-
NEXT GAME:Leicester City FC
Saturday 4th May 2024
Kick off 12.30 pm
Kingpower Stadium
Championship
Who wants to join me in W01?
- Thread starter 1SimonGarner
- Start date
tonygreenbank
Senior Member
Funnily enough my brother and I often refer to each other using the term “gay” as an alternative to “stop being stupid or silly”.
And also this week I read an article about the “queering” of the Mary Rose Museum Experience in terms of looking at objects which show homosexual tendencies from the 16th Century. I always thought the word “queer” was more hateful than “gay”.
Thanks for your honest post 1SG and I hope the outcome is favourable.
And also this week I read an article about the “queering” of the Mary Rose Museum Experience in terms of looking at objects which show homosexual tendencies from the 16th Century. I always thought the word “queer” was more hateful than “gay”.
Thanks for your honest post 1SG and I hope the outcome is favourable.
Do I have to put up with that picture on all your posts from now on Drog. You know my opinion of her and I can't put up with that for any length of time.
blueandwhitehalves
Senior Member
Hahaha I love Maggie but did think its a bit in your face for a signature to be fair!
Old Darwen Blue
Prediction Champion 2021 & 2022
You leave her on Theno
1SimonGarner
Senior Member
Just got back after a 4 hour wait and a 10 minute trial! As I'd pleaded guilty, I was always going to face some sort of punishment and the CPS applied for the lowest band of the charge (not sure of the specifics) and a 2 year banning order.
I pleaded guilty as I say to the specific charge but contested the FBO and was allowed to plead my case by the judges (I didn't have a solicitor).
The crux of my argument was really what I said in my original post - for someone to get to my age without being anywhere near trouble either at football or away from it, to criminalise them and stop them from following their passion over a few ill judged words in the heat of the moment seems grossly unfair.
Thankfully after deliberation the judges agreed and decided not to impose the ban which is obviously good news. Fines totaling £141 were imposed and overall I think that's about fair. The other deciding factor was that there was no complaint made by anyone, it was purely overheard by a police officer who decided on the action taken. The big but is whether I will receive a ban from the club, others may know better than me, but if the court forgoes the banning order does that mean the club is likely/duty bound/legally obliged not to enforce it? My guess would be that they can do what they want and if they feel I should be banned that's that. If they do I'll probably appeal.
All in all an unpleasant experience from start to finish, having your DNA swabbed, finger prints taken, mug shot, standing in front of a court etc etc for a few ill judged words? Maybe a bit OTT?
Lastly I would say that the police officer (I'll not name him) who dealt with me was more than fair and never once spoke down to me or was unduly unfair. The police get a lot of stick, I often think from people who are just anti- authority of any kind, but I've got no complaints on that front.
I pleaded guilty as I say to the specific charge but contested the FBO and was allowed to plead my case by the judges (I didn't have a solicitor).
The crux of my argument was really what I said in my original post - for someone to get to my age without being anywhere near trouble either at football or away from it, to criminalise them and stop them from following their passion over a few ill judged words in the heat of the moment seems grossly unfair.
Thankfully after deliberation the judges agreed and decided not to impose the ban which is obviously good news. Fines totaling £141 were imposed and overall I think that's about fair. The other deciding factor was that there was no complaint made by anyone, it was purely overheard by a police officer who decided on the action taken. The big but is whether I will receive a ban from the club, others may know better than me, but if the court forgoes the banning order does that mean the club is likely/duty bound/legally obliged not to enforce it? My guess would be that they can do what they want and if they feel I should be banned that's that. If they do I'll probably appeal.
All in all an unpleasant experience from start to finish, having your DNA swabbed, finger prints taken, mug shot, standing in front of a court etc etc for a few ill judged words? Maybe a bit OTT?
Lastly I would say that the police officer (I'll not name him) who dealt with me was more than fair and never once spoke down to me or was unduly unfair. The police get a lot of stick, I often think from people who are just anti- authority of any kind, but I've got no complaints on that front.
blueandwhitehalves
Senior Member
Well done on pleading your case 1SG and glad a bit of sense prevailed in the end. Its an acid test of how Rovers want to treat their own fans in my opinion if the club now decides to impose its own ban.
What actually happened at the game? It certainly is an unnerving story for anyone who gets a bit carried away at football. I'm sure I've said a few dodgy things in my time, I remember once yelling at the top of my voice for Stephen Hunt to "F*** off back to your caravan!" in a game against Reading after he'd gone in with a nasty tackle on one of our players.
