Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Heroes Discussion => Topic started by: DeKuip on January 16, 2011, 06:51:40 PM
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What an embarrassment to our fine city today was for all of us who care about football here.
It’s easy to come on here for Villa fans and taunt the noses over their attendance, but it’s more than just that, and BOTH clubs, the city council and our own local police force have to take a lot of the blame for finally killing off what has always been a special occasion for the football fans of this region.
A meagre away allocation does not make for a passionate derby, today’s atmosphere was shocking and must have had football fans in Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield and elsewhere watching TV and laughing at the SECOND CITY derby.
Don’t give me the hooligan excuse… yes there was trouble in town after the last game but is that an excuse for the clubs and authorities to spoil things for the rest of us – the ones who pay the police bill through our taxes and match ticket money.
What happened at the ground then could have been prevented. After what had happened previously anyone with half a brain would have anticipated an attempt to smash up toilets in the away section and placed stewards or police in positions to stop it.
Anyone Police commander worth his salt would have realised that positioning all his manpower outside the ground in readiness for the final whistle left them exposed inside the stadium once the final whistle went. As it was a bunch of kids ran on to celebrate their win, and naturally ran towards the away end to taunt us – but was it actually threatening or frightening? Was it f**k! The police were lucky their weakness wasn’t exposed by an organised mob from either club hellbent on trouble – because all they left in place was a thin row of stewards. The fans in the away end or on the pitch could easily have got at each other of they wanted to, but didn’t… it was all gestures and some stupid flare throwing. The over-reaction to it in the media was predictable.
So what brilliant solution did the two clubs and the authorities come up with today. Not find a way of dealing with potential trouble – but stop people going! Then at huge cost to us all send enough police to give every away fan a personal escort – absolutely laughable. How could police intelligence be so far off the mark again.
How many arrests were made at the cup game, or indeed the Villa Park meeting in October when two sets of fans stood and threatened each other after the game, and threw a flare or two? If it had all been that bad then there would surely have been more arrests. If the police had done the job they get paid for then any troublemakers would have been sorted out.
What happened? – well at Villa Park a fan was thrown out for heading the ball back, at The Sty today a semi-streaker ran on the pitch and still managed to escape back into the crowd without being caught – despite every copper in the midlands being there.
Before we meet again the two clubs have to do better in terms of how they treat our derby. Are they going to spoil it for the real fans again and stop people going?..If so they may as well volunteer the two fixtures to the Premier League bosses as games to be played in Abu Dhabi or Outer Mongolia.
Failing that switch it to Bodymoor Heath or Waste Hills and save us all the embarrassment.
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The day we get a crowd of 22k for the derby I'll share their embarrassment, until then I think we should all have a good laugh at the team 'all true Brummies support'
I wont join in the knocking of them for not travelling to away games on a monday night but that crowd today was hilarious.
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I think today finally killed the myth about BCFC ever becoming, even an average sized club.Could'nt sell out against their biggest rivals, i bet they have'nt sold out against WHU either.
A real shame, because i believe a bigger and better BCFC is better for us.More competition, more rivalry=more ambition, and more important , the need to show ambition.
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Makes it even funnier when you think back to the new super stadium hot air being blown by the porn twins while they were in town.
Mind you probably doesn't help that neutrals, those who might be semi interested or many with kids won't go for fear of innocently being dragged into trouble.
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Fully agree. These games being played at 12.00 and poor attendances (Don't forget that the match at VP was no where near sold out and it was not live on TV) are making this derby a second class event compared to Liverpool and Manchester games.
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I'd also point out that who has caused the massive over reaction by the authorities? Us, or at least the meatheads on either side who seem to think we need to recreate the battle of rourke's drift every time we play one another.
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I seem to remember some pretty small crowds wherever you went in the 80's
There was time we would have been happy to get 22k
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I think today finally killed the myth about BCFC ever becoming, even an average sized club.Could'nt sell out against their biggest rivals, i bet they have'nt sold out against WHU either.
