So who won the old Sussex Senior Cup?

[Munkfish]

I went yesterday, Bognor Fans did come across rather loutish, however I feel if they were Albion fans it would have been acceptable, they seemed to have a group of around 50+ singers who were pretty loud. a few Bognor fans on the way home, did look a bit inbred but what do you expect?

I was sat with the Peachaven fans and to be fair they didnt look much better, saw two convicted drug dealers in the crowd and serveral women who would be best described as Lushes, pretty much both as bad as eachover when it comes to the fans. Also in the peachaven stand towards the the 1901 seats there were two proper fat kids and there fat Dad trying to give it the biggun to Bognor fans who wouldnt of been able to hear them even if they tried, trying to claim a couple of the Bognor lads will be signing for them next season, a little classless at that level.

Peachaven have a lot more money than Bognor and without question deserved the win on the day, however if a few things had gone the other way for bognor the scoreline could have been reverse. I liked Bognors Midelfield, the 4, 7 and 8 worked well together, created the better chances, however tired later in the game and resorted to Gerrard type balls to try and break down peachaven, when i think they would have had more chance trying to play through them.

Peachavens keepers looked good for that level as did there right back and Captain, good game of football, will be intresting to see how they got on againest eachover in the league next year, I doubt it will be that one sided.

 

[BognorRocksFans]

I'm working on it as we speak, having a dignified celebration, I won't head into Peacehaven central tonight because if its gets any livelier a funeral might break out.

Great day out, due to the weather, pitch, atmosphere and result,Congratulations to Shaun, his team and all the players, so in reality I've got no complaints at all, as I say a great day out.


but what the hell, here goes, the important bit. We only pay £3 a pint (in a glass) We can stand, and sing and the kids can walk and play where they like, without being told off by stewards with nothing else to do. We can hang up our assortment of eight foot flags without (and I am not joking here) asked to produce my Fire Retardent Certificate. Never got asked that in Le Harve, The Stadio Olyimpico, the Ajax Arena, De Kuip (Rotterdam) Guernsey's 'national' Stadium or even Wembley. We never get threatened with being thrown out if we fail to retrieve a flag being passed over peoples heads 10 rows and one block away. Said flag that cost the supporters sixty quid only a couple of weeks ago has been confiscated and not seen since.


Who cares? like I said, a great day out and the result/performance conquers all, but I cant wait for VCD Athletic away next season!

Said to same to us mate, we tried to warn everyone this problem happened last year about to stewards spoiling the day but after a while they gave up and stopped asking us to sit down.

As for flags, they said we needed a 'fire safety certificate' for it to be placed in the ground haaha.

 

[BognorRocksFans]

Have heard several different Brighton businesses reporting that Bognor fans were the worst they had encountered all season. Reckon it's more likely to have been PL team supporting plastic hooligan wannabes from Bognor/LA area having an end of season blowout rather than genuine Bognor fans...

Genuine Bognor fans peacehaven average 100 a game and somehow managed to sell over 600 tickets? we sold about the same and we average 400/500 a game, so please work out where you got genuine from? talking utter Bull.

 

[Guinness Boy]

I was at the game yesterday with my son and grandson who are big Peacehaven fans, so we got the right result.

However I thought it was interesting how many players on both sides ended up with injuries and cramp. One of the Peacehaven players was clean through at one stage and just suddenly pulled up with, I suspect, his ham strings going and took no further part and at least 5 or 6 stoppages were for players rolling about with cramp. I know it was hot but I do wonder if the pitch is the cause of so many of our injuries during the season.

Will be interesting to see if we get less injuries once the training ground can be used. I've always assumed it is the difference between the training and playing surface as our opponents rarely seem to suffer similar injuries. Not surprised there was a lot of cramp though, always happens when it's hot and there's a high intensity game between slightly less well conditioned players. Remember the old Cup finals?

 

[BognorRocksFans]

I was at the game yesterday with my son and grandson who are big Peacehaven fans, so we got the right result.

