Blues match police crowd management

[amfy]

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.

[QuintonVilla]

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.

[PeterWithe]

An interesting debate, I've given it some thought and decided that a sparing portion of baked beans on a breakfast should be allowable.

[Clampy]

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.

[amfy]

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.

[Des Little]

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.

[UK Redsox]

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

[QuintonVilla]

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.

[Clampy]

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.

[spangley1812]

One question Amfy..........What about if the Noses need to collect/use the away Ticket Office ??, Wont it be behind the Police Vans

[AV5nobs]

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.

[Clampy]

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.

[Dave]

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.

[robbo1874]

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.

[dave.woodhall]

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.