A real shame, because i believe a bigger and better BCFC is better for us.More competition, more rivalry=more ambition, and more important , the need to show ambition.
But every time that happens we pull away again and they disappear up their own arses again. It would be nice to have decent local rivals who you could show a bit of respect to for once. There is no other derby so 1 sided as ours in terms of size of club. Even having our shittest season in a few years our average attendance is still 80% higher.
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I can see what you did there! ;-)
Thank God it isn't Isandlwana...
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Fair enough, if you lot want to sympathise with your nose mates about prices, trouble, lack of investment etc, you crack on.
I'll carry on taking the piss at them getting 22k against whom they invade the pitch whenever they spawn a win every ten games.
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I'd also point out that who has caused the massive over reaction by the authorities? Us, or at least the meatheads on either side who seem to think we need to recreate the battle of rourke's drift every time we play one another.
If it was so bad why haven't more arrests and convictions been made. Why aren't the police doing their job? Probably because it's hard to convict someone for standing behind a line of police and shouting!
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There was more police than Blose faans in the ground
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, at The Sty today a semi-streaker ran on the pitch
What a picture THAT creates........
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Fair enough, if you lot want to sympathise with your nose mates about prices, trouble, lack of investment etc, you crack on.
I'll carry on taking the piss at them getting 22k against whom they invade the pitch whenever they spawn a win every ten games.
So you're happy to carry on seeing all those empty seats in the away end that could have been filled if the clubs and police did their jobs properly? Then maybe there'd have been a better atmosphere. I'm sure it was the empty away end that would have shown up more on tele. Were the viewers around the country aware that those seats were never on sale? I doubt it. Probably viewed as a piss-poor away following from us now we're struggling down the bottom of the league.
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i will say the derby game has defo lost its fizz,well it has for me and a lot of my nose mates,do think the police have killed it a bit as well which they want to do in the long run as its just hassle for them...plus west midlands football is shit basically.......
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Fair enough, if you lot want to sympathise with your nose mates about prices, trouble, lack of investment etc, you crack on.
I'll carry on taking the piss at them getting 22k against whom they invade the pitch whenever they spawn a win every ten games.
So you're happy to carry on seeing all those empty seats in the away end that could have been filled if the clubs and police did their jobs properly? Then maybe there'd have been a better atmosphere. I'm sure it was the empty away end that would have shown up more on tele. Were the viewers around the country aware that those seats were never on sale? I doubt it. Probably viewed as a piss-poor away following from us now we're struggling down the bottom of the league.
The space we were allocated was packed to the rafters and surrounded by coppers and empty blue seats. If any cretin was thinking of criticising our away support based on that Id be happy to put him right as I was one of four thousand who went there last month when tickets were available.
They pride themselves as being the team of the people in a city of over a million yet Norwich consistantly get more, they are a fucking joke.
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I wish the derby would die. I miss the days when we used to consider Man U our main rivals and never sang about Blues.
Admittedly this only lasted about two seasons.
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Our away allocation at the Sty is a disgrace. The official excuse of course is that Villa fans breach sacred Health & Safety laws by standing during the game. Since I heard that, I've made a point of checking the away fans at all Blues games on the TV and ALL away fans at the Sty stand all of the time. Even with a full complement of away fans today, the attendance for a match of this magnitude would have been dismal.
I don't know what's going on with the Police though. Unless they can spend the day watching events on CCTV, kettling reasonable demonstrators or sending costumed civilians to patrol high streets on foot, they just don't seem to want to know. I suspect that they are just going the same way as the rest of our society - target driven by MBA touting Chief Inspectors - crippled by mindless health and safety rules - shit scared of dealing with people properly for fear of causing offence to some vocal minority. As we saw with the student riots in London, they cannot cope with gathering effective intelligence to prevent trouble and would prefer to get the government to pass increasingly restrictive laws to do their work for them, under the guise of anti-terrorism of course.