However I thought it was interesting how many players on both sides ended up with injuries and cramp. One of the Peacehaven players was clean through at one stage and just suddenly pulled up with, I suspect, his ham strings going and took no further part and at least 5 or 6 stoppages were for players rolling about with cramp. I know it was hot but I do wonder if the pitch is the cause of so many of our injuries during the season.

We never had an injured player, was only P&T who kept falling over. we wouldn't waste time whilst we are the team losing!

 

[Arthur]

saw two convicted drug dealers in the crowd

Are ex cons not allowed to go to football now??

Also feel I should stick up for the Bognor fans a little. I can only speak as I found so can't comment what they got up to in town but they were as I said an interesting bunch. Yes a few of them had probably enjoyed the sun a little bit too much but it was a) a big cup final b) football and c) a glorious day! Can't fault anyone for that. They probably had a group of 50-75 chaps (and a couple of chapesses) who were interested in singing and generally enjoying themselves. They made a racket, stood at the back where they didn't get in anyones way and created a bit of atmosphere. They were continually bothered by a group of about 8 stewards constantly telling them to sit down (back row, 2000 people there, not upsetting anyone....other than the stewards). Towards the end of the first half led by a baldy chap with a beard who seemed to be leading most of the singing about 30 of them moved to the front few rows where they were more of a nuisance as they were in the way of the people who wanted to sit down. Said baldy chap with beard seemed to know an awful lot of people within the end so I doubt he was part of rent-a-mob some of you seem to be suggesting was there. That said the woman behind me did say she didn't recognise many of the faces in the group doing most of the singing, however they seemed to know the songs so make of that what you will?

It seemed to me that most of the issues created were the stewards on doings.

For the record I have no affiliation with either Bognor or Peacehaven. I only went in the south stand as I had parked in Bennetts Field and at the time of buying the ticket I had no idea which fans were sitting where.

 

[torchieboy]

Are ex cons not allowed to go to football now??

Also feel I should stick up for the Bognor fans a little. I can only speak as I found so can't comment what they got up to in town but they were as I said an interesting bunch. Yes a few of them had probably enjoyed the sun a little bit too much but it was a) a big cup final b) football and c) a glorious day! Can't fault anyone for that. They probably had a group of 50-75 chaps (and a couple of chapesses) who were interested in singing and generally enjoying themselves. They made a racket, stood at the back where they didn't get in anyones way and created a bit of atmosphere. They were continually bothered by a group of about 8 stewards constantly telling them to sit down (back row, 2000 people there, not upsetting anyone....other than the stewards). Towards the end of the first half led by a baldy chap with a beard who seemed to be leading most of the singing about 30 of them moved to the front few rows where they were more of a nuisance as they were in the way of the people who wanted to sit down. Said baldy chap with beard seemed to know an awful lot of people within the end so I doubt he was part of rent-a-mob some of you seem to be suggesting was there. That said the woman behind me did say she didn't recognise many of the faces in the group doing most of the singing, however they seemed to know the songs so make of that what you will?

It seemed to me that most of the issues created were the stewards on doings.

For the record I have no affiliation with either Bognor or Peacehaven. I only went in the south stand as I had parked in Bennetts Field and at the time of buying the ticket I had no idea which fans were sitting where.

The bald chap is 'goldy' and supports the rocks home and away, so saying he's part of the rent a mob is way off the mark. There was a few lads there who dont go to many home/away games but the majority of singers were loyal supporters. most clubs, inc brighton, have a few fans who turn up for the big matches but the rocks get 400+ for most home games.

 

[Munkfish]

Are ex cons not allowed to go to football now??

