Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Heroes Discussion => Topic started by: amfy on April 09, 2017, 06:15:28 PM
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I went to a police meeting to let us know about their arrangements for our home match against Blues and to see whether we could think of any flaws in the plan - which we largely couldn't really.
The arrangements are pretty common sense, but some of it will cause some inconvenience, so they want to ensure that everyone knows about the diversions well in advance and can make arrangements accordingly. Also - they don't want to be wasting time on people arguing about 'having to go all the way round' when they could be dealing with real troublemakers instead.
Basically - allow for the Witton station and the Witton side of the ground to be the side where Blues are coming in. Villa fans are discouraged, but not prevented from being in this area. Although - Only R block (North Stand lower) Villa supporters will be allowed to enter Witton Lane from the Witton end of the ground - there will be a ticket check at the top of Witton Lane. If you have P or T (Witon Lane Upper or North Stand Upper), or anywhere else, block tickets, you will be sent the other way round the ground.
A barrier of police vans will be diagonally across Witton Lane so that R block Villa fans can enter the ground without crossing the fans coming off 18 Blues coaches arriving to the car park. The Blues fans will be straight off the coaches into their section of P block.
Further barriers will prevent P block Villa supporters from crossing the area where Blues fans come in. P block Villa supporters will need to approach from the Holte end of the ground - they will not be able to come in from the Witton end.
The Lion gates on Witton Lane will also be closed - T block Villa supporters will need to enter from Trinity Road side and will not be allowed to enter or exit via Witton Lane. At the end of the game, R block supporters will also be sent out via The North Stand Car Park onto Trinity Road & through a back gate which is little used onto Witton Road.
The blues fans have had transport and route directions with their tickets, so they will know where they are supposed to be. They have 2 specific trains with capacity to bring 1000 (2x 500) of them straight from New Street to Witton Station. These will be directed around the back route via Station Road and Manor Road so that they do not cross the Villa fans coming into R block. Blues fans arriving by car will be encouraged to park on the Brookvale Road side of the ground, and will also be directed down Station Road and Manor Road to their turnstiles in P block.
In the ground there is extra segregation seats between Villa supporters and Blues fans at either end - both in Witton Lane and between them and the North Stand. The lowered allocation allows this. They have found lower allocations reduce trouble because it is the most regular fans who qualify, and they say that they found Villa fans behaviour to be brilliant at the away fixture because the allocation was low and therefore excluded random idiots.
At the end of the game, they cannot keep Blues fans back because there is nowhere safe to do so. St Andrews has a kind of 'yard' type thing they can keep us in, but at Villa Park, they would need to be kept inside the ground, which could cause crushing, or in any case, they are likely to wreck the place if we do that. So - the police will be looking to clear them onto coaches and trains within 20 minutes of the final whistle.
The trains will be police managed so that they are kept on the train, and apart from Villa fans on the route back in to New Street. Police management continues at New Street.
Weirdly - The Witton Arms is open to home fans only. You can go there - but you can't go straight up Witton Lane - you will need to approach from Aston Lane or Witton Road. 20 minutes after the game - it shouldn't be so bad trying to get round there if it's where you want to be.
Generally the advice is DON'T USE WITTON STATION - it's not an order - but just don't, it's daft. Even if you usually do, just this once, go to Aston!
...the other main point is only R block Villa supporters can get into Witton Lane from the Witton end of the ground. Everyone else has to go round. That's how it is. Even R block supporters will be sent out the other way at the end.
Also - if you usually park Brookvale road side, think about varying it, because it's just not going to be convenient - you are going to have a long walk round in most cases.
Also - Villa fans who have disabled parking badges in YewTree car park, will be allowed to park along the (closed) Trinity Road, right alongside the stand where their seats are. They obviously can't be asked to go the long way round, so on this occasion, it actually becomes much easier for them.
They are expecting most of the local pubs to have temporary event licences to open at around 8am - The Social, The Tavern, Witton Arms etc - the police have no problem with this and these applications will be unopposed. However, anyone opening without the relevant licence will be closed down - so that is down to the pubs not the police.
Lions and Other Villa coaches from elsewhere should contact the police about parking at Queens Road for this game. Mini buses have to do their own thing.
I think that is about everything. Please spread the word to others who might not have access to this info. Also - please ask me about anything that doesn't make sense, or I haven't covered and I will try my best to answer it.
I think it all sounds sensible to be fair, but I might not have explained it that well because it was explained to us with talk and maps, rather than having to write it down. So - yes - anything unclear - just ask me!
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Also - anyone assembling outside without tickets will be dispersed. Random blues fans in Villa areas will be ejected, not re-located to the away section. It is not expected that blues have any groups of fans in, Villa areas of the ground, but inevitably, there will be the odd one or two who have managed to get a ticket off someone, and then fail to 'pass' as a regular person.
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They are expecting most of the local pubs to have temporary event licences to open at around 8am - The Social, The Tavern, Witton Arms etc - the police have no problem with this and these applications will be unopposed. However, anyone opening without the relevant licence will be closed down - so that is down to the pubs not the police.
Phew, thank goodness. Imagine not being able to have four hours of solid drinking time before a midday kick-off.
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Also - anyone assembling outside without tickets will be dispersed. Random blues fans in Villa mare as will be ejected, not re-located to the away section. It is not expected that blues have any groups of fans in Villa areas of the ground, but inevitably, there will be the odd one or two who have managed to get a ticket off someone, and then fail to 'pass' as a regular person.
Surely impossible for Bluenoses to pass as regular persons?
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They are expecting most of the local pubs to have temporary event licences to open at around 8am - The Social, The Tavern, Witton Arms etc - the police have no problem with this and these applications will be unopposed. However, anyone opening without the relevant licence will be closed down - so that is down to the pubs not the police.
Phew, thank goodness. Imagine not being able to have four hours of solid drinking time before a midday kick-off.
8am. Sausage, Bacon, Fried Eggs, Black Pudding, Baked Beans, Fried Tomato, Fried Bread. All washed down with Eight cans of Stella.
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Any idea what time Holte Suite opening.
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So either side can kiss goodbye to ever getting more than 2k away tickets again.....great.
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It doesn't make a great deal of sense.
Ridiculous and over the top measures like this and at the Sty when they acknowledge there's little risk support present.
Meanwhile real police forces manage more high profile games, with larger risk elements and significantly higher home and away followings.
WMP have always been shit houses when it comes to football.
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It doesn't make a great deal of sense.
Ridiculous and over the top measures like this and at the Sty when they acknowledge there's little risk support present.
Meanwhile real police forces manage more high profile games, with larger risk elements and significantly higher home and away followings.
WMP have always been shit houses when it comes to football.
I haven't got a problem with any of it, although i'm surprised the Witton Arms is open to Villa fans. What have you got a problem with in particular?
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Being kept in for an hour and taken on a guided tour of Bordesley Green for a start. Piss pot allocations and the general think of the children attitude they've suddenly adopted.
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What are the police going to do to prevent groups of sulus or zolas or whatever they call themselves walking in from the direction of Aston Cross along Lichfield Road and causing problems like they did at The Vine previously and more recently The Manor Tavern?
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What are the police going to do to prevent groups of sulus or zolas or whatever they call themselves walking in from the direction of Aston Cross along Lichfield Road and causing problems like they did at The Vine previously and more recently The Manor Tavern?
Not patrol the canals which is the route their 50 man firm has come in every year since 2003.
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Being kept in for an hour and taken on a guided tour of Bordesley Green for a start. Piss pot allocations and the general think of the children attitude they've suddenly adopted.
I wasn't there for the away game, that wait must have been frustrating but in this instance, i don't see too much of a problem with any of it.
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They are expecting most of the local pubs to have temporary event licences to open at around 8am - The Social, The Tavern, Witton Arms etc - the police have no problem with this and these applications will be unopposed. However, anyone opening without the relevant licence will be closed down - so that is down to the pubs not the police.
Phew, thank goodness. Imagine not being able to have four hours of solid drinking time before a midday kick-off.
8am. Sausage, Bacon, Fried Eggs, Black Pudding, Baked Beans, Fried Tomato, Fried Bread. All washed down with Eight cans of Stella.
I'm sorry, but baked beans should have no place in a breakfast.
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So Villa fans are inconvenienced at the expense of blues and their 18 coaches. Just like every time we play them, home and away. Locked into their shitpit for 45 minutes after the game at their place and now can't walk conveniently to our end of the ground from the social. Really pisses me off
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Ot was just being locked in the cesspit, being kept under that bridge for 20 to 30 minutes because there was a handful of Noses in an abandoned pub waiting to ambush 2000 people. Utter shite.
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So Villa fans are inconvenienced at the expense of blues and their 18 coaches. Just like every time we play them, home and away. Locked into their shitpit for 45 minutes after the game at their place and now can't walk conveniently to our end of the ground from the social. Really pisses me off
So what do you suggest?
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Head to London and see how how the Met manage to deal with Spurs and West Ham, with Millwall roaming about every other week. Head to Glasgow and watch how they manage the Old Firm. Head to Manchester or Merseyside for when Yanited play Citeh or the Dippers.
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So Villa fans are inconvenienced at the expense of blues and their 18 coaches. Just like every time we play them, home and away. Locked into their shitpit for 45 minutes after the game at their place and now can't walk conveniently to our end of the ground from the social. Really pisses me off
So what do you suggest?
Nothing? Maintain a police presence, stop the zooolooos from walking up the canal. Treat us as humans
And if they really, really cant do that, lock them in the stands at Villa Park and make them pay for any damages that occur.
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So what's your point, let everyone mingle?
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Head to London and see how how the Met manage to deal with Spurs and West Ham, with Millwall roaming about every other week. Head to Glasgow and watch how they manage the Old Firm. Head to Manchester or Merseyside for when Yanited play Citeh or the Dippers.
And you've seen them all have you?
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So Villa fans are inconvenienced at the expense of blues and their 18 coaches. Just like every time we play them, home and away. Locked into their shitpit for 45 minutes after the game at their place and now can't walk conveniently to our end of the ground from the social. Really pisses me off
So what do you suggest?
Nothing? Maintain a police presence, stop the zooolooos from walking up the canal. Treat us as humans
And if they really, really cant do that, lock them in the stands at Villa Park and make them pay for any damages that occur.
