Trips to Manchester United and Chelsea were as disappointing off the pitch as on it for QPR fan Paul Moore. Read on to find out more…
There is something about going to an opposition’s ground that makes it exciting; be it a local derby or an eight hour round trip.
The thing with a home game is you know where you’re going and who you’ll meet; an away day is an adventure.
Now some grounds are better than others and I’m not talking about the seating. The problem is at most grounds away fans are treated badly; let it be noted, I said most but not all.
A few years back I went to Luton Town when we played them in a league game; the bad experience still haunts me to this day.
We were kept in pens as if we were cattle and the police just waded in and pushed us around because they could.
In the seventies and eighties if you wanted a fight the best place to go was a football match.
Thankfully times have changed and while the problem hasn’t being completely eradicated it’s only a small minority that think it’s great to throw punches as a sign of support.
So why are away fans treated differently than home fans?
At the end of the day both sets of fans have paid good money and should be treated the same.
I asked around on a few fans forums and facebook groups how fans were treated at away games; for every good comment there were ten bad ones.
Once I read a few more of the comments it showed two things; stewards being overzealous and worst of all it was happening at ‘big clubs’.
One story was where a fan could not find his seat and the police told him to sit down; when he finally found his seat, without the help of the stewards, someone was sitting in it.
He told the steward who did nothing; the police stepped in and threw the complainant out!
All this happened because the stewards were not doing their job in the first place and then the police not listening.
Just a few weeks ago I looked forward to going to see a game with our local rivals Chelsea; the first time we’d played them in the league in fifteen years.
Now the result wasn’t great but I only got to see three quarters of the match.
You see I know stewards have a job to do but there is one thing I fail to understand; they had seats and while everyone sat down, the stewards’ still stood.
By the time the second half was underway I finally saw a supervisor and told him, ‘I can’t stand up for long!’ He asked them all to sit down but a few minutes later they all stood again as a child walked up the stairs. Yes we were well and truly beaten on the pitch but I’d have seen more of the game at home.
Some Chelsea fans ran at us as if to provoke us and the stewards on their side stepped in and asked them to sit down; when it happened on our side then our fans were thrown out.
We were both in the same ground, breathing the same air and yet there are different rules for home and away fans.
At Manchester United, fans were thrown out for standing up; I know the grounds are all-seater but I saw United fans standing and nothing was said to them.
At the end of the day I think stewards need better training and the police need to talk and listen to both the stewards and the fans a bit more.
It’s not a problem that can’t be solved; after all, all we want to do is support our teams.
Tell us your ‘away day’ experiences. What needs fixing?
image: © joncandy
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