Also feel I should stick up for the Bognor fans a little. I can only speak as I found so can't comment what they got up to in town but they were as I said an interesting bunch. Yes a few of them had probably enjoyed the sun a little bit too much but it was a) a big cup final b) football and c) a glorious day! Can't fault anyone for that. They probably had a group of 50-75 chaps (and a couple of chapesses) who were interested in singing and generally enjoying themselves. They made a racket, stood at the back where they didn't get in anyones way and created a bit of atmosphere. They were continually bothered by a group of about 8 stewards constantly telling them to sit down (back row, 2000 people there, not upsetting anyone....other than the stewards). Towards the end of the first half led by a baldy chap with a beard who seemed to be leading most of the singing about 30 of them moved to the front few rows where they were more of a nuisance as they were in the way of the people who wanted to sit down. Said baldy chap with beard seemed to know an awful lot of people within the end so I doubt he was part of rent-a-mob some of you seem to be suggesting was there. That said the woman behind me did say she didn't recognise many of the faces in the group doing most of the singing, however they seemed to know the songs so make of that what you will?

It seemed to me that most of the issues created were the stewards on doings.

For the record I have no affiliation with either Bognor or Peacehaven. I only went in the south stand as I had parked in Bennetts Field and at the time of buying the ticket I had no idea which fans were sitting where.

I was Just trying to highlight, peachaven fans who were there werent exactly angels, making my point rather badly I guess.

 

[BognorRocksFans]

Are ex cons not allowed to go to football now??

Also feel I should stick up for the Bognor fans a little. I can only speak as I found so can't comment what they got up to in town but they were as I said an interesting bunch. Yes a few of them had probably enjoyed the sun a little bit too much but it was a) a big cup final b) football and c) a glorious day! Can't fault anyone for that. They probably had a group of 50-75 chaps (and a couple of chapesses) who were interested in singing and generally enjoying themselves. They made a racket, stood at the back where they didn't get in anyones way and created a bit of atmosphere. They were continually bothered by a group of about 8 stewards constantly telling them to sit down (back row, 2000 people there, not upsetting anyone....other than the stewards). Towards the end of the first half led by a baldy chap with a beard who seemed to be leading most of the singing about 30 of them moved to the front few rows where they were more of a nuisance as they were in the way of the people who wanted to sit down. Said baldy chap with beard seemed to know an awful lot of people within the end so I doubt he was part of rent-a-mob some of you seem to be suggesting was there. That said the woman behind me did say she didn't recognise many of the faces in the group doing most of the singing, however they seemed to know the songs so make of that what you will?

It seemed to me that most of the issues created were the stewards on doings.

For the record I have no affiliation with either Bognor or Peacehaven. I only went in the south stand as I had parked in Bennetts Field and at the time of buying the ticket I had no idea which fans were sitting where.

As said, the majority who were singing are fans who go every single week home and away so im not sure if the person who said they didn't recognize us watches us week in week out.

What happened with 'Goldy' (Beard bald bloke) was the stewards grabbed him after coming back from going to the toilet and said to go to the front, therfore other fans joined him and stewards said nothing, the logic of that was pointless really. they gave up asking us to sit after a while, like they do with every away fans i see at brighton in the away end singing.

 

[champion7]

The singing and standing wasn't the issue,we actually explained to the bald chap that the problem we had was 87 people standing in a block of 70 seats,he told us he understood and would deal with the issue himself which to his credit he did.we had no issues with him and he spent about 15 mins chatting to us at the end of the game in a friendly manner.

 

[BN9 BHA]

The rules were set by scfa,it's their game at the end off the day,they insisted on no flags and that everyone was to sit or be asked to leave.the bar in the south was closed towards the end as Bognor fans couldn't grasp the concept of although it was non-league teams playing the football league regulations still applied as it was a football league ground.

I sent a message last night to the SCFA to see if they could confirm what you are saying about the flags, the reply I got today was as follows.

" Nothing from us with regards to flags, we do not control the stadium or enforce the ground regulations, that is done by BHAFC.

What are you thoughts on this [MENTION=5974]champion7[/MENTION], please reply.

 

[BN9 BHA]

No I Don't feel proud of myself,but the rules were set and we had to abide by them,maybe you should send your thoughts to scfa.