Rather than letting people enjoy themselves and dealing with any idiots that turn up, they would prefer to sterilise the whole place of people. Banning fans from football games would surely decrease the amount of trouble at matches and I seriously believe that this would be the preferred option for the Authorities. For us to continue to have an important local cultural event like this twice a year is not to be encouraged any more.
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The day the donkey derby came to town,
the people came to watch from all around,
alas we didn’t see who won the race,
’cause the supergroup The Who swooped down from the moon,
and squirted tartar lemon in our face.
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The truth is that there are very few full football grounds these days, some are just more full than others & 22,000 is a fkin embarassment to them especially but also to the city of Birmingham as a whole.
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If they gave us say 8,000 for the fixture then it would look and sound a bit better for the cameras
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A nose I know recons that 22k was a sell out as that's all the police let the club sell due to slashing our allocation and closing the stand above. Any idea if he's right or not?
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I wish the derby would die. I miss the days when we used to consider Man U our main rivals and never sang about Blues.
Admittedly this only lasted about two seasons.
I agree. Having them and the other three WM sides in the Prem just drags us down to their level.
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I don't mind Baggies and Wolves matches as we never lose to them and I wouldn't be that devastated if we did. I know others on here care more about them than I do. Beating Small Heath is a momentary pleasure but if we lose we know they will be banging on about it for ever. I'd rather not bother with them at all.
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Thanks Jembob.
I was beginning to think I was alone on this one when the thread turned into a pop at their lot for their poor support, which is a different issue.
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plus west midlands football is shit basically.......
Nah it's not that, just Birmingham, Wolves and West Brom have forever lived in our shadow.
It's a shame all our local rivals are no marks who belong in the Championship. Why don't we have any good local rivals? It's probably time to just boycott Birmingham City until they win something.
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To be fair,I do believe they have a considerable fan base on the Isle of Man,who prefer to watch their games on internet streams or T.V.
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A nose I know recons that 22k was a sell out as that's all the police let the club sell due to slashing our allocation and closing the stand above. Any idea if he's right or not?
Only if the police told them they could only sell one seat per block in first few rows of the Kop, Railway and Main Stand. You'd think that if the regulars in the railway couldn't sit there then the rest of the ground would be chokka, it was far from that.
Shit ground, no fans.
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It means much much more to SHA than us.
It's 'death or glory' stuff for them, and they've dragged some of out lot into it.
For such a massive game for them 22k at the Sty, amazingly is an low turnout from the neanderthals.
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I wish the derby would die. I miss the days when we used to consider Man U our main rivals and never sang about Blues.
Admittedly this only lasted about two seasons.
Thats a bit like Coventry being obsessed with us though,United would have no interest in us at all. The ticket allocation and kick off times doesnt help our derbies,but they way their supporters have carried on over the years its no suprise.
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i have a season ticket with my son (9), and i would not take him to this game!trepidation has a lot to do with it!
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A realistic nose who knows his/their place:
"I've said before, staying away due to the aggro is fair enough, and it shouldn't happen (the trouble). However, what's the excuse for the poor attendances against almost every other team? If it's not violence, it's prices, or rubbish football, or the owners, or the EastEnders omnibus, or it's on the TV, or it's Gold and Sullivan, or it's Carson Yeung, or the weather.
We are what we are - a Premier League club with low support for a city of Birmingham's size."
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From the Mail website, basically the only things the army of police had to deal with today they failed with.
"A robust policing operation was undertaken which involved a large number of officers, dog handlers and specialist evidence gathering teams working alongside club stewards to ensure spectator safety."
Five people were arrested for drink and drug related offences and two smoke devices were smuggled past security and discharged inside the ground.
Officers will also be investigating how a man was able to gain access to the pitch prior to the end of the game.
"We will be investigating these incidents and reviewing CCTV to identify and arrest those responsible," added Ch Insp Doyle.