You make it sound so easy.
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The alternative is allowing the idiot element of BOTH sets of fans to clash in Witton Lane, whilst ordinary fans on BOTH sides get caught up in the madness (and potentially hurt). Personally, I have previously run gauntlet of flying bottles at both grounds so I am happy for them to put measures in place to prevent this, as that kind of behaviour is indiscriminate and potentially children, elderly, and generally people who have no wish for trouble can get caught in the crossfire.
With regard to the potential for clashes away from the ground. They are monitoring current intelligence as well as making use of knowledge of previous 'kick off' points and will be using S37 dispersal orders to deal with anyone who is just loitering looking for trouble.
The 2k allocation - it could go up if more of the matches go off without incident. Apparently Villa fans on their travels have been fantastic this season. I don't know about Blues - I don't think there have been enough of them to tell!
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So Villa fans are inconvenienced at the expense of blues and their 18 coaches. Just like every time we play them, home and away. Locked into their shitpit for 45 minutes after the game at their place and now can't walk conveniently to our end of the ground from the social. Really pisses me off
So what do you suggest?
Nothing? Maintain a police presence, stop the zooolooos from walking up the canal. Treat us as humans
And if they really, really cant do that, lock them in the stands at Villa Park and make them pay for any damages that occur.
You make it sound so easy.
It is.
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So Villa fans are inconvenienced at the expense of blues and their 18 coaches. Just like every time we play them, home and away. Locked into their shitpit for 45 minutes after the game at their place and now can't walk conveniently to our end of the ground from the social. Really pisses me off
So what do you suggest?
Nothing? Maintain a police presence, stop the zooolooos from walking up the canal. Treat us as humans
And if they really, really cant do that, lock them in the stands at Villa Park and make them pay for any damages that occur.
You make it sound so easy.
It is.
It's a piece of piss if you look at everything from one narrow viewpoint without any knowledge of or relevance to anything else.
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So Villa fans are inconvenienced at the expense of blues and their 18 coaches. Just like every time we play them, home and away. Locked into their shitpit for 45 minutes after the game at their place and now can't walk conveniently to our end of the ground from the social. Really pisses me off
So what do you suggest?
Nothing? Maintain a police presence, stop the zooolooos from walking up the canal. Treat us as humans
And if they really, really cant do that, lock them in the stands at Villa Park and make them pay for any damages that occur.
You make it sound so easy.
When I went to Spain on holiday, my dad had a game - 'what stone am I thinking of?'
We never found that stone😥
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Bloody stoney beach
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They are expecting most of the local pubs to have temporary event licences to open at around 8am - The Social, The Tavern, Witton Arms etc - the police have no problem with this and these applications will be unopposed. However, anyone opening without the relevant licence will be closed down - so that is down to the pubs not the police.
Phew, thank goodness. Imagine not being able to have four hours of solid drinking time before a midday kick-off.
8am. Sausage, Bacon, Fried Eggs, Black Pudding, Baked Beans, Fried Tomato, Fried Bread. All washed down with Eight cans of Stella.
Ross, is that you?
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So Villa fans are inconvenienced at the expense of blues and their 18 coaches. Just like every time we play them, home and away. Locked into their shitpit for 45 minutes after the game at their place and now can't walk conveniently to our end of the ground from the social. Really pisses me off
So what do you suggest?
Nothing? Maintain a police presence, stop the zooolooos from walking up the canal. Treat us as humans
And if they really, really cant do that, lock them in the stands at Villa Park and make them pay for any damages that occur.
You make it sound so easy.
It is.
Well it isn't - they showed us a video of them attempting that kind of reactive policing at previous games and it isn't a pretty sight. They need to be pro-active for this fixture.
There is an element on both sides of this fixture that completely lose their minds for some reason and I don't mind the police thinking carefully about how to protect me from that.
In other parts of the country (which you seem to be an expert on) entire sets of supporters are required to travel by coach from their home ground in order to prevent trouble. You're being asked to walk a couple of hundred extra yards to work with the safety measures that have been put in place for you.
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Also - they will be paying for any damage that occurs - that has already been agreed by both clubs for both grounds. Villa had to meet the bill for any damage we caused there too.
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If the police can get their fans out of the area within 20 minutes of full time, there is no reason whatsoever why we should he kept behind for hours and hours at The Sty. I understand that safety is the top priority, but massive inconvenience should also be considered.
And if the Strathclyde Police can handle 7-8,000 away fans every Old Firm game, there is no justification for Villa and Blose being restricted to 2,000 tickets each time.
Maybe if they are too incompetent to work out how to organise large away followings for themselves, they could pop up to Glasgow and ask them how they manage.
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Thanks for the info amfy, really appreciated. Sounds like a lot of effort and planning has gone into ensuring it all goes off as safely as possible.
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I believe the 2k isn't a police restriction - it was agreed pre-season but I can't remember who agreed it.
They can get their fans out of Aston that quick because we have a train station over the road.
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If the police can get their fans out of the area within 20 minutes of full time, there is no reason whatsoever why we should he kept behind for hours and hours at The Sty. I understand that safety is the top priority, but massive inconvenience should also be considered.
And if the Strathclyde Police can handle 7-8,000 away fans every Old Firm game, there is no justificiation for Villa and Blose being restricted to 2,000 tickets each time.
Maybe if they are too incompetent to work out how to organise large away followings for themselves, they could pop up to Glasgow and ask them how they manage.
For a start, Old Firm games are segregated back as far as England and Northern Ireland. Their grounds and the access/exit points also lend themselves to easy segregation.
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Their ground has about fifty different buses that go past, and town is about a ten minute walk.
Tbh I'd be happy if they just made these "bubble matches". All away fans on coach, keep home fans for behind for ten minutes while away coaches leave under police motorcycle escort.
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As someone who has witnessed on more than one occasion the mindless and, at times, vicious behaviour I am only too pleased at the proposed measures. Walking a bit further rather than having a scar on my head like an innocent young niece has is a small price to pay. I am though embarrassed at the need for it and annoyed at the cost to already stretched police resources.
Thanks to Amfy for the info.
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Their ground has about fifty different buses that go past, and town is about a ten minute walk.
Tbh I'd be happy if they just made these "bubble matches". All away fans on coach, keep home fans for behind for ten minutes while away coaches leave under police motorcycle escort.
I think all that may take a tad more than ten minutes. More like half hour.
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You can't get coaches from Villa Park as easily as that. Unless you keep every home fan inside the ground, which is logicstically impossible, they'll still get stuck somewhere.
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If the police can get their fans out of the area within 20 minutes of full time, there is no reason whatsoever why we should he kept behind for hours and hours at The Sty. I understand that safety is the top priority, but massive inconvenience should also be considered.
And if the Strathclyde Police can handle 7-8,000 away fans every Old Firm game, there is no justificiation for Villa and Blose being restricted to 2,000 tickets each time.
Maybe if they are too incompetent to work out how to organise large away followings for themselves, they could pop up to Glasgow and ask them how they manage.
For a start, Old Firm games are segregated back as far as England and Northern Ireland. Their grounds and the access/exit points also lend themselves to easy segregation.
Man City get bigger allocations at Old Trafford.
Man United get bigger allocations at Anfield.
Sheffield United get bigger allocations at Hillsborough.
Tottenham get bigger allocations at Arsenal.
Sunderland get bigger allocations at St James' Park...
Etc.
Presumably Villa Park and St Andrews have stadia which are designed unlike any anywhere else in Britain which render them the only grounds in the land which prevent more than 2,000 visiting fans from attending.
Or possibly, our police are useless.
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Their ground has about fifty different buses that go past, and town is about a ten minute walk.
Tbh I'd be happy if they just made these "bubble matches". All away fans on coach, keep home fans for behind for ten minutes while away coaches leave under police motorcycle escort.
Actually - it's not the worst for a 'bubble' match because the grounds are only 3 miles apart. It wouldn't really massively inconvenience anyone to have to get to the other ground instead of the one the game is at. It's not like those which are in entirely separate towns, and you could live in one town, and have to get to the other town in order to get a coach back to where you came from!
I do think bubbling is incredibly restrictive though, and I feel pretty resentful of it on principle really! Although - blues transport is not far off this - all but about 100 of their supporters will be coming in on official travel of some sort by the looks of it.
Also - keeping home fans back for 10 minutes - Villa Park is usually close to empty by 90 minutes! Even when we've won! The players usually come and applaud the last 10 people in the gangway!
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Their ground has about fifty different buses that go past, and town is about a ten minute walk.
Tbh I'd be happy if they just made these "bubble matches". All away fans on coach, keep home fans for behind for ten minutes while away coaches leave under police motorcycle escort.
I think all that may take a tad more than ten minutes. More like half hour.
I recall Villa fans being kept behind after Man U at home once. It took about ten minutes.
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If the police can get their fans out of the area within 20 minutes of full time, there is no reason whatsoever why we should he kept behind for hours and hours at The Sty. I understand that safety is the top priority, but massive inconvenience should also be considered.
And if the Strathclyde Police can handle 7-8,000 away fans every Old Firm game, there is no justificiation for Villa and Blose being restricted to 2,000 tickets each time.
Maybe if they are too incompetent to work out how to organise large away followings for themselves, they could pop up to Glasgow and ask them how they manage.
For a start, Old Firm games are segregated back as far as England and Northern Ireland. Their grounds and the access/exit points also lend themselves to easy segregation.
Man City get bigger allocations at Old Trafford.
Man United get bigger allocations at Anfield.
Sheffield United get bigger allocations at Hillsborough.
Tottenham get bigger allocations at Arsenal.
Sunderland get bigger allocations at St James' Park...
Etc.
Presumably Villa Park and St Andrews have stadia which are designed unlike any anywhere else in Britain which render them the only grounds in the land which prevent more than 2,000 visiting fans from attending.
Or possibly, our police are useless.
Amfy has said about 4 times now its not the police that limited the allocations.............
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A quick Google search tells me that Manchester United will be getting 2,750 at City this month. I've no idea of the others, including the ones that haven't taken place for some time but from memory they all have bigger away sections or the ability to expand them then we have.
I'd rather we did have more tickets and gave them more but as things stand it would be difficult.