Stupid comment, no idea why I said it, nothing against the Irish. But the idea that you could blurt something out after giving it 0.1 seconds thought, everyone in the stand and on the pitch ignores you, but you're getting arrested 10 seconds later and being taken to a police station for a mug shot. I agree with you, all seems very OTT.
What actually happened at the game? It certainly is an unnerving story for anyone who gets a bit carried away at football. I'm sure I've said a few dodgy things in my time, I remember once yelling at the top of my voice for Stephen Hunt to "F*** off back to your caravan!" in a game against Reading after he'd gone in with a nasty tackle on one of our players.
Stupid comment, no idea why I said it, nothing against the Irish. But the idea that you could blurt something out after giving it 0.1 seconds thought, everyone in the stand and on the pitch ignores you, but you're getting arrested 10 seconds later and being taken to a police station for a mug shot. I agree with you, all seems very OTT.
1SimonGarner
Senior Member
There was a group of about 4 or 5 youngish Forest fans obviously giving the Rovers fans a bit of stick after they went 1 nil up and about 5 mins later they caught my eye and the away end had gone mostly silent at which point I said something to the effect ( I genuinely can't remember the exact phrase) "Come on give us a song ya gay f**kers" followed by one more comment that included the word gay that I can't remember even saying.
I'm sure they weren't gay, it's poor vernacular, I meant it in the sense of soft boys, not the sexual preferences! I've lost count of the number of times during my working life that I've said or someones said to me "get that done and stop being gay" or words to that effect. It's not said with vitriol or hatred but I think everyone now has to accept that you simply can't say those things anymore.
This was fine on mainstream TV 20 years ago, now I assume everyone associated with the programme would be up in court?
I'm sure they weren't gay, it's poor vernacular, I meant it in the sense of soft boys, not the sexual preferences! I've lost count of the number of times during my working life that I've said or someones said to me "get that done and stop being gay" or words to that effect. It's not said with vitriol or hatred but I think everyone now has to accept that you simply can't say those things anymore.
This was fine on mainstream TV 20 years ago, now I assume everyone associated with the programme would be up in court?
Barmitzvah Boy
Global winner of the 2021 Christmas Quiz 👊🤩🤩
In the case of the wba fan making the pathetic ‘throat slash’ actions to Rovers fans on Saturday his Club have decided to await the outcome of Police action / Courts Service until they decide whether to extend the immediate ban they imposed.
If Rovers do ban you (they may decide to go down this route for ‘virtuous’ reasons) you should be able to appeal.
If Rovers do ban you (they may decide to go down this route for ‘virtuous’ reasons) you should be able to appeal.
steve w
Senior Member
If they heard what I said to El Hadji Diouf when he was a Liverpool player............with parole.....I might just be getting released now
Glad there were people able to see through your lack of malice
Just hope the club has that sense too..........maybe sitting somewhere else for a while might be wise
Glad there were people able to see through your lack of malice
Just hope the club has that sense too..........maybe sitting somewhere else for a while might be wise
tonygreenbank
Senior Member
Glad that common sense from the judge or senior magistrate prevailed today 1SG. Let’s hope the club do the decent thing and maybe wrap your knuckles rather than a ban.
Barmitzvah Boy
Global winner of the 2021 Christmas Quiz 👊🤩🤩
Did you have any joy with your Rovers tickets 1SG?
1SimonGarner
Senior Member
Sorry BB, haven't looked in for a couple of days. I've been in touch with the police officer that has dealt with this from the start and he's e mailed the club and been told that it has to be run by Steve Waggott for a decision. This has been ongoing since last Thursday and I'm still awaiting a decision. I think it's probably too late for tomorrow but I'm hoping to get it sorted for the next home game.
1SimonGarner
Senior Member
Thankfully the club have lifted my ban, I've just been in to sign an ABC contract with Stuart Caley and I'm now ok to get back on the games.
Whilst this has been going on I've been giving even more thought into how football and the Rovers in particular could try and accommodate fans who wish to have differing match day experiences. It's been discussed elsewhere on this thread but since the inception of all seater stadiums, fans like myself, for whom sitting at a game seems alien, have more of less been told you either sit or we don't want you at the ground. This has been slightly relaxed in recent years as fans took it on themselves to largely stand at away matches and most clubs have decided to put railed seating into home areas where people generally stand during the match.
So what can the Rovers do? I came up with a few ideas that are certainly worth a try but I understand that it's a near impossibility to please everyone, but would hope that if it's beneficial to the club, people would be inclined to "bend" a bit.