Instead of investigating how someone got on the pitch (er, he just whipped his toggs off and jumped over the barrier), they should explain how they they failed to catch him and let him disappear back into the crowd. They really are hopeless. Maybe if they reduce our allocation even more, and bring in even more police from around the country, they'll be able to cope better next time.
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Was half of the away end really shut? Whenever small heath are playing on the TV that end always looks empty where the home fans are meant to be sitting.
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West Brom is my derby
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Man U were defin
I wish the derby would die. I miss the days when we used to consider Man U our main rivals and never sang about Blues.
Admittedly this only lasted about two seasons.
Thats a bit like Coventry being obsessed with us though,United would have no interest in us at all. The ticket allocation and kick off times doesnt help our derbies,but they way their supporters have carried on over the years its no suprise.
They would care about us if we were a serious rival in the same way they hate Arsenal and Chelsea even though geographically they're not rivals. I'm not suggesting we are about to be their rivals anytime in the next millennium, just saying it would be nice.
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plus west midlands football is shit basically.......
Nah it's not that, just Birmingham, Wolves and West Brom have forever lived in our shadow.
It's a shame all our local rivals are no marks who belong in the Championship. Why don't we have any good local rivals? It's probably time to just boycott Birmingham City until they win something.
fao situation...well theres two no mark clubs above you at the moment mate...i think "situation" your a little bit bitter still has we have blooded your nose this season.....get over it mate....
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I seem to remember some pretty small crowds wherever you went in the 80's
There was time we would have been happy to get 22k
Buzzzzzzzzzzz! Irrelevant.
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Only 1,500 Villa fans with tickets for this game is a disgrace - especially when you see a half empty away end. I went to the cup game, the game finished, I left immediately after the final whistle, got my head down ánd walked back into town straight afterwards - no problems. I'm sure if I'd have hung around I could have found some grief but that doesn't interest me.
The main problem with policing Sty Andrews is that as an away fan you have to walk straight into the home fans as you come out. It only makes one dickhead from either side to make this a bigger problem than it should ever be. When Villa play at Blose, i'm not sure if we were located elsewhere in the ground it would make things easier or not. Within the ground I certainly don't appreciate the barrage of spit, coins, lighters, etc that come down from above so it was good to see that that part of the ground was shut today. (Although i'm sure genuine, law abiding, season ticketed noses would disagree)
I'm amazed that for this game we are not given the other side of the railway end, meaning we could exit out the other side of the cesspit and down St.Andrews Road where police could either hold or filter people easier than right outside of the ground where they currently meet. If need be, coaches could be parked in this street and fans escorted back to Villa Park if need be.
It is a shame the crowd was 22k, and they couldn't sell more tickets, but let's be honest, their support is shocking even before they have an excuse of tv, 12noon, Sunday, etc etc.
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plus west midlands football is shit basically.......
Nah it's not that, just Birmingham, Wolves and West Brom have forever lived in our shadow.
It's a shame all our local rivals are no marks who belong in the Championship. Why don't we have any good local rivals? It's probably time to just boycott Birmingham City until they win something.
fao situation...well theres two no mark clubs above you at the moment mate...i think "situation" your a little bit bitter still has we have blooded your nose this season.....get over it mate....
Change the record son.
That's all you will ever have, very short-term happiness... when was the last time both blose and West Brom finished above us? Can you answer that or are you going to avoid that question?
'Blooded you nose'? Congrats, you still haven't beaten us in the league in 6 years.
22000 in the sty today is all we need to know how much of an embarrassing, pathetic joke of a club you're. Even your own fans think your support is a joke but will then still claim only 'true brummies' support Birmingham City. Just goes to prove that mantra is bullshit.
Shit team Shit fans.
I await your comeback which shows there is lots of inaccurate flaws in my post.
P.S. Tell Agent Ridgewell to accept my next mission for him. kthxbye.
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fao the situation..did you go today?