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It was that fucker Sting. Something about more than 2 thousand upsetting the equilibrium of the rain forests. The soft twat.
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So at their shed we get kept in for nearly an hour and then get a magical mystery tour of Small Heath and Digbeth just because there's a few chavvy little scrotes who think they're big bad Zulus. Then at our place we have to take detours and can't use Witton Station to protect these big bad Zulus, who are bringing 18 coaches. Just keep the peasants in the ground for half an hour, police them inside the ground so they can't cause any damage, and disperse Villa fans outside the ground. Simple. We're at home yet the police are making it to suit them, escorting them in straight off the safety of their coaches and not letting our fans go where they want to go.
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West Ham Spurs is probably the most significant risk game in the Smoke that's played with any regularity and there's no fannying around cutting allocations or bubbling the fixture.
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A quick Google search tells me that Manchester United will be getting 2,750 at City this month. I've no idea of the others, including the ones that haven't taken place for some time but from memory they all have bigger away sections or the ability to expand them then we have.
They regularly get far more for cup games, while we were restricted to fewer than 2,000 tickets for a major cup quarter-final.
Man United received over 5,000 tickets for a cup game at Man City and still complained to the FA that they received less than 7,000.
If it isn't police advice, why aren't the club sticking up for our fans and trying to get as large an away allocation as possible?
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A quick Google search tells me that Manchester United will be getting 2,750 at City this month. I've no idea of the others, including the ones that haven't taken place for some time but from memory they all have bigger away sections or the ability to expand them then we have.
They regularly get far more for cup games, while we were restricted to fewer than 2,000 tickets for a major cup quarter-final.
Man United received over 5,000 tickets for a cup game at Man City and still complained to the FA that they received less than 7,000.
If it isn't police advice, why aren't the club sticking up for our fans and trying to get as large an away allocation as possible?
I don't know. Why don't you ask them?
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West Ham Spurs is probably the most significant risk game in the Smoke that's played with any regularity and there's no fannying around cutting allocations or bubbling the fixture.
West Ham v Spurs is a Friday night on Sky. Imagine WMP allowing Villa Blues in a league game on a Friday night?
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West Ham Spurs is probably the most significant risk game in the Smoke that's played with any regularity and there's no fannying around cutting allocations or bubbling the fixture.
West Ham v Spurs is a Friday night on Sky. Imagine WMP allowing Villa Blues in a league game on a Friday night?
They'd bubble the fixture and still miss 50 Noses walking along the canals 3 hours before kick off because they're too busy sat on mass watching none risk elements at the Briar Rose.
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We have fans, including yourself, who liaise with the club on a regular basis. I felt that this was an appropriate forum to suggest a viewpoint which could be fed back, or not, depending on the preference of those who attend the meetings.
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We have fans, including yourself, who liaise with the club on a regular basis. I felt that this was an appropriate forum to suggest a viewpoint which could be fed back, or not, depending on the preference of those who attend the meetings.
And there are also plenty of ways for all fans to contact the club at all times.
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Pretty sure we had about 4K for the QF. Our allocation for the league game there later in the season was cut because of problems at the LC game.
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Oh okay, may have got the two mixed up.
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So at their shed we get kept in for nearly an hour and then get a magical mystery tour of Small Heath and Digbeth just because there's a few chavvy little scrotes who think they're big bad Zulus. Then at our place we have to take detours and can't use Witton Station to protect these big bad Zulus, who are bringing 18 coaches. Just keep the peasants in the ground for half an hour, police them inside the ground so they can't cause any damage, and disperse Villa fans outside the ground. Simple. We're at home yet the police are making it to suit them, escorting them in straight off the safety of their coaches and not letting our fans go where they want to go.
If you think Villa and Blues fans mingling on Witton Lane is a good idea, then i'm glad your not a policeman.
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They are expecting most of the local pubs to have temporary event licences to open at around 8am - The Social, The Tavern, Witton Arms etc - the police have no problem with this and these applications will be unopposed. However, anyone opening without the relevant licence will be closed down - so that is down to the pubs not the police.
Phew, thank goodness. Imagine not being able to have four hours of solid drinking time before a midday kick-off.
8am. Sausage, Bacon, Fried Eggs, Black Pudding, Baked Beans, Fried Tomato, Fried Bread. All washed down with Eight cans of Stella.
I'm sorry, but baked beans should have no place in a breakfast.
Baked beans have no place in a civilised society.
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It all sounds a bit over the top to me, as was our detention and silly walk at their place (although it was easy enough to break away from that)... however the big issue here is that more people will now be walking the same route away from the ground as me and you lot all walk too bloody slow.
Can the police cone off a fast lane for those of us that want to walk faster? If not, how about keeping all the slow walkers in the ground for a minute.
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It all sounds a bit over the top to me, as was our detention and silly walk at their place (although it was easy enough to break away from that)... however the big issue here is that more people will now be walking the same route away from the ground as me and you lot all walk too bloody slow.
Can the police cone off a fast lane for those of us that want to walk faster? If not, how about keeping all the slow walkers in the ground for a minute.
Good point - I'll feed this back.
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They are expecting most of the local pubs to have temporary event licences to open at around 8am - The Social, The Tavern, Witton Arms etc - the police have no problem with this and these applications will be unopposed. However, anyone opening without the relevant licence will be closed down - so that is down to the pubs not the police.
Phew, thank goodness. Imagine not being able to have four hours of solid drinking time before a midday kick-off.
8am. Sausage, Bacon, Fried Eggs, Black Pudding, Baked Beans, Fried Tomato, Fried Bread. All washed down with Eight cans of Stella.
I'm sorry, but baked beans should have no place in a breakfast.
Baked beans have no place in a civilised society.
Never mind a can of beans, somebody has opened a can of worms here. All a bit OTT to me, I bet all have seen worse than what will happen on the 23rd.
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It all sounds a bit over the top to me, as was our detention and silly walk at their place (although it was easy enough to break away from that)... however the big issue here is that more people will now be walking the same route away from the ground as me and you lot all walk too bloody slow.
Can the police cone off a fast lane for those of us that want to walk faster? If not, how about keeping all the slow walkers in the ground for a minute.
I'm with you regarding this all seeming OTT.
Although I've now been going to Villa games for twenty years I still struggle to understand segregation of fans and the attitude of people that makes it necessary.
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Us old farts will have seen a lot worse, and having seen it, a bit of inconvenience to stop it happening these days doesn't bother me.
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In terms of hardship, let's be honest, it's not exactly Stalingrad is it?
Interesting to see people who bang on and on like Danny Dyer for most of the year suddenly being surprised that the police are trying to do something about this sort of nonsense, too.
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I think the key thing is that if you know what is going to happen, the whole thing becomes a lot less inconvenient than if you don't.
If you usually walk straight up Witton Lane to come into the North Stand, then knowing from now that you will need to come round from The Trinity Road side is helpful. Otherwise, you walk most of the way up Witton Lane and get turned back, and then you are pissed off. Actually, as long as you know up front, it isn't going to make a massive difference other than you knowing you haven't got to worry about clashing with Blues fans in the way in.
The other way round it's a bit further - if you usually walk down Witton Lane towards The Holte (as I do), then it is further to walk round, a bigger difference. So we now have a chance to rethink the direction we arrive from, and cut down the inconvenience. To me again, this up front notice is helpful. If I arrive from Witton island expecting to walk straight down to The Holte End and SUDDENLY find myself diverted back up Witton Road, I'd be pissed off, but now, I will make sure I arrive from the Holte side of the ground in the first place.
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Our derby is getting closer to becoming a bubble fixture. The police restricting the allocations to 2000, putting more measures in place to keep fans apart, Small Heath coming on 18 escorted coaches. The day we have to go to VP to get on an official coach to travel a few miles to The Sty is the day I stop going.
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Our derby is getting closer to becoming a bubble fixture. The police restricting the allocations to 2000, putting more measures in place to keep fans apart, Small Heath coming on 18 escorted coaches. The day we have to go to VP to get on an official coach to travel a few miles to The Sty is the day I stop going.
Why?
You'll stop going because they're trying to keep fans apart?
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In terms of hardship, let's be honest, it's not exactly Stalingrad is it?
Interesting to see people who bang on and on like Danny Dyer for most of the year suddenly being surprised that the police are trying to do something about this sort of nonsense, too.
Being asked to take a slightly longer walk to the game for one match a season is no hardship whatsoever.
However, I seem to recall posters on here (Ads and Frank?) saying that we were kept behind for hours then marched around for even longer after the away game.
A pretty farcical situation.
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Than you amfy. Good stuff and it's a shame that these measures/restrictions have to be in place but there we are.
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Never mind a can of beans, somebody has opened a can of worms here. All a bit OTT to me, I bet all have seen worse than what will happen on the 23rd.
You're right, we probably all have. I know I have, been caught up in it as well, didn't like it one bit and never want to get caught up in anything like it again thanks.
I'd love this fixture to be a lovely Brummie Friendship match where we can all travel to the game on the train together after having a few jars in town discussing our relative fortunes this season, then bidding each other farewell on Witton Lane with a "good luck" and a promise to meet in The Bartons afterwards but we all know that there are far to many twats on both sides for thi , or anything even remotely like it, to ever happen.
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Their ground has about fifty different buses that go past, and town is about a ten minute walk.
Tbh I'd be happy if they just made these "bubble matches". All away fans on coach, keep home fans for behind for ten minutes while away coaches leave under police motorcycle escort.
Agree- that's what they do for Sunderland v Toon games , I always used to wonder why the away fans at both games all had club colours on then it was explained that when you bought your ticket you had to travel from home ground to away ground on coach.
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The situation at the way fixture was farcical. I don't know how you can justify making the entire support walk halfway across the city.
That isn't happening here though. I think that especially with Knowing up front how it'll be set up, this all seems pretty sensible tbh. It's a shame it's needed, but it is.
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Why should us or them getting an extra thousand more be any more difficult than it was before December 2010? Or is that WMP don't want to look like pricks?
Don't get me wrong, I'd rather a smaller amount of away fans see the game than somebody get hurt but it just seems like an easy solution to me rather than them doing their job.
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Seems a millions years away from when I along with 10,000 plus fans used to pack the Tilton Road for the Derby game.