Any thoughts yet?

 

[Hiney]

Bognor Regis Town did write to the stadium people, raising their concerns about the treatment/behaviour. Here is the response.

Some interesting comments, in particular, the fact that there were more ejections in the last two matches involving Bognor at The Amex, than there were in the last two matches against Palace!!

Dear Ian,
Thank you for taking the time to send in your detailed email raising concerns from Sundays match. I will endeavour to answer all of your points but before I do so I should point out that decisions made this year were influenced partly by the poor behaviour of a significant number of Bognor fans last season, plus reports of continued poor behaviour of a small element of your support throughout this season. I would be happy for you to share this response with supporters on your forums or website and would positively encourage this to ensure all supporters are aware of our response and the fact that even some of your own fans did not want to sit with other Bognor supporters.
When our stadium is used by any organisation regardless of the type of event our expectation is that visitors adhere to our ground regulations and our professional standards rather than those of other venues/organisations. To play the Sussex Senior Cup Final at The Amex is only possible if we keep costs down for the Sussex FA who we have an excellent working relationship with. Therefore when supporters fail to comply with stewards costs increase because of the need for segregation and an increased security presence. This could ultimately result in the event being unviable at our stadium thus taking away the chance for players and supporters to enjoy their cup final here.
I liken this to a club making it to a Wembley cup final. If we were to visit Wembley we would comply with their rules and regulations and ensure our standards met their expectations.
I would also point out that to play this Final here is very much a privilege for the clubs involved and not a right and whilst we enjoy hosting the event it is both costly and time consuming so to then have supporters treat our staff and stadium with little respect is extremely frustrating. It also detracts from the fantastic efforts put in by those at The Sussex FA who work throughout the season to organise a magnificent competition.
I can categorically say that Bognor supporters are the only group who have complained about their treatment in our 3 years here. We are currently shortlisted along with 5 other organisations for the award of “the best stewarding and security match day operation – world-wide”, this is for the 2nd time in 3 years and we won the award in 2012 so clearly we are not as poor as suggested in your email. The nomination for this award came from visiting football supporters who contacted the awarding body.
With regards the health and safety section of your email, at no point was I, as Club Safety Officer, contacted or made aware of your specific selling policy so whilst you may have made calculated decisions these were not shared with myself, surely this would have been prudent?
Contrary to your comment that only block C was open in fact blocks B & C were open giving more than adequate seating for the 667 supporters who attended as this area can accommodate 1015. As we were aware of the issues last season we decided that to give unallocated seating was the best option allowing those that wanted to group and sing the chance to sit together. Normally this type of supporter, as you know, will make their way to the back of the stand. Had we known of your seating policy we would have ensured the original blocks were open and performed ticket checks thus making sure supporters were in their allocated seat. The downside of this would have been that your fans would have been distributed over 1400 seats and would not have created such a good atmosphere.
Communication between both Bognor, Sussex FA and ourselves was good in the week leading up to the match so we were aware of the ticket sales and therefore aware that we would not require all of the areas initially allocated. The decision was made to use blocks B and C when it became apparent that Bognor sales were never likely to top 800. This decision was also based on giving all Bognor fans an unrestricted view of the whole pitch as by keeping your allocation to the far side of the stand your supporters would not have a goal in their way when looking across the area.
