Trouble before the game

[lebowski]

they were rather nice coppers weren't they?!

i asked the leader of the unit at the inn on the green why they hadnt been there in advance to stop an incident and his reply was something along the lines of "well we didn't know you [swindon fans] were here".

im no expert on these matters, but surely it would have been obvious that all the pubs near the ground needed monitoring?!

[DMR]

The Inn on the Green probably got targeted because as we turned up there a Rovers fan had just been bottled out the front. He was missing about half his head, poor fucker  :?

[Frigby Daser]

they were rather nice coppers weren't they?!

i asked the leader of the unit at the inn on the green why they hadnt been there in advance to stop an incident and his reply was something along the lines of "well we didn't know you [swindon fans] were here".

im no expert on these matters, but surely it would have been obvious that all the pubs near the ground needed monitoring?!

Fantastic. The only pub down the road that was allowing away fans - in fact, there was a beer garden, with a wide open door (that allowed the gang through) - where any one of the x thousand policemen could have peered in to see lots of red shirts.

£3 extra well spent on that ticket then.

To the board: Next time you decide a groundshare is such a wonderful idea, hows about you drag yourself away from your pre-match prawn cocktail and Chablis and come to the pub - you may then see why everyone is so against it.

I'm glad I can get wound up about this instead of dwelling on that inept performance...

[Frigby Daser]

The Inn on the Green probably got targeted because as we turned up there a Rovers fan had just been bottled out the front. He was missing about half his head, poor fucker  :?

Someone was fairly convinced that someone in a black top in the beer garden at the Inn on the Green had 'put a call in' to get them down there

[hmparkin]

I've been going to Town matches for the best part of ten years now and despite feeling intimidated on trains full of Pox fans/ buses through Reading (Christ, how long ago was that!?), I've never witnessed anything like yesterday. I know these points have been made already, but...

1) We must not groundshare with any club that has plonkers like these attached to it in any way. It would quite possibly be the final nail in the coffin of 'keeping Town in Swindon', considering the PR disaster it would end in and the obvious reaction of the people of Swindon to getting a town full of thugs every other week.

2) Sadly, the thought of going to the pub before an away game now freaks me out quite a lot. Thanks for ruining my fun, you gutless b*stards.

3) Spoke to the pub yesterday evening, to check my phone didn't miraculously somehow end up on the floor or something... It didn't, but they did find two pairs of glasses if anyone's interested!

I hope to God we don't have to play those idiots again in a couple of weeks time. :?

[Spencer_White]

Ive had close hand experience of policing at football matches for around 6 years now. And Ive come to the conclusion that police forces are completely obsessed with stopping organised violence between firms. They have stopped policing events as a whole, trusting that rogue groups of lads will not attack shirters.

This backfired majorly yesterday. Whilst they had half their police forces escorting a group from Temple Meads for 2 hours they totally neglected the area around the ground. I got run up the Gloucester road at about 1.30pm. Police were not bothered because they know exactly who is looking for trouble and are not bothered about policing fans who arent looking for trouble.

Whilst I do have some respect that both Bristol clubs manage to turn the areas around their ground into 100% home areas, very intimidating. I do think this incident is a step way out of line.

I also think if Rovers ground share with us it will result in the deaths of 4 or 5 people next season, fans or just saturday night drinkers, Swindon or Bristol. Stabbings, glassings etc. Its nasty now, but it could get a whole lot worse.

[migzy]

I alaways thought you were fine if you weren't looking for trouble, and that is why I was sitting very comfortably in the beer garden. Obviously Rovers don't play by the 'rules'.

[Arriba]

I alaways thought you were fine if you weren't looking for trouble, and that is why I was sitting very comfortably in the beer garden. Obviously Rovers don't play by the 'rules'.

neither do some town fans.seen it myself.
attacking shirters is cowardly in all cases.and i bet every club in the land has had some so called fans doing it

[Ralphy]

I agree Spencer.

They wasted alot of man power escorting the group from Temple Meads and never gave a second thought to the pubs around the ground.

Police seem to think lads will only fight and attack lads.

Had there been a police presence at all the pubs including The Inn on the Green, maybe a little lad wouldn't be in hospital now.

[Panda Paws]

I also think if Rovers ground share with us it will result in the deaths of 4 or 5 people next season, fans or just saturday night drinkers, Swindon or Bristol. Stabbings, glassings etc. Its nasty now, but it could get a whole lot worse.

Up until yesterday I was quite ambivalent about the groundshare issue - but after yesterday I'm totally against it. They did themselves no favours whatsoever.

Walked out of the ground and tried best to blend in with the leaving Rovers fans, only to see a group of around 20 Rovers' lads clearly looking for trouble on the corner of Gloucester Rd/Filton Av. I just got the hell out of there.

[Phil_S]

I went to the match with a mate who is a rovers fan. We sat in their main stand, with the wrinklies & all was Ok (I didn't wear colours). But we both suspected that their would be trouble, but thought it would only happen if we won.
We went to our local first & then got his missus to drop us off outside the ground. I've never seen so many coppers at a match for the last 10 yrs. Likewise when we came out of the ground, there were hundreds of coppers stood around collecting their overtime....But, a few streets away.. no police presense what so ever.

[Simon Pieman]

A few blokes started on each other when we were walking back to Montpelier. One bloke hit a plank of wood on another's back and it snapped into 2 with one half flying very close to LMS's head. There were families around just trying to get out the way. The policeman turned up a couple of minutes too late and just shouted at everyone to 'fucking go down there'.

The lack of policing was quite disconcerting really.

[Sippo]

I walked passed a copper just stood there writing on his notepad  :shock:
I think the police were in the wrong places. There were too many outside the ground. I was walking along at half 2, and there was a policeman outside nearly every house. It was managed poorly.

We found a quiet pub on Gloucester road with a few swindon fans in. Saw the police escort, and they walked straight passed the John Talbot oub which is suicidile (sp?). Its a disgrace that it all kicked off. Cowards.


As for the swearing at football matches. Well what is there to say? 'The Referee is a bad man??' 'Oi, you nasty man'? Get real.

[Bushey Boy]

Police were shocking yesterday.  They put us in an escort at 12pm and didnt get us to the ground till 3.15.  They got us to the ground then they walked us all the way around it making us later.

Rovers lads are pathetic doing what they did.  To hit families and shirters is a joke.  I have no problem with people fighting of they are all wanting that but dont hit people not looking for it.

Bang out of order

[Chubbs]

i bet you started it all ash didint ya.