I honestly believe the police have such a tight budget they have no other option open to them these days. Imagine double the number of nuggets coming to Villa Park on 23rd. They will play up and all hell could break out. It is there cup final after all and for some Villa not far behind.
Unfortunately, can't see any other way to manage this fixture these days.
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It all sounds a bit over the top to me, as was our detention and silly walk at their place (although it was easy enough to break away from that)... however the big issue here is that more people will now be walking the same route away from the ground as me and you lot all walk too bloody slow.
Can the police cone off a fast lane for those of us that want to walk faster? If not, how about keeping all the slow walkers in the ground for a minute.
Sounds like a case for african non car reverser fast walker, to the bat phone
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Never mind a can of beans, somebody has opened a can of worms here. All a bit OTT to me, I bet all have seen worse than what will happen on the 23rd.
You're right, we probably all have. I know I have, been caught up in it as well, didn't like it one bit and never want to get caught up in anything like it again thanks.
I'd love this fixture to be a lovely Brummie Friendship match where we can all travel to the game on the train together after having a few jars in town discussing our relative fortunes this season, then bidding each other farewell on Witton Lane with a "good luck" and a promise to meet in The Bartons afterwards but we all know that there are far to many twats on both sides for thi , or anything even remotely like it, to ever happen.
To be fair the pain in the arsedness doesn't bother me, nor the restricted allocations. It is what it is.
But you can get tae fk if you think I'd ever wish them well. I wish them nothing but hoards of plagues and locusts and to be cut down by the scythe of misfortune, eventually resulting in the demise and a few thousands tears at Rover lamenting that, "If only I coudl've got off this shift I'd a gun down tha Bloooz cuz we're the team ov the citee not the Villa oo are from the Shires. SOV Tom".
Fk right off.
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Our derby is getting closer to becoming a bubble fixture. The police restricting the allocations to 2000, putting more measures in place to keep fans apart, Small Heath coming on 18 escorted coaches. The day we have to go to VP to get on an official coach to travel a few miles to The Sty is the day I stop going.
f you'd read the rest of the thread, you'd know that this is not a police restriction it is a club's-agreed limit
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Why should us or them getting an extra thousand more be any more difficult than it was before December 2010? Or is that WMP don't want to look like pricks?
Don't get me wrong, I'd rather a smaller amount of away fans see the game than somebody get hurt but it just seems like an easy solution to me rather than them doing their job.
The allocation wasn't a police decision. I think it was actually agreed between the 2 clubs, who are probably both hartily fed up of having to repair their toilets.
....and if you think finding and parking 13 vans nose to tail, putting out 2 other barriers, and deploying hundreds of officers at the game, and at pubs, railway stations and other hotspots across the city is taking the easy option and not doing their job, I don't really know what else they might suggest.
The police have suffered huge cuts, and there will still be other crime happening in Birmingham on that day for them to deal with. We aren't the only thing we have to do. I haven't grown up as a massive fan of the police, but they are asking us to walk a few hundred yards out of our way to ensure we are safe. It isn't them making us unsafe, it is an idiot element in both sets of fans that waste valuable police resources that could be better used elsewhere.
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It was an agreement between the clubs, but you're telling me that WMP didn't have any influence in the reduced allocations? As soon as the clubs would have mentioned 2000 allocations WMP would have jumped all over it and that would have been final. We take the piss out of their fans with their executive package and the fact they're coming on 18 official coaches, but their advertisement for it had the WMP badge plastered all over it. They would have been all over that decision aswell. They're happy because they've only got 2000 away fans to police and our game is one step closer to being a bubble game. Glasgow old bill can manage 5000+ away fans at the fiercest derby in the UK.
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An interesting debate, I've given it some thought and decided that a sparing portion of baked beans on a breakfast should be allowable.
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What would be the point in the clubs agreeing an allocation for both fixtures, then the police saying 'nah, make it another 1,000 each'. You're just believing what you want to believe.
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Why shouldn't they be happy? Why does this have to be as difficult as possible for them? Why is it necessary to waste a whole load of criminal justice resources (not just in the police but right through the prosecution system) and club resources, on trouble that can be prevented.
If just a few times this match could go off in a way that left the authorities thinking all this fuss wasn't necessary, then maybe we'd get bigger allocations, and more relaxed policing, but unfortunately, this fixture hasn't accumulated that history yet.
In answer to your question - I have no idea whether they influenced the decision on allocations, but we are told that this was not a police decision. However - yes, they are pleased, as has been mentioned, smaller allocations mean that the tickets go to regular away fans, who generally know how to travel, or if they don't, will be well known.
It's useful to remember that all of this is happening in a country on high terror alert, on St Georges day. All of that has to be taken into account both in general terms, and actually also for this match, but carry on jumping up and down about them making it easy for themselves by all means.
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An interesting debate, I've given it some thought and decided that a sparing portion of baked beans on a breakfast should be allowable.
Absolutely this. Even if it means a longer walk than usual.
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They are expecting most of the local pubs to have temporary event licences to open at around 8am - The Social, The Tavern, Witton Arms etc - the police have no problem with this and these applications will be unopposed. However, anyone opening without the relevant licence will be closed down - so that is down to the pubs not the police.
Phew, thank goodness. Imagine not being able to have four hours of solid drinking time before a midday kick-off.
I thought that the whole point of an early KO was so that people didn't have chance to drink.
Given the other restrictions, I'd have thought that not allowing any pubs to open would be the way to go
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I like the edge in and around the ground when we play them home and away, it's one of the elements which makes our derby one of the most fierce in the country and one neutrals want to watch. Make it a bubble fixture and you'll lose a lot of that and it becomes about as intimidating as Fulham v Chelsea or Liverpool v Everton.
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I like the edge in and around the ground when we play them home and away, it's one of the elements which makes our derby one of the most fierce in the country and one neutrals want to watch. Make it a bubble fixture and you'll lose a lot of that and it becomes about as intimidating as Fulham v Chelsea or Liverpool v Everton.
In other words, you enjoy the aggro. Fine, but the majority don't.
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One question Amfy..........What about if the Noses need to collect/use the away Ticket Office ??, Wont it be behind the Police Vans ???
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I like the edge in and around the ground when we play them home and away, it's one of the elements which makes our derby one of the most fierce in the country and one neutrals want to watch. Make it a bubble fixture and you'll lose a lot of that and it becomes about as intimidating as Fulham v Chelsea or Liverpool v Everton.
In other words, yoy enjoy the aggro. Fine, but the majority don't.
He never said that or alluded to such.
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I like the edge in and around the ground when we play them home and away, it's one of the elements which makes our derby one of the most fierce in the country and one neutrals want to watch. Make it a bubble fixture and you'll lose a lot of that and it becomes about as intimidating as Fulham v Chelsea or Liverpool v Everton.
In other words, yoy enjoy the aggro. Fine, but the majority don't.
He never said that or alluded to such.
But he did say that home fans are being inconvienced by being re-directed. Having them being in the same area will cause agro.
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I like the edge in and around the ground when we play them home and away, it's one of the elements which makes our derby one of the most fierce in the country and one neutrals want to watch. Make it a bubble fixture and you'll lose a lot of that and it becomes about as intimidating as Fulham v Chelsea or Liverpool v Everton.
I'd guess that most people wouldn't see a football match being "intimidating" as a positive thing.
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West Ham Spurs is probably the most significant risk game in the Smoke that's played with any regularity and there's no fannying around cutting allocations or bubbling the fixture.
I'm guessing the Met probably has a bigger budget and more available resources to police the likes of west ham v spurs than does WMP for our derby. They also have a significant BTP presence in London at the stations to assist in the operations. The WMP are in between a rock and a hard place with these fixtures, as if they do nothing and it goes to shit everyone is up in arms and if they go to great lengths to avoid trouble, everyone whinges about the inconvenience. They can't win really.
It does seem though from anecdotal evidence that our fans are inconvenienced more at both grounds. We shouldn't be inconvenienced at home because of Blues.
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They are expecting most of the local pubs to have temporary event licences to open at around 8am - The Social, The Tavern, Witton Arms etc - the police have no problem with this and these applications will be unopposed. However, anyone opening without the relevant licence will be closed down - so that is down to the pubs not the police.
Phew, thank goodness. Imagine not being able to have four hours of solid drinking time before a midday kick-off.
I thought that the whole point of an early KO was so that people didn't have chance to drink.
Given the other restrictions, I'd have thought that not allowing any pubs to open would be the way to go
Allow certain pubs to open and you know where a lot of the potential problem are.
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I like the edge in and around the ground when we play them home and away, it's one of the elements which makes our derby one of the most fierce in the country and one neutrals want to watch. Make it a bubble fixture and you'll lose a lot of that and it becomes about as intimidating as Fulham v Chelsea or Liverpool v Everton.
I'd guess that most people wouldn't see a football match being "intimidating" as a positive thing.
I think an intimidating atmosphere can in some respects make a game more interesting to the neutrals watching on the tv, and even those on the stadium whom are always going to be safe.
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An interesting debate, I've given it some thought and decided that a sparing portion of baked beans on a breakfast should be allowable.
quite frankly, I think you should be locked up and the key thrown away.
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I like the edge in and around the ground when we play them home and away, it's one of the elements which makes our derby one of the most fierce in the country and one neutrals want to watch. Make it a bubble fixture and you'll lose a lot of that and it becomes about as intimidating as Fulham v Chelsea or Liverpool v Everton.
I'd guess that most people wouldn't see a football match being "intimidating" as a positive thing.
I think an intimidating atmosphere can in some respects make a game more interesting to the neutrals watching on the tv, and even those on the stadium whom are always going to be safe.
I've seen enough missiles thrown to know that there's no such thing as definitely safe. Besides that, it can be a frightening experience for some people just to be close to the sort of idiocy that this game attracts.
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Why shouldn't they be happy? Why does this have to be as difficult as possible for them? Why is it necessary to waste a whole load of criminal justice resources (not just in the police but right through the prosecution system) and club resources, on trouble that can be prevented.
If just a few times this match could go off in a way that left the authorities thinking all this fuss wasn't necessary, then maybe we'd get bigger allocations, and more relaxed policing, but unfortunately, this fixture hasn't accumulated that history yet.