The issue with the back section was, as you suggest, overcrowding and whilst I cannot condone standing in an all seater stadium, stewards were advised to treat those in this section more leniently. Whilst stewards did help to get those that wanted to sing and stand into this area some supporters would not accept that the area, which holds 72, was full and continued to push in resulting in 90 supporters in the section. Stairs and walkways were blocked and stewards continually attempted to clear this but as supporters refused to leave I made the decision to ask them all to take their seats meaning 18 would be left standing these would then be removed making the area safe again hence the change in stance from the stewards. The area was subsequently cleared and made safe for those 72 remaining.
During this period several fans were spoken to for inciting the crowd to ignore stewards requests beckoning others to stand, normally this would have led to ejections, however due to the significance of the game for your supporters we did not want to eject but for some I am afraid we had no option as they were aggressive, intoxicated and abusive to not only stewards but also to Police Officers.
Unfortunately the weather we can’t control and whilst your supporters complained of the sunlight some Peacehaven fans complained of being cold and not being allowed to sit in the sun. We advise all of our supporters to dress accordingly and be prepared for English weather i.e. changeable.. Preparations for the match started earlier in the week and therefore catering kiosks had been stocked in the areas to be used, toilets and first aid rooms prepared and netting put in place to prevent migration of supporters into other unstaffed areas this can’t be changed quickly. I was concerned to hear that our caterers had run out of water and were refusing to serve tap water. I took this up with the General Manager of our catering firm who informed me this morning that he had just emptied 10 crates of bottled water from your kiosk to use in another area that’s 240 bottles so clearly they had stock available. He also advised that his staff are all briefed to issue tap water on request. If this was being refused why did no one speak to a steward?
The final part of my briefing on Sunday was to tell stewards that despite issues the previous season they should forget about this and remember that we treat all supporters with respect and ensure that they all have an enjoyable stay with us and that as with all clubs it is only a minority that cause problems. We have won numerous awards for our treatment of fans and are often held up as one of the best Clubs in the country for this so I am sorry that your Supporters did not enjoy their stay but would also add that in two matches involving Bognor here at the Amex we have had more ejections than we had for our last two matches against Crystal Palace. As a Club I would suggest you need to look at some of your supporters and decide what impact they are having on your clubs reputation. This is supported not only by comments at the end of your email from your supporters which refer to this troublesome element but also by the fact that we allowed several families of Bognor fans with young children to sit with Peacehaven because they were worried about sitting in the Bognor end because of “the Bognor fans rowdy behaviour”. Surely this also needs to be taken into consideration.
For your records we refused access to two drunk individuals and ejected 4, with another 4 choosing to leave of their own accord, so less than last year but still more than we have for many games in the Sky Bet Championship. One may have been arrested later for abusing a Police Officer. All of these were Bognor fans and no supporters from Peacehaven were ejected as they were compliant. I would not expect police to attend a match of this type normally, yet they insisted on a presence due to continued poor behaviour of a small group of Bognor supporters, again this increases costs significantly.
I have proposed that for next year’s final we issue a small hand out of do’s and don’ts at a Football League Ground with each ticket and also place a similar guide on each finalists website. Regulations and laws at Football League grounds differ greatly from those at non-league grounds and this often causes the problems we encountered yesterday but by giving this information in advance hopefully we can ensure supporters can attend and enjoy the occasion without falling foul of the stewards.
My expectation is that my response may be seen as that of a “big time” club looking down on a non-league club but my background prior to progressing into the Football League was with Maidstone, Sittingbourne and Gravesend and Northfleet (Ebbsfleet) and I have to say that in my 10 years in non-league football I never encountered the level of the anti-social behaviour some of your fans brought to the Amex both this year and last. We welcome all supporters and want to promote a family friendly atmosphere but until individuals like this are prevented from attending we will continue to take action against them.
Regards
Chris J Baker
Safety Officer
American Express Community Stadium