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Nearly 48000 at Sunderland today, and game came complete with drunkenness, violence, seat throwing and an assault upon a player by a fan.
No flares or streakers though.
fecking lightweights
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fao the situation..did you go today?
Nah, one trip to the sty is enough for me.
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Sheldon a question in peace. I've always wondered this.
I no longer live in the area and have no particular axe to grind but most people (with no west midlands affiliations) would see the blues as a team with a much higher % of fans looking for trouble than most teams. A step below Millwall I'll give you but on a par with Cardiff, Leeds, Stoke you know the next step down. Is that how you guys see yourselves or as a team with the usual % of troublemakers?
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Nearly 48000 at Sunderland today, and game came complete with drunkenness, violence, seat throwing and an assault upon a player by a fan.
No flares or streakers though.
fecking lightweights
I know... assaulting players too. Pfft, that would never happen at St Andrews...
(http://bbsimg.ngfiles.com/1/21309000/ngbbs4c16d7774ad88.gif)
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Sheldon a question in peace. I've always wondered this.
I no longer live in the area and have no particular axe to grind but most people (with no west midlands affiliations) would see the blues as a team with a much higher % of fans looking for trouble than most teams. A step below Millwall I'll give you but on a par with Cardiff, Leeds, Stoke you know the next step down. Is that how you guys see yourselves or as a team with the usual % of troublemakers?
we do have an element of a fair share of head the balls following us i will give you that......theres people i know, if there was more violence, they'd be more likely to go....
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a rallying call for the team that bears the citys name! Proud!
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Sheldon a question in peace. I've always wondered this.
I no longer live in the area and have no particular axe to grind but most people (with no west midlands affiliations) would see the blues as a team with a much higher % of fans looking for trouble than most teams. A step below Millwall I'll give you but on a par with Cardiff, Leeds, Stoke you know the next step down. Is that how you guys see yourselves or as a team with the usual % of troublemakers?
we do have an element of a fair share of head the balls following us i will give you that......theres people i know, if there was more violence, they'd be more likely to go....
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And thats not good
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Its true though every club has got them,they love nothing more than a good tear up and a bit of windmilling.....
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Sheldon a question in peace. I've always wondered this.
I no longer live in the area and have no particular axe to grind but most people (with no west midlands affiliations) would see the blues as a team with a much higher % of fans looking for trouble than most teams. A step below Millwall I'll give you but on a par with Cardiff, Leeds, Stoke you know the next step down. Is that how you guys see yourselves or as a team with the usual % of troublemakers?
we do have an element of a fair share of head the balls following us i will give you that......theres people i know, if there was more violence, they'd be more likely to go....
Nuff said.
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we do have an element of a fair share of head the balls following us i will give you that......theres people i know, if there was more violence, they'd be more likely to go....
So as well as after Christmas, it being on Tele, it being midday and you will be selling out West Ham, the next excuse was there were too many coppers to allow trouble so fans did not want to go.
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I don't share the gloating at small heath's misfortune.
High ticket prices, a violent undercurrent, and two teams going nowhere, a televised game,and an early morning ko combine to adversely affect us all.
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i will say the derby game has defo lost its fizz,well it has for me and a lot of my nose mates,do think the police have killed it a bit as well which they want to do in the long run as its just hassle for them...plus west midlands football is shit basically.......
Don't try and talk us down to your level just because we're having one bad season.
22k for a derby game is an absolute embarrassment, so stop trying to make excuses.
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Maybe the derby games should only be staged at Villa Park. We could wear our away strip for one of the games if needed.
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I thought 22,000 was a big crowd for them. Little club like that will be glad of the gate receipts.
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Its true though every club has got them,they love nothing more than a good tear up and a bit of windmilling.....
Tis true indeed. You do happen to have more than most though.
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The day we get a crowd of 22k for the derby I'll share their embarrassment, until then I think we should all have a good laugh at the team 'all true Brummies support'
I wont join in the knocking of them for not travelling to away games on a monday night but that crowd today was hilarious.