In answer to your question - I have no idea whether they influenced the decision on allocations, but we are told that this was not a police decision. However - yes, they are pleased, as has been mentioned, smaller allocations mean that the tickets go to regular away fans, who generally know how to travel, or if they don't, will be well known.
It's useful to remember that all of this is happening in a country on high terror alert, on St Georges day. All of that has to be taken into account both in general terms, and actually also for this match, but carry on jumping up and down about them making it easy for themselves by all means.
in the current climate, I'd probably be more concerned about some Jihadi looper getting the keys to a truck and steaming down Aston Hall Rd, than the visit of 2,000 of the unwashed.
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Well they have given considerable thought to that too, and some of the measures actually serve both purposes, but they aren't publicising their counter terrorism measures as that would just help terrorists to plan round them.
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You'd hope that the planning for that would have been done at a higher level than the normal match day Op unit.
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An interesting debate, I've given it some thought and decided that a sparing portion of baked beans on a breakfast should be allowable.
I'm a huge fan of baked beans on a breakfast. What else would you use your bread to mop up with?
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The slammer for you also L2
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I like the edge in and around the ground when we play them home and away, it's one of the elements which makes our derby one of the most fierce in the country and one neutrals want to watch. Make it a bubble fixture and you'll lose a lot of that and it becomes about as intimidating as Fulham v Chelsea or Liverpool v Everton.
I love the atmosphere in the ground. But, as someone who got caught in amongst Albion fans trying to get into Witton station after the Cup quarter final, with them chucking rocks and our lot chucking glass bottles back, I'm quite happy to walk to Aston station instead.
I'm forty two years old. I don't need some pissed twat putting my life in danger for a game of footy cheers.
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Let's keep this one on topic. There's enough chance to talk about other stuff elsewhere.
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I like the edge in and around the ground when we play them home and away, it's one of the elements which makes our derby one of the most fierce in the country and one neutrals want to watch. Make it a bubble fixture and you'll lose a lot of that and it becomes about as intimidating as Fulham v Chelsea or Liverpool v Everton.
I'd guess that most people wouldn't see a football match being "intimidating" as a positive thing.
I think an intimidating atmosphere can in some respects make a game more interesting to the neutrals watching on the tv, and even those on the stadium whom are always going to be safe.
I've seen enough missiles thrown to know that there's no such thing as definitely safe. Besides that, it can be a frightening experience for some people just to be close to the sort of idiocy that this game attracts.
Dave I've been to Enough of them myself, my
Point was simply that a certain level of intimidation can add to certain people's adrenalin, just like those who like jumping out of a plane, doesn't have to mean we are all hooligans.
I enjoy the atmosphere of derbys however hostile they become. And you're as safe as you allow yourself to be.
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The slammer for you also L2
You must be some kind of oddball Europhile. It'll be muesli next. Baked beans are an integral part of a full English. Makes me proud. Finally when we win our country back we can regain control of our arteries.
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Dave I've been to Enough of them myself, my
Point was simply that a certain level of intimidation can add to certain people's adrenalin, just like those who like jumping out of a plane, doesn't have to mean we are all hooligans.
I enjoy the atmosphere of derbys however hostile they become. And you're as safe as you allow yourself to be.
Maybe, but there is, sadly, no such thing as being 100% safe in certain areas around the ground on that day.
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It's the random throwing of bricks and bottles that makes everyone unsafe. The quicker they are simply funnelled in and out, the better for everyone really.
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amfy - Thanks for reporting it back, much appreciated
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I enjoy the atmosphere of derbys however hostile they become. And you're as safe as you allow yourself to be.
Walking a bit further rather than having a scar on my head like an innocent young niece has is a small price to pay.
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Point was simply that a certain level of intimidation can add to certain people's adrenalin, just like those who like jumping out of a plane, doesn't have to mean we are all hooligans.
I enjoy the atmosphere of derbys however hostile they become. And you're as safe as you allow yourself to be.
This is what I don't understand about some football fans.
Mr Shin can attest to the bemused look on my face when we've encountered posturing/minor aggression from away fans.
Not having grown up immersed in the culture of football, I still find it all a bit bizarre at times.
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There hasn't been serious disorder between both sets of fans in this fixture during day time kick offs in my lifetime.
The Noses had a pop at The Vine in 2004 and they kicked off themselves with the WMP in 2007, but Garrison Lane, Rocky Lane, Aston Park in 2003 and Digbeth in 2010; all evening fixtures.
I won't call their attacking the Manor Tavern serious disorder given the 15/16 year old lad who works behind the bar appeared to have seen more frightening things down the toilet.
What are they preventing? There's an edge to the the game, there's a lot of hold me back types, but very few indeed willing to to act on their bravado. There wouldn't be serious disorder with more away fans and without these over the top measures.
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Why shouldn't they be happy? Why does this have to be as difficult as possible for them? Why is it necessary to waste a whole load of criminal justice resources (not just in the police but right through the prosecution system) and club resources, on trouble that can be prevented.
If just a few times this match could go off in a way that left the authorities thinking all this fuss wasn't necessary, then maybe we'd get bigger allocations, and more relaxed policing, but unfortunately, this fixture hasn't accumulated that history yet.
In answer to your question - I have no idea whether they influenced the decision on allocations, but we are told that this was not a police decision. However - yes, they are pleased, as has been mentioned, smaller allocations mean that the tickets go to regular away fans, who generally know how to travel, or if they don't, will be well known.
It's useful to remember that all of this is happening in a country on high terror alert, on St Georges day. All of that has to be taken into account both in general terms, and actually also for this match, but carry on jumping up and down about them making it easy for themselves by all means.
in the current climate, I'd probably be more concerned about some Jihadi looper getting the keys to a truck and steaming down Aston Hall Rd, than the visit of 2,000 of the unwashed.
I suspect that risk is the explanation for the two massive trucks which have been parked across Witton Lane since the Westminster attack. It obviously won't prevent an issue down Aston Hall Rd but they'd certainly stop the same happening on Witton Lane or Trinity Road.
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Think is, as AV5 said, there are people that enjoy the atmosphere for the adrenalin rush such as someone who takes their thrills from extreme sports. I have no idea why someone would want to take part in or watch MMA (or whatever its called) stuff as to me its just rubbish and not in the slightest bit interesting. Just violent. Yet, there are plenty of people who will point out why I'm wrong. AV5 enjoys the adrenalin of the atmosphere but it doesn't make him a thug. Others enjoy the safety of posturing. Others the actual violence.
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I like the edge in and around the ground when we play them home and away, it's one of the elements which makes our derby one of the most fierce in the country and one neutrals want to watch. Make it a bubble fixture and you'll lose a lot of that and it becomes about as intimidating as Fulham v Chelsea or Liverpool v Everton.
I'd guess that most people wouldn't see a football match being "intimidating" as a positive thing.
I think an intimidating atmosphere can in some respects make a game more interesting to the neutrals watching on the tv, and even those on the stadium whom are always going to be safe.
I think the fact our average attendance in the top flight at the peak of hooliganism (mid-80s) was little over 15,000 and now, in the division below, its more than double that would suggest not everyone shares your view.
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The tension and needle is what makes the game exciting.
No walk to a ground is moodier than a trip to the Sty. Seeing all the bollock chain wearers skulking about, the buzz of Harold the helicopter, endless hi-vizier wearers milling about. The quietness of it all, or at least the perception that it should be louder, but anything more than a hushed conversation might spark the tinder.
The hatred you get coming your way inside the ground. The vitriol you pour back. The way you go berserk when you score. The extra kick in the nads when they do.
Derbies are great. There is safety and there is sanitisation. WMP have done a good job during day time kick offs of ensuring nothing really happens; organised or otherwise. There has been no justifiable reason for the measures undertaken and it's a strawman argument to suggest that because they work (well durh) we must continue with them.
We're at the thin end of the wedge.
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There hasn't been serious disorder between both sets of fans in this fixture during day time kick offs in my lifetime.
The Noses had a pop at The Vine in 2004 and they kicked off themselves with the WMP in 2007, but Garrison Lane, Rocky Lane, Aston Park in 2003 and Digbeth in 2010; all evening fixtures.
I won't call their attacking the Manor Tavern serious disorder given the 15/16 year old lad who works behind the bar appeared to have seen more frightening things down the toilet.
What are they preventing? There's an edge to the the game, there's a lot of hold me back types, but very few indeed willing to to act on their bravado. There wouldn't be serious disorder with more away fans and without these over the top measures.
Someone without your extensive knowledge of football violence might regard what you call hold me back bravado as a frightening experience to be caught up in.
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Think is, as AV5 said, there are people that enjoy the atmosphere for the adrenalin rush such as someone who takes their thrills from extreme sports. I have no idea why someone would want to take part in or watch MMA (or whatever its called) stuff as to me its just rubbish and not in the slightest bit interesting. Just violent. Yet, there are plenty of people who will point out why I'm wrong. AV5 enjoys the adrenalin of the atmosphere but it doesn't make him a thug. Others enjoy the safety of posturing. Others the actual violence.
The trouble is, as has already been pointed out, when morons start either start lashing out at anyone wearing the wrong colours, or start blindly chucking rocks/bottles/whatever into a group everyone else has lost the choice over whether they want to partake in this "extreme sport".
In a world where I'm sure WMP funds are as stretched as ever they're hardly going to go to great efforts if it's not necessary. I'm sure they'd be quite happy to send no-one down to police the game.
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You're right Ad@m the police would prefer that. But that contradicts your point surely? Fans make it impossible for them to not police the game because of the posturing and spill over into disturbances. Therefore, they do have to police the game. And police it with as much force to prevent serious disorder but to try and keep inconvenience to a minimum. Its not their fault 'we' can't just allow that to happen.
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You're right Ad@m the police would prefer that. But that contradicts your point surely? Fans make it impossible for them to not police the game because of the posturing and spill over into disturbances. Therefore, they do have to police the game. And police it with as much force to prevent serious disorder but to try and keep inconvenience to a minimum. Its not their fault 'we' can't just allow that to happen.
Exactly. My point is that people are complaining about the police tactics, and I'm saying they're only doing it because certain "fans" can't be trusted.
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The tension and needle is what makes the game exciting.