 

[CAPTAIN GREALISH]

I sent a message last night to the SCFA to see if they could confirm what you are saying about the flags, the reply I got today was as follows.

" Nothing from us with regards to flags, we do not control the stadium or enforce the ground regulations, that is done by BHAFC.

What are you thoughts on this [MENTION=5974]champion7[/MENTION], please reply.

if thats the case our football club should be ashamed?

 

[BN9 BHA]

if thats the case our football club should be ashamed?

Or was it a few stewards making up their own rules?
We have already had a steward posting lies on here.

 

[Dr. Notthenineo'clocknews]

I went yesterday, Bognor Fans did come across rather loutish, however I feel if they were Albion fans it would have been acceptable, they seemed to have a group of around 50+ singers who were pretty loud. a few Bognor fans on the way home, did look a bit inbred but what do you expect?

I was sat with the Peachaven fans and to be fair they didnt look much better, saw two convicted drug dealers in the crowd and serveral women who would be best described as Lushes, pretty much both as bad as eachover when it comes to the fans. Also in the peachaven stand towards the the 1901 seats there were two proper fat kids and there fat Dad trying to give it the biggun to Bognor fans who wouldnt of been able to hear them even if they tried, trying to claim a couple of the Bognor lads will be signing for them next season, a little classless at that level.

There you go Arthur, it's not just the ex cons that are not allowed to go, it's the fat and the woman that like a drink as well!

As for "a little classless at that level" try Hastings, they're the Real Madrid of this department.

"Peacehaven have a lot more money than Bognor" yet again, which one are you? A) bloke in the pub told me. B) I read it on NSC or C) I read it on the Hastings/Leatherhead/Folkestone/insert team name that had just been soundly beaten message board.?

Just going back to the "behaviour" of both sets of fans, Have you ever been to Palace/Orient/Southend away? or indeed my favourite ever away, Le Harve when I saw two women (from Brighton) fighting with a local bar owner, now that WAS "class" Considering there are no police and rarely stewards I think us non league fans get on alright.


PTFC

 

[Munkfish]

There you go Arthur, it's not just the ex cons that are not allowed to go, it's the fat and the woman that like a drink as well!

As for "a little classless at that level" try Hastings, they're the Real Madrid of this department.

"Peacehaven have a lot more money than Bognor" yet again, which one are you? A) bloke in the pub told me. B) I read it on NSC or C) I read it on the Hastings/Leatherhead/Folkestone/insert team name that had just been soundly beaten message board.?

Just going back to the "behaviour" of both sets of fans, Have you ever been to Palace/Orient/Southend away? or indeed my favourite ever away, Le Harve when I saw two women (from Brighton) fighting with a local bar owner, now that WAS "class" Considering there are no police and rarely stewards I think us non league fans get on alright.


PTFC

D) I used to play at that level and still have many friends that do. I knew 2 players very well and another 2 players fairly well who played in Sundays game. Both of the Bognor players have been approched by Peachaven offering them another £100 more both stayed due to the pitch and facilities at bognor and werent bothered about that money. but please do keep denying it.

However Margate are the team spending stupid amounts. I was told that one of your stikers was offered £800 a game. So both teams come out as small fry compared to that.

Yes I have been to all 3 of those away games and strangley apart from Palace I enjoy going to those grounds. non league fans are great, but people slagging off bognor fans, peachaven werent much better simple as that. just like any game you go to and i am sure some of those peachaven and bognor fans support brighton as well.

The fat family, were very similar to the Dad and Son at Grimsby when we went down in from the old divsion one, the Dad on both occasions not setting a decent example to his kids. they were annoying the hell out of most people around them.

 

[Horses Arse]

if thats the case our football club should be ashamed?

You're right. We should be ashamed. The problem starts with Chris Baker who is an egotistical fool with no sense, no integrity and absolutely no care for the club or supporters. The guy is an incompetent fool so drunk on his limited power that he can't see the wood for the trees. He needs to be ditched soon. Stewards can do no wrong and fans can do no right and should not be trusted is the mantra that Chris Baker follows.

Not at all good for the reputation of our club or the atmosphere with the Amex.

 

[Horses Arse]

Or was it a few stewards making up their own rules?
We have already had a steward posting lies on here.

And we have the club's safety officer also lying. Seems to be a cultural thing within the club's safety staff at present.

 

[Arthur]

My expectation is that my response may be seen as that of a “big time” club looking down on a non-league club

And you'd be right especially when you come out with patronising drivel like:

I have proposed that for next year’s final we issue a small hand out of do’s and don’ts at a Football League Ground