Well said 'peterwithe'. Yes it's an embarrassment when compared to other derby games around the country, but those other clubs up and down the land aren't as small time as Small Heath. They truly are one of the most, if not the most piss poorly supported teams in the country (in relative terms).
And yes, before anyone says that we didn't sell out against the at Villa Park, there was still nearly 41k at our ground compared to the laughable 22k at the Sty today (including riot police).
What a shit football club.
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And I was singing bye bye Miss American Pie.
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I confirm that their support was far from huge.
The Italian Villa contingent for the 1st time couldn't get the tickets reserved for the claret and blue army due to restrictions, but last Monday found the tickets for one of the b-bloose stands.
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Thing is the feel of the derby. When we are doing well then we have almost the same view of the derby as we do when we play Coventry. Obviously its bigger than Coventry but the game means different things to the two sets of fans. Living and working side-by-side is the only thing that still makes it as a derby to want to win. Its not even bragging rights.
We know that it is a big game for them. They hate our arrogance and our belittling attitude towards them. Whether its deserved or not, that is the historical attitude we have had when considering our rivals is what sets the derby up for what it is for them. On top of that our histories set us apart. Yes, its a long time since we won most of our trophies but they have been won. So, we see ourselves as above them on a footballing level because of that and because of the fact that we are used to finishing above them.
Another fact is that they only ever finish above us if we have a bad season. To us mid-table is a poor season.
So, what is the derby for us? Because of what it means to them we don't want them to win it more than I think we care about beating them. This is the Coventry comparison. We know that for both sets of fans all they want is to beat us, which is why we want to avoid defeat more than winning at times. Simply to stop them having their fun at our expense. Yes, on a footalling level you always want to win, and yes, having them harping on in your ear at work, out and about etc makes you want to beat them, but when we are doing well, and they are not we hardly give a toss about them. Yeah, go down because its funny, but not as important as us doing well.
That's why the derby isn't and can't be about equals.
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Don't know about anyone else but if Carew and Gabby were as agile as that streaker who came on in the latter stages of the match we'd have solved our problems up front.
Even in the warm up Big John never hit the net when all the rest of the players were slotting shots in......even a right footer from Dunne!
As for the match itself, it was shite! The importance of our derby is outlined by being the last match on MOTD this evening. We're down there with the likes of Portsmouth vs Southampton and Wolves vs West Brom - pains me to say it but it's true.
To end on a high, a blue nose threw a coin at me today and I caught it so came out 20p better off. Generous bunch aren't they.........
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Thing is the feel of the derby. When we are doing well then we have almost the same view of the derby as we do when we play Coventry. Obviously its bigger than Coventry but the game means different things to the two sets of fans. Living and working side-by-side is the only thing that still makes it as a derby to want to win. Its not even bragging rights.
We know that it is a big game for them. They hate our arrogance and our belittling attitude towards them. Whether its deserved or not, that is the historical attitude we have had when considering our rivals is what sets the derby up for what it is for them. On top of that our histories set us apart. Yes, its a long time since we won most of our trophies but they have been won. So, we see ourselves as above them on a footballing level because of that and because of the fact that we are used to finishing above them.
Another fact is that they only ever finish above us if we have a bad season. To us mid-table is a poor season.
So, what is the derby for us? Because of what it means to them we don't want them to win it more than I think we care about beating them. This is the Coventry comparison. We know that for both sets of fans all they want is to beat us, which is why we want to avoid defeat more than winning at times. Simply to stop them having their fun at our expense. Yes, on a footalling level you always want to win, and yes, having them harping on in your ear at work, out and about etc makes you want to beat them, but when we are doing well, and they are not we hardly give a toss about them. Yeah, go down because its funny, but not as important as us doing well.
That's why the derby isn't and can't be about equals.
Your absolutley correct. They've elevated this match to their Cup Final so it's lovely when we prevent them from winning it.