No walk to a ground is moodier than a trip to the Sty. Seeing all the bollock chain wearers skulking about, the buzz of Harold the helicopter, endless hi-vizier wearers milling about. The quietness of it all, or at least the perception that it should be louder, but anything more than a hushed conversation might spark the tinder.
The hatred you get coming your way inside the ground. The vitriol you pour back. The way you go berserk when you score. The extra kick in the nads when they do.
Derbies are great. There is safety and there is sanitisation. WMP have done a good job during day time kick offs of ensuring nothing really happens; organised or otherwise. There has been no justifiable reason for the measures undertaken and it's a strawman argument to suggest that because they work (well durh) we must continue with them.
We're at the thin end of the wedge.
At the end of the day, they're trying to make sure the whole day passes off as peacefully as possible. I'm not sure what part of that you're having trouble with.
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My (selfish) issue is that we are to be on duty at 9.00am and we park in the staff car park at the old Osram site on Tame road. After the game it is a bit difficult to get to that side of the ground and to the car park from really any other route.
Hopefully by the time we are stood down the vast majority will be away
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My (selfish) issue is that we are to be on duty at 9.00am and we park in the staff car park at the old Osram site on Tame road. After the game it is a bit difficult to get to that side of the ground and to the car park from really any other route.
Hopefully by the time we are stood down the vast majority will be away
My selfish issue is just to make sure we dub them 2 or 3 nil. A whole summer of them with chests puffed out is intolerable
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Don't like games against sha at all, and yes I have been involved in unnecessary rubbish. I actually agree with the way the police , police this game keeps trouble to an absolute minimum.
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I enjoy the atmosphere of derbys however hostile they become. And you're as safe as you allow yourself to be.
I didn't enjoy the hostility when a gang of their thugs broke my cheekbone before the away leg of the League Cup match in 1988 (I've had no feeling in that side of my face since). And I didn't think I was unsafe, just me and a friend, no colours, nowhere near the ground. They were just attacking random people.
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Can't understand the need for the segregation, evidently they've taken over the corporate area and 2,000 are in the Holte. Evidently they are feeling very aggrieved that they are getting less tickets for AV than they get for Rotherham, as if they'll take 2500 to Rotherham.
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Can't understand the need for the segregation, evidently they've taken over the corporate area and 2,000 are in the Holte. Evidently they are feeling very aggrieved that they are getting less tickets for AV than they get for Rotherham, as if they'll take 2500 to Rotherham.
They are lucky if the take that many to home games from the empty blue plastic seats I see on tv
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I enjoy the atmosphere of derbys however hostile they become. And you're as safe as you allow yourself to be.
I didn't enjoy the hostility when a gang of their thugs broke my cheekbone before the away leg of the League Cup match in 1988 (I've had no feeling in that side of my face since). And I didn't think I was unsafe, just me and a friend, no colours, nowhere near the ground. They were just attacking random people.
so in fairness because if it was no where near the ground it could still have happened even with all the extra security measures inside and around the stadium
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Pretty sure after the 5-1 in 2008 I went out via the North stand exit round the back of Villa Village...first time I'd even realised there was an exit round there. It added another 5 minutes but was no big deal.
I also remember the infamous 03/03/03 walking under Witton Bridge at the same time as hundreds of their fans got off at the same time. Was a very uncomfortable few minutes with them singing their anti Villa songs which were then meet with bottles on Witton Lane.
It's not ideal but then where else could you realistically house their 2k and minimise disruption to the walk routes.
Only other thing I could think of is maybe give them Upper Trinity as a one off given we don't have season ticket holders up there as then you can park their coaches up Trinity lane and just have that as a special route for them while we have access to the other few stands.
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Only other thing I could think of is maybe give them Upper Trinity as a one off given we don't have season ticket holders up there as then you can park their coaches up Trinity lane and just have that as a special route for them while we have access to the other few stands.
There's no way we'd put a away fans above our fans in a Derby again after the Albion QF.
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Only other thing I could think of is maybe give them Upper Trinity as a one off given we don't have season ticket holders up there as then you can park their coaches up Trinity lane and just have that as a special route for them while we have access to the other few stands.
There's no way we'd put a away fans above our fans in a Derby again after the Albion QF.
Yes that's a fair point. Given they have 2k and Upper Trinity seems to hold 4k we could maybe just place them in the middle bit with plenty of netting over the front rows of seats. Mind you they'd probably be still lobbing stuff at their owners for sacking Rowett and appointing Zola!
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The best solution to this problem is we play them off the park and add significantly to their negative goal difference, then have a bad day at Blackburn so they can get enough points to get ahead of them.
It is much easier for the police to manage the knuckle draggers if they are getting off the train in Bescot next season.
If that fails we will have to put with two more of their cup finals next season - but hopefully then we can leave them behind as we head back to the Prem.
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Well they have given considerable thought to that too, and some of the measures actually serve both purposes, but they aren't publicising their counter terrorism measures as that would just help terrorists to plan round them.
One of those measures is fairly obvious to anyone walking away from the ground towards the Expressway.
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An interesting debate, I've given it some thought and decided that a sparing portion of baked beans on a breakfast should be allowable.
quite frankly, I think you should be locked up and the key thrown away.
If you use one of those tins with both the beans and little sausages in you can save on washing up as well.
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I've been out the country since 2006, so haven't been to VP for a while Chris. If it's in hand, then fair enough
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You've been asked before - please keep this one on topic.
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I suppose they could keep them lot in for 20-30 mins afterwards to allow regular fans to be away from the stadium and the only ones hanging around would be the pavement dancers who could be easily spotted by the Police
On a slight tangent - I really hope Dr Tony is there as I think the atmosphere will be a good one
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I suppose they could keep them lot in for 20-30 mins afterwards to allow regular fans to be away from the stadium and the only ones hanging around would be the pavement dancers who could be easily spotted by the Police
Amfy's first post says they won't do that because the Blues fans will trash the stadium.
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I like the edge in and around the ground when we play them home and away, it's one of the elements which makes our derby one of the most fierce in the country and one neutrals want to watch. Make it a bubble fixture and you'll lose a lot of that and it becomes about as intimidating as Fulham v Chelsea or Liverpool v Everton.
You'll be saying you like Bono there too next.
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I suppose they could keep them lot in for 20-30 mins afterwards to allow regular fans to be away from the stadium and the only ones hanging around would be the pavement dancers who could be easily spotted by the Police
Amfy's first post says they won't do that because the Blues fans will trash the stadium.
Or there could be risk of crushing. The away end concourses are very narrow.
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Can someone explain why the game is kicking off at 12 when the Police are happy for pubs to, generally with a licence, open at 8am. I thought the whole point was to stop people getting tanked up before the games. As someone who often has Stella on his cornflakes and has frequented many a pub at 8am before one of these games, I'm a bit miffed at having to travel up from London at stupid o'clock on Sunday morning.
I called the Social and they said they were opening at 10.
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The police said that their experience indicated that alcohol was only a small part of the equation in creating the trouble, and that those who want to drink will do so whether there are pubs open or not.
A much bigger factor is people just generally getting more and more worked up as the day goes on - including a build up of social media 'banter', but mostly people just having time to get more and more tense and edgy.
They also like to have a few local pubs open because it means that for the most part, they know where the tanked up people are coming from, rather than them arriving from all directions having had a few at home or at their mate's.
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That second point's interesting. I'd never thought of that before but it makes sense.
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Can someone explain why the game is kicking off at 12 when the Police are happy for pubs to, generally with a licence, open at 8am. I thought the whole point was to stop people getting tanked up before the games. As someone who often has Stella on his cornflakes and has frequented many a pub at 8am before one of these games, I'm a bit miffed at having to travel up from London at stupid o'clock on Sunday morning.
I called the Social and they said they were opening at 10.
0830 according to their notices in the pub and what the owner told my mate. Witton arms is 0830 too
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I suppose they could keep them lot in for 20-30 mins afterwards to allow regular fans to be away from the stadium and the only ones hanging around would be the pavement dancers who could be easily spotted by the Police
Amfy's first post says they won't do that because the Blues fans will trash the stadium.
Or there could be risk of crushing. The away end concourses are very narrow.
Pretty sure when fans are kept back in other grounds they're kept back in their seats.
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Seems daft to me that pubs are open at 08:30 but I won't be able to buy a sandwich from Tesco on Aston Lane until 11:00
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Can someone explain why the game is kicking off at 12 when the Police are happy for pubs to, generally with a licence, open at 8am. I thought the whole point was to stop people getting tanked up before the games. As someone who often has Stella on his cornflakes and has frequented many a pub at 8am before one of these games, I'm a bit miffed at having to travel up from London at stupid o'clock on Sunday morning.
I called the Social and they said they were opening at 10.
0830 according to their notices in the pub and what the owner told my mate. Witton arms is 0830 too
How about Holte Suite???
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Some Bloonose nugget has posted a full view of his two tickets in the Upper Trinity on FB and it was retweeted on Twitter...
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Tag AVFC official.in and they'll be cancelled!
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Some Bloonose nugget has posted a full view of his two tickets in the Upper Trinity on Twitter....
Let's have a link to it
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(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C9NJfcmXUAAK98J.jpg)
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Good old Yasir
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(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C9NJfcmXUAAK98J.jpg)
Talk about being mind-bogglingly thick. Now everyone knows his exact seats, and everyone knows who sorted the tickets for him.
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Has anyone forwarded that to the club or shall I? I assume if they get cancelled Villa still get to keep his money?
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There's so much stupidity in his post it's actually a thing of beauty.
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I think he should be dragged out of the ground American Airline's style.
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I think he should be dragged out of the ground American Airline's style.
United you mean? Unless they're all at it!
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I was in town on Saturday. Who let bollock-badged shirt-wearing Noses drink in the The OJS? Is that normal when they are at home, I mean about to lose to Derby* at home?
*Their fans were in the Wellington and Southampton were outside the Shakespeare. Disrupted our lunchtime crawl, I can tell you!
This might be OT, if so, soz. However, it does concern match-day drinking not far from a football ground. And the Sty.
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I think he should be dragged out of the ground American Airline's style.
United you mean? Unless they're all at it!
Haha, yes that one as well.
