has now peaked. I see still 1500/2k tickets available for Spurs game. Only a few years ago all tickets would have been snapped up in days for a Spurs game

It's all over the games been destroyed by Sky TV and greedy agents People entering football grounds are just being manipulated by the marketing men ,so glad I made a decision to get out at the right time i've got some fond memories as well no regrets
Regards
DF