I don't want to make too many excuses as 22k is a really poor showing for their biggest game of the season but here goes.
I know if it were me and I still living in Bham, no way would I want to go, especially with kids, which is surely not what it's all about - it wouldn't surprise me if the trouble home and away in these matches over the last few years made fair minded family fans turn their backs on the match. It really isn't worth running the gauntlet of violence, especially with children. Sad but probably true.
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I agree with most of the above, apart from that chap from Sheldon. Why's he still on here ?. I used to go to the derby at the sty but now I season ticket with my under 10 lads I wouldn't dream of goin with them. If you look at the pictures of Collins and Bannan celebrating there are just lads in the background going barmy (fair play).
I would like to question why our police can't control this game so I feel safe to take my kids. Or at least police it so those with kids can watch the fighting from a distance !
Its all so second class second city again. The Glasgow derby happens at least 4 times a season with unrestricted away support support. The hatred at the Newcastle/Sunderland derby is at a level at least at ours yet Newcastle fans attended in numbers. 8000 Liverpool fans went to the game at manure last week, I bet they'd be given the same again.
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Firstly no matter how much they bleat, Blues just have shit support, it is as simple as that so no great shocks that they can only muster 20k for their cup final.
As for the Police etc. Firstly they are obviously nowhere near as good as their counterparts in Glasgow, Tyne & Wear etc as already pointed out they manage to keep things under control with far greater numbers attending.
However the crux of it is this, why is it that when the fixture is reversed and you get twice as many fans attending, that ther eis nowehere near the problems you see at the Sty. In fact we had a 3pm derby on a Sat against WBA and nothing.
The fact is that Small Heath have a completely different breed of supporter whio have been brought up on the fact that being a hoolie is somethign to be proud of. Even my mates who are decent folk, when it comes to us turn into neanderthals and have actually bragged about their hooligan support as if it were a trophy. The Police have never come down on that club and its support in the way they should do. It is not only us but almost evey home game that running battles take place around Digbeth yet they same people are allowed to turn up every week and cause trouble. Our Police are a joke.
Best thing for everyone is that they piss off back down into the lower leagues and with crowds of 8000 the Police might be able to look after the away supporters.
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thier idiot fans have been getting away with it for years, its a badge of honour for them causing trouble at a game involving us. They as a club seem to except it as well because much of thier hardcore support is made up of nutters. The festering hatred of us is all they have to live for. I do have sympathy with thier decent fans like the ones that came on here and said they were embaressed at the LC QF. My Dad used to go to St Andrews when Villa were away, he allways loved the Villa but he and his mates could go thier and not worry about being Villa. Its gone to far now but having only 20 odd thousand at a derby hurts them more than us.
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Our hooligans and their hooligans misbehaved before, during and after the cup game. The police had no option but to mount a high profile operation to prevent it happening again. All those whinging about it would be the first to moan if they hadn't been there and they'd been given a good twatting.
We also have to get away from the ridiculous idea that the rivalry is somehow one sided. You only have to think of the range of songs we sing about them (and always have done) to dispel that particular myth
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The low attendance yesterday, and the lack of trouble, does actually lower the temperature now.
Closing the upper (Olympic) tier above us was a smart move.
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I agree with most of the above, apart from that chap from Sheldon. Why's he still on here ?
Because this match was with his club so his input is relevant?
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there is definitely another reason for the low turnout yesterday, apart from just saying 'shit support' there lowest gate this season is just over 21k, there average gate is 25k,
so a big relegation battle against there biggest rivals,
bearing in mind all the posts on here as to how much they are all bothered about is beating us, and how they are obsesed by us,
they only managed to just beat there lowest gate this season, and was considerably lower than there average attendance
it doesnt make sense,
i think there was probably a lot of factors involved, but i still maintain the biggest is the prospect of a load of twats looking for trouble on the way home and into town,
it just puts a lot of decent supporters of going