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Can't understand the need for the segregation, evidently they've taken over the corporate area and 2,000 are in the Holte. Evidently they are feeling very aggrieved that they are getting less tickets for AV than they get for Rotherham, as if they'll take 2500 to Rotherham.
Said who ? I'm not aware of what the current occupancy rate is for the Trinity Road corporate areas but I can't see there being less interest for this game. Granted in any corporate area there's an opportunity for supporters of any team to be present, who hasn't been in the opposition's seats before -it's how you behave when there and your intent that deems if it's an issue . I would have thought the club are using the same vetting processes they are using for match tickets ?
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I'd expect Blues all over the ground on their thousands, making themselves known, as they always do.
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So many of them in the Holte End as usual that i've heard the Holte Suite will be for sha fans only.
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So many of them in the Holte End as usual that i've heard the Holte Suite will be for sha fans only.
Made me smile, will they have to produce their SHA season tickets to gain entry ? If so that limits it to 4
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I was in town on Saturday. Who let bollock-badged shirt-wearing Noses drink in the The OJS? Is that normal when they are at home, I mean about to lose to Derby* at home?
*Their fans were in the Wellington and Southampton were outside the Shakespeare. Disrupted our lunchtime crawl, I can tell you!
This might be OT, if so, soz. However, it does concern match-day drinking not far from a football ground. And the Sty.
The OJS?
How can the "proper Brummie, working class, ex-Rover, catch the number 60 to the ground, salt of the earth, alright bab, Peaky Blinder msiconception, can I have a Bronx Hat Tom?, Brew XI supping, it's a long road, Leyland Daf, Mark One" tramps afford over a fiver a pint?
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(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C9NJfcmXUAAK98J.jpg)
The club have cancelled these tickets and banned the buyer from future purchases.
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I'd expect Blues all over the ground on their thousands, making themselves known, as they always do.
Ha we joke about it now but in the early games when they came up there were loads in the North upper. Not just for 03/03/03 but also that game when Sorensen fumbled in that joke shot from Morrison. About 2 rows went up when that one went in.
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There were plenty of them dotted around the ground in that 03/03/03 game, several of whom thought they could do as they pleased and celebrated when they scored. Safe to say they haven't been brave/stupid enough to do so since. The couple who got booted down the Upper Doug have probably still got a headache. They gave it the 'theres thousands of us in the Holte' as they always do, and there were rumours they were going to unveil a flag in the Lower Holte. I remember a couple of Villa fans got smacked in the Upper Holte as other Villa fans accused them of being noses. It made everyone suspicious and even 'normal' fans were on red alert and fired up.
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(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C9NJfcmXUAAK98J.jpg)
The club have cancelled these tickets and banned the buyer from future purchases.
They are amazingly stupid. Fancy putting that on social media the blithering idiot.
Edit: I see the praise on nose has already been furnished in posts above.
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(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C9NJfcmXUAAK98J.jpg)
The club have cancelled these tickets and banned the buyer from future purchases.
Haha what an absolute weapon he must feel.
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I really hope there is no hassle with away fans in home areas. I did think it strange the club let anyone with a booking history get up to 5 tickets as it's so easy to create an a5ccount on line as I did for Wigan away in order to sit in their end.
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Name and shame, who was the twat that sold the tickets.
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I really hope there is no hassle with away fans in home areas. I did think it strange the club let anyone with a booking history get up to 5 tickets as it's so easy to create an a5ccount on line as I did for Wigan away in order to sit in their end.
They could have created an account, but they wouldn't have previous booking history. There will be a few noses in our ends no doubt but trust me they won't celebrate if they score.
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In the past you've need a varied booking history to buy tickets for games like this, which is games against various sides. I doubt we've changed it this year. There'll be a few in the home ends, there always is. Same as there's as always some of us in the home ends at the sty, but despite what's always claimed, there won't be many and they'll keep quiet.
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(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C9NJfcmXUAAK98J.jpg)
The club have cancelled these tickets and banned the buyer from future purchases.
If you Facebook search the name, he is actually a Liverpool fan by looks of it.
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Makes a change from most Brummie Reds having a soft spot for them I suppose.
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Makes a change from most Brummie Reds having a soft spot for them I suppose.
You need a varied booking history for Villa games in order to buy a ticket. So - he could just be a Liverpool fan who has watched our matches against Liverpool from home sections of the ground.
Still, he won't be doing that again.
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Don't they check that though which is why it's a "varied" booking history? I'm sure at one of the SCG I went to they said they check for that.
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Makes a change from most Brummie Reds having a soft spot for them I suppose.
You need a varied booking history for Villa games in order to buy a ticket. So - he could just be a Liverpool fan who has watched our matches against Liverpool from home sections of the ground.
Still, he won't be doing that again.
Has anybody broke the news to the eejit yet?
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Yasir Gul embodies everything we laugh about with these people. Once again "the gift that keeps on giving"
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In the past you've need a varied booking history to buy tickets for games like this, which is games against various sides. I doubt we've changed it this year. There'll be a few in the home ends, there always is. Same as there's as always some of us in the home ends at the sty, but despite what's always claimed, there won't be many and they'll keep quiet.
I concur.
I'be been to every home derby since they came up in 2002 other than 030303 and the cup game last year and I have never ever noticed one of them in our end. Which means if they are they're not making it obvious.
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In all honesty, our mate Yasir's stupidity there has probably saved him from a good hiding because anyone naive to think that he could rock up and lord it really isn't streetwise enough to keep his head down if - and it's a big if - they stuck one in. And may I add I'm not condoning anything aggressive either, but it would undoubtedly happen.
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Is that his real name?
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Is that his real name?
Yasir.
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Is that his real name?
Yasir.
Like😀
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Is that his real name?
Yasir.
Yasir Gul, you shoot it. Bloody pests they are.
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They're having a beam back at The Sty bless 'em.
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They're having a beam back at The Sty bless 'em.
Have they now got a colour set or are they sticking with black & white?
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They're having a beam back at The Sty bless 'em.
(http://www.mcsport.ie/v4/efe3ebc9-f32d-4915-b7bc-fbbbb13bed2f/images/product_images/LME400-370_370.jpg)
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They're having a beam back at The Sty bless 'em.
(http://www.mcsport.ie/v4/efe3ebc9-f32d-4915-b7bc-fbbbb13bed2f/images/product_images/LME400-370_370.jpg)
Give David a go.
(http://i.makeagif.com/media/5-13-2015/NBFhzs.gif)
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Thats one of my favourite moments of being a Villa fan.
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Loved the bit in Amyfys post saying "the blues fans have had route directions to vp with there tickets"
How far are the grounds apart Ffs
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Loved the bit in Amyfys post saying "the blues fans have had route directions to vp with there tickets"
How far are the grounds apart Ffs
More to the point, how far are the clubs apart? Therein lies the beauty of this fixture.
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We definitely need that big Forever in our Shadow banner made.
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Loved the bit in Amyfys post saying "the blues fans have had route directions to vp with there tickets"
How far are the grounds apart Ffs
I assume this is Police advised route.
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Loved the bit in Amyfys post saying "the blues fans have had route directions to vp with there tickets"
How far are the grounds apart Ffs
I assume this is Police advised route.
Yep - they need to know to come in through Station Road and Manor Road. There is no route to their turnstiles from Witton Lane.
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All this is well and good but somehow I don't think we will get anywhere like this level of protection if we have to go to their shit hole next season.
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All this is well and good but somehow I don't think we will get anywhere like this level of protection if we have to go to their shit hole next season.
100% this.
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Tbf - I don't think there Is a road layout or transport network that could offer us the same over there. Unless we all.go on coaches, which many don't want to do
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They could walk us to Bordesley station and have us away on trains no bother. It's a lot further to Duddeston.
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They could walk us to Bordesley station and have us away on trains no bother. It's a lot further to Duddeston.
There's nowhere you can go from Bordesley except on the Solihull line.
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Another potential problem with using the Bordesley station is that if I remember correctly it only has one normal service train a week. So that would mean that special trains would have to be provided, not cheap. And also where would they go to?
Aston or Witton? - Well as many folks would be going back to town, so would get another train to New Street. Which would be a nightmare to police, since the re-modelling of New Street, there is no longer an isolated exit as there used to be off platform 12.
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Game is sold out
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From PRAVADA
Villa v Blues is on the horizon and - working with the police and having taken their advice - we have put some special measures in place to ensure this derby encounter takes place as smoothly as possible.
The Second City game, on Sunday April 23 with a 12noon kick-off, is always a big occasion with passion and fervour at the absolute maximum.
To that end, please check all our pre and post match details below.
Please be aware that your travel to and from the game will be different to a normal matchday.
So please have a look below to make sure you plan your journey beforehand.
Supporter information pre-match
Parking
Holte End parking
Supporters must be parked before 10.45am via Trinity Road.
North Stand parking (Villa Village)
Access available on Witton Lane until 10am.
After this time please use Witton Road entrance which will be open until 11.30am.
Yew Tree School parking
Supporters who usually park at Yew Tree School are asked to park on Trinity Road via one way system entering from Nelson Road which will open at 11am. (Invited Permit Holder Only)
Supporter entrances
Holte, Trinity & Doug Ellis Home Stand
Supporters are asked to access the stand via Witton Lane from St.Peter & St.Pauls Church direction.
Doug Ellis Box Holders who have Villa Village passes will be required to enter via the North Stand Reception.
North Stand “T” Block supporters
All North Stand “T” Block supporters will need to enter via Trinity Road and then around the Players Car Park.
“R” Block supporters
R Block supporters will need to enter via Witton Lane / Witton Square.
Away supporters
Access will be via Manor Road and Station Road ONLY.
Traffic & Pedestrian disruption
From 10.45am-12noon
Supporter information post-match
Vehicle exit routes
Holte End parking
Supporters will be held until all pedestrians have left.
North Stand parking (Villa Village)
Supporters will be held until all pedestrians have left, exiting via Witton Road.
Yew Tree School alternative parking
Supporters will be held until all pedestrians have left exiting towards Aston Expressway flyover.
Supporter exit routes
Holte, Trinity & Doug Ellis home stand
Supporters are asked to exit the stand and leave via either Trinity Road or Witton Lane towards the Aston Expressway flyover.
