Police at Swindon

[Superguy]

The Wiltshire police had obviously heard about our hard core nutters that stand in the back row of Blocks 1, 2,4 and 5 that face eviction from every home game for “standing up in a threatening manner”.

Hooligans!!!

 

[Princerock]

The Wiltshire force only has one football team in their patch so they have to take the overtime opportunities whenever they arise. :shocked:
I can't remember the last time I had to go the 'wrong way' to leave the area of a ground after a match.

1970's away to Chelsea....we were kept in the ground for up to an hour....so the streets could be cleared of Chelsea fans ( or nutters ?) then frog marched to the underground.....I tried to slip away but got stopped from doing that....it made no difference to the police that my car was parked south of the river and I was being made to go the wrong way.....eventually got back to the car about 6.45 pm.

PS....2-2 draw by the way.

 

[Welwyn Pilgrim]

The Police are damned if they do and damned if they don’t...I’ve vast experience at Policing football games from 1980 and in the Capital when violence was rift, it ain’t easy keeping fans happy..

However I’d rather see some of Wiltshire’s finest trying to keep everyone happy and peaceful although it may a bit of inconvenience to a few then a large group of knuckle dragging yobs intent on causing me, my son and other Argyle fans serious injury.....

 

[GCH1965]

Watford away in the championship police formed a wall blocking off the toilets at the end of game in order to get us straight out, all that happened was loads of guys (didnt notice any ladies) peeing up against the wall outside

 

[memory man]

The Police are damned if they do and damned if they don’t...I’ve vast experience at Policing football games from 1980 and in the Capital when violence was rift, it ain’t easy keeping fans happy..

However I’d rather see some of Wiltshire’s finest trying to keep everyone happy and peaceful although it may a bit of inconvenience to a few then a large group of knuckle dragging yobs intent on causing me, my son and other Argyle fans serious injury.....

I have to agree with this. Can you imagine the outcry had there been too few police and our fans had come under attack? The police are not clairvoyant and 2300 extra people in your town, mostly adult males, has to be a potential safety issue. I am sure a few years ago at Pompey, maybe after we snatched that late 2-1 win, there was little or no protection offered en route to the station and it became quite unpleasant.

 

[Dan Ellard]

As usual, thanks to a few Green Street wannabes, all 2,300 of us have to be treated like cattle.

 

[L G]

Maybe our next away game might be different?

 

[the corkscrew]

Our reputation goes before us?

This...in spadeloads!

Reputation for what?
When was the last time there was crowd trouble outside the ground with Argyle away?
All we saw today was a lot of very bored coppers. Laughable waste of tax money.

You think the cops are stupid???

They have 2300+ Argyle supporters heading their way, they will know, for a FACT, that the FA have cited Argyle because of the behaviour of SOME "fans" at away games.

What do you expect them to do? Sit around at home, playing with the kids while 2 miles down the road all hell has been breaking loose...all because of a handful of mindless morons.

There will always be those who, at the first opportunity, knock the police of this country...seems like you're one of them.

The police don't send out 200 cops based on 1 bloke shouting at a Northampton fan for wearing a pink shirt and 3 other blokes standing in block 12. Stop trying to give Argyle fans a bad reputation that is absolutely not deserved.
Wiltshire constabulary got it wrong yesterday. Maybe they'll go away and have a think about it for next time based on the excellent behaviour they saw.

 

[justanotherfan]

Our reputation goes before us?

This...in spadeloads!

Reputation for what?
When was the last time there was crowd trouble outside the ground with Argyle away?
All we saw today was a lot of very bored coppers. Laughable waste of tax money.

You think the cops are stupid???

They have 2300+ Argyle supporters heading their way, they will know, for a FACT, that the FA have cited Argyle because of the behaviour of SOME "fans" at away games.

What do you expect them to do? Sit around at home, playing with the kids while 2 miles down the road all hell has been breaking loose...all because of a handful of mindless morons.

There will always be those who, at the first opportunity, knock the police of this country...seems like you're one of them.

This, damned if they do and damned if they don`t.

 

[German Shepherd]

There were tonnes of Police at Port Vale for 700ish Argyle fans, dogs, horses, the lot. Total overkill in my opinion. Must have cost a fortune. Who decides how many police are assigned to matches ? If it is the police can you imagine the discussion; 'right we've got Argyle at Vale park next up, this match has caused loads of trouble in the past (not) so we're gonna need a massive presence' or 'we're a bit short in the coffers for the Christmas jolly, let's milk overtime for what it's worth'.

 

[justanotherfan]

There were tonnes of Police at Port Vale for 700ish Argyle fans, dogs, horses, the lot. Total overkill in my opinion. Must have cost a fortune. Who decides how many police are assigned to matches ? If it is the police can you imagine the discussion; 'right we've got Argyle at Vale park next up, this match has caused loads of trouble in the past (not) so we're gonna need a massive presence' or 'we're a bit short in the coffers for the Christmas jolly, let's milk overtime for what it's worth'.

And luckily they don`t have to justify the overtime expenditure to the Crime Commissioner/Police Authority. :sigh: :sigh:

 

[Andy S]

Our reputation goes before us?

This...in spadeloads!

Reputation for what?
When was the last time there was crowd trouble outside the ground with Argyle away?
All we saw today was a lot of very bored coppers. Laughable waste of tax money.

You think the cops are stupid???

They have 2300+ Argyle supporters heading their way, they will know, for a FACT, that the FA have cited Argyle because of the behaviour of SOME "fans" at away games.

What do you expect them to do? Sit around at home, playing with the kids while 2 miles down the road all hell has been breaking loose...all because of a handful of mindless morons.

There will always be those who, at the first opportunity, knock the police of this country...seems like you're one of them.

The police don't send out 200 cops based on 1 bloke shouting at a Northampton fan for wearing a pink shirt and 3 other blokes standing in block 12. Stop trying to give Argyle fans a bad reputation that is absolutely not deserved.
Wiltshire constabulary got it wrong yesterday. Maybe they'll go away and have a think about it for next time based on the excellent behaviour they saw.

In YOUR opinion.

As to whether they base their findings on that of one single individual, I doubt that very much. Their information will have been gathered from a myriad of resources, not just football clubs but other constabularies.

I have no doubts whatsoever that you are one of the ones that would be first in the queue damning all and sundry had anything "kicked off" and YOU had received a tonking!

 

[Green Flash]

I have not seen any violence at an away match for years - home and away fans freely mingle after every game with no issues. I am afraid Wiltshire police did employ overkill on this occasion - the days when away football fans mostly consisted of drunken lads that need to be escorted from the ground to the station ASAP are long gone . Fans are are made up of an entire cross-section and should not be treated like potential trouble makers.

And as for the suggestion above that Police don’t make mistakes when it comes to crowd control - words fail me.

 

[pastiesforlife]

It’s not that long ago that an Argyle supporter on the way to the match died after an altercation close to Swindon’s ground.

Maybe the police still take that into account.

 

[German Shepherd]

Shamefully, I forgot all about that.