North Stand “T” & “R” Block supporters
All North Stand supporters will need to exit via Villa Village Car Park via Trinity Road or the rear entrance onto Witton Road.
Away supporters
The exit route will be via Manor Road and Station Road ONLY.
Traffic & Pedestrian disruption
From 1.45am-2.45pm
Local Residents matchday notice
Saturday April 22
10pm: Parking unavailable on Manor Road and part of Station Road
Sunday April 23
10am: Road block installed. No access through Witton Lane
10.45am: Additional Road blocks installed. Access to Witton Lane & Trinity Road closed
Temporary access available through Serpentine Road, Village Road & Manor Road available until 10.45am and between 12.15pm and 1.30pm.
Full access will re-open from 3pm
Traffic & Pedestrian disruption
From 10.45am-12noon
From 1.45pm-2.45pm
There are some maps to show the above...........No idea how you insert those I am afraid
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Fk me, that's tantamount to military planning.
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Fk me, that's tantamount to military planning.
Better that than some half-baked ideas that nobody knows about.
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Just in case for all blues fans and a good few too many Villa bods will the police allow a lap of honour for the gallant winners at the end. Give me Fulham away any day.
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Fk me, that's tantamount to military planning.
Better that than some half-baked ideas that nobody knows about.
True, but there's only 2 thousand of them, and from what I can gather, they're coming by coach.
And I do hope it all goes peacefully, for my mum and sister for starters.
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I'm sure I read somewhere that it's only 17 or 18 coach loads.
Think it was WMPVilla on Twitter
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I park at Broadway School off Aston Lane.
Any ideas how I get to/from the Trinity Road Stand from there ?
I was planning to walk along The Broadway, over Witton Road, up Bevington Road and then hang a left onto Trinity Road.
Reading the above, it appears that I wouldn't be allowed to walk back that way after the game
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(https://d16b4kgyytl7c7.cloudfront.net/~/media/Vs-BCFC-Maps---Supporter-Entrance.ashx?la=en&vs=1&d=20170405T132446Z&hash=106E0D89D8351CA738E61533F6189BF3B82613B4)
(https://d16b4kgyytl7c7.cloudfront.net/~/media/Vs-BCFC-Maps---Supporter-Exit.ashx?la=en&vs=1&d=20170405T132627Z&hash=E1208D134379B2470F663938C89A3AB51ABDFBB3)
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It's only Witton Lane from Witton Road that you can't get into.
After the game they may shut Witton Road by the Island for a short period, but you can just take a left a bit further up to cut onto Aston Lane if that happens. The Witton Road closure may not happen anyway, and if it does, it'll be brief. That was only at the suggestion of the fans consulted anyway, it wasn't a police idea.
I don't think the route from Trinity to Aston Lane is affected by the plans at present.
In terms of Blues travel - they have 18 coaches bringing 900 and there are trains laid on which will carry 500 each. There's no requirement for that number to be on the trains, but it does seem most Blues fans will be taking a very direct route to and from the ground with the transport provision as it is.
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Thanks Amfy.
This is the bit that concerned me
Supporter exit routes
Holte, Trinity & Doug Ellis home stand
Supporters are asked to exit the stand and leave via either Trinity Road or Witton Lane towards the Aston Expressway flyover.
That's the opposite direction that I need to head.
I'll wander down the route I'd planned and if I'm stopped by WMP I'll just 'yokel' up my accent even more and plead ignorance of your big-city ways
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Following Amfy's response, I'm now thinking that the "towards the Aston Expressway flyover" applies only to the Witton Lane part of the sentence
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I'll just 'yokel' up my accent even more
I don't think that's possible Mr Sox.
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Following Amfy's response, I'm now thinking that the "towards the Aston Expressway flyover" applies only to the Witton Lane part of the sentence
I hope so because I'm in the same boat as you. Although the map doesn't say where boats have to go.
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I'll just 'yokel' up my accent even more
I don't think that's possible Mr Sox.
I'm sorry, do I know you? Did you use to go to Villa games ?
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Green army!
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Following Amfy's response, I'm now thinking that the "towards the Aston Expressway flyover" applies only to the Witton Lane part of the sentence
Yes - that'd be right. So you are OK leaving via Trinity Road as usual, alongside the North Stand fans who will also be directed towards Trinity Toad rather than Witton Lane.
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(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C9NJfcmXUAAK98J.jpg)
The club have cancelled these tickets and banned the buyer from future purchases.
Haha what an absolute weapon he must feel.
Ha ha ha! Marvelous use of the term 'weapon' there QV. ;D
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Friends arrive by car with their son who has a corporate seat;they arrive fairly early and usually are able to wait in the corporate area until it is time to go to their seats in the Trinity. The son has been told by the club that on Sunday he should enter the corporate area by 09:00 and no one else would be admitted. Does anyone have info on this please? I can't imagine that all corporate ticket holders have to be in 3 hours before; access to the North Stand parking will be open via Witton Road until 11:30. This is deterring my friends from going as they are not prepared to hang around for hours outside the ground and have no other way of getting there. They fully understand why only ticket holders will be admitted to the corporate.
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Another transport issue for people to be aware of is that the southbound cross city line has a replacement bus service between Selly Oak and Redditch on Sunday.
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Another transport issue for people to be aware of is that the southbound cross city line has a replacement bus service between Selly Oak and Redditch on Sunday.
I understand that it is all the way into town rather than just Selly Oak. Taxis for us I think.
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Can we please have the same traffic management road closures for ever home game. Must have taken 10 minutes off my normal departure
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Can we please have the same traffic management road closures for ever home game. Must have taken 10 minutes off my normal departure
A real pain in the ass for folks who prefer to get the number 11 bus rather than go into and out of town though.
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Stayed to the final whistle, joined in the Oasis and Hi Ho Aston Villa, walked back to my car the other side of Lichfield Road and was on the M6 going north at 2:15. Home to Wilmslow by 3.30. Not bad for a 40k + fixture.
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I was held up by the police at the Bartons Arms traffic lights while their coaches went past. I gave them a cheery wave.
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Parked on the goals car park by spaghetti junction and walked to the ground, didn't see a Blues fan until taking my seat in the ground.
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Parked on the goals car park by spaghetti junction and walked to the ground, didn't see a Blues fan until taking my seat in the ground.
You must have known they were there though from the god awful foul stench drifting over from the coach yard on Witton Lane.
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I sit in the DE upper. I didn't see a blue nose from the time I arrived at the pub at 9.45 until I got back home at 2.30.
I couldn't hear them either, were there any there?
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Can we please have the same traffic management road closures for ever home game. Must have taken 10 minutes off my normal departure
No thanks. Took ages to get back to the car the long way round then got stuck in traffic.
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I sit in the DE upper. I didn't see a blue nose from the time I arrived at the pub at 9.45 until I got back home at 2.30.
I couldn't hear them either, were there any there?
Same as me, although i did get offered out by one when we leaving. Two mins outside he drooled/shouted, i politely advised him that it would take me at least ten mins to walk around the ground
Very poor from them today, not even in the top 6 of noisy/boisterous fans
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Would have been nice if London Midland had actually laid on some trains from Aston, having asked thousands of fans to go there.
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Would have been nice if London Midland had actually laid on some trains from Aston, having asked thousands of fans to go there.
The queue was the biggest I have ever seen just to go up the stairs.
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Would have been nice if London Midland had actually laid on some trains from Aston, having asked thousands of fans to go there.
The queue was the biggest I have ever seen just to go up the stairs.
We thought that would probably be the case, and just walked back in along the canal. Only took around 45 minutes from the North to the Wellington.
Although if you're aiming for any station but New St. it obviously doesn't really help.
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I sit in the DE upper. I didn't see a blue nose from the time I arrived at the pub at 9.45 until I got back home at 2.30.
I couldn't hear them either, were there any there?
I didn't see a single blues fan all day
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It was magic
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I sit in the DE upper. I didn't see a blue nose from the time I arrived at the pub at 9.45 until I got back home at 2.30.
I couldn't hear them either, were there any there?
I didn't see a single blues fan all day
Couldn't hear any in the ground either.
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Me and the Mrs walked from Moor St to New St about 10.50 to get the Aston train and had the misfortune to come across about 25 older blues giving it loads claiming to be looking for villa etc and making their way into New St presumably for their special. Was a bit concerned tbh because there didn't seem to be many old bil about, but once they were avoided the day was fine and post match the coppers seemed to have it sussed
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They must have left their voices on the coach. One rendition of Wipe the Snot and that's about it.
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The most relaxed I have ever felt at one of these derbies. On the way up the ground I felt a massive sense of occasion with no undercuurent of things about to go off. The police themselves were polite, smiley and friendly - they knew they had it covered, This is how today was supposed to feel. I know one Blues coach passed with its windscreen smashed in, but haven't heard of anything else yet. So compared to some of the madness of previous fixtures - well done WMP.
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Agree WMP were very nice, me and my son said that. Didn't see or hear any of them ha ha
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Anyone know how many coaches the clowns bought ?
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Anyone know how many coaches the clowns bought ?
I got stuck at the Crown & Cushion for 10 minutes as the police blocked traffic at the top of Aston Lane for a while. I reckon there must have been about 20 coaches - they were escorted along the flyover towards the Bartons.
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Ps I agree with Amfy - very well organised by the police and good natured too. The least aggressive mood I can recall for this fixture.
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Anyone know how many coaches the clowns bought ?
I got stuck at the Crown & Cushion for 10 minutes as the police blocked traffic at the top of Aston Lane for a while. I reckon there must have been about 20 coaches - they were escorted along the flyover towards the Bartons.
Thought that was behind the delay 👍
UTV
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We gave them a cheery wave from outside The Bartons.
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Agree with everyone that the Police deserve great credit, didn't see one single Bluescum anywhere from start to finish, and that includes driving past their shithole of a ground on the way home.
Sat in the DE Upper right next to the Holte and was impressed to see a huge steel fence arrangement in Witton Lane, for the unwashed to be sheparded into, very impressive.
Didn't hear a bloody peep out of them in the game either, their support really was quite embarrassing.
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20 coaches all half empty. Almost like a Donald Trump rally.
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Did the away toilets survive the game?
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Did the away toilets survive the game?
The deal is that their club pays for what they smash up, so some nice new toilets free of charge if they have.