So, we make the whole lower tear of the Blackburn End the railed safe standing area of the ground. Anyone can buy a ticket in there but with the understanding that it is a standing area and they have no recourse if people are standing in front of them. A bloke can buy his season ticket in there with his 2 lads if he likes, but knowing the specific area ground rules if he does. For the fans who say "I've had a season ticket in the Blackburn end all my life but don't want to stand up", we reopen the BE upper tear and they can be accommodated there with the added incentive that that stand becomes the cheapest in the ground, both for season and match day tickets.
In the terrace days, you would often get terracing directly behind the goal with a seated stand behind it, so why not something similar now? The BE bottom tear holds 4974, is it really too much to ask the club and the fans to have that many seats reserved for people who want to stand and leave them with 17 or 18 THOUSAND other seats in the ground where they can watch sat in peace without the worry of getting into an argument with someone who's blocking their view? People are left in no doubt that if they stand persistently in any other area of the ground (excepting maybe the back rows), they will be warned once and then turfed out and banned if they persist.
By doing this, it would encourage all the fans who want to stand to congregate together in the BE lower and we could maybe get some of that old Ewood atmosphere back without it upsetting too many and I've no doubt it would encourage a few of the stay away fans to come back to the game. I know for a fact there are quite a few that don't bother any more for the pure reason they don't like the lack of atmosphere at the game nowadays, I myself stopped going for a while for this very reason, and any returning fans/revenue can only be good for the club long term.
Whichever, surely some of this is worth trialing, along with countless other ideas I could think of off the top of my head, to try and encourage ALL types of fans to get down to Ewood, enjoy themselves and not have to worry about bumping heads with someone who just has a different way of enjoying the game.
COYB
Whilst this has been going on I've been giving even more thought into how football and the Rovers in particular could try and accommodate fans who wish to have differing match day experiences. It's been discussed elsewhere on this thread but since the inception of all seater stadiums, fans like myself, for whom sitting at a game seems alien, have more of less been told you either sit or we don't want you at the ground. This has been slightly relaxed in recent years as fans took it on themselves to largely stand at away matches and most clubs have decided to put railed seating into home areas where people generally stand during the match.
So what can the Rovers do? I came up with a few ideas that are certainly worth a try but I understand that it's a near impossibility to please everyone, but would hope that if it's beneficial to the club, people would be inclined to "bend" a bit.
So, we make the whole lower tear of the Blackburn End the railed safe standing area of the ground. Anyone can buy a ticket in there but with the understanding that it is a standing area and they have no recourse if people are standing in front of them. A bloke can buy his season ticket in there with his 2 lads if he likes, but knowing the specific area ground rules if he does. For the fans who say "I've had a season ticket in the Blackburn end all my life but don't want to stand up", we reopen the BE upper tear and they can be accommodated there with the added incentive that that stand becomes the cheapest in the ground, both for season and match day tickets.
In the terrace days, you would often get terracing directly behind the goal with a seated stand behind it, so why not something similar now? The BE bottom tear holds 4974, is it really too much to ask the club and the fans to have that many seats reserved for people who want to stand and leave them with 17 or 18 THOUSAND other seats in the ground where they can watch sat in peace without the worry of getting into an argument with someone who's blocking their view? People are left in no doubt that if they stand persistently in any other area of the ground (excepting maybe the back rows), they will be warned once and then turfed out and banned if they persist.
By doing this, it would encourage all the fans who want to stand to congregate together in the BE lower and we could maybe get some of that old Ewood atmosphere back without it upsetting too many and I've no doubt it would encourage a few of the stay away fans to come back to the game. I know for a fact there are quite a few that don't bother any more for the pure reason they don't like the lack of atmosphere at the game nowadays, I myself stopped going for a while for this very reason, and any returning fans/revenue can only be good for the club long term.
Whichever, surely some of this is worth trialing, along with countless other ideas I could think of off the top of my head, to try and encourage ALL types of fans to get down to Ewood, enjoy themselves and not have to worry about bumping heads with someone who just has a different way of enjoying the game.
COYB
Barmitzvah Boy
Global winner of the 2021 Christmas Quiz 👊🤩🤩
Well done 1SG. Enjoy the football again.
Barmitzvah Boy
Global winner of the 2021 Christmas Quiz 👊🤩🤩
You raise some good and valid points regarding atmosphere 1SG. I am with you on the lack of atmosphere and needing to do something about it. However I am been impressed with how the fans rally around the team better than in the recent past; last Saturday when we went down to10 men is a good example.
I would strongly support safe standing. If we do it the Club must consult with existing ST holders. I guess a big issue is how do they pay for it when the Club is so cash strapped? Or should the fans be expected to fundraiser for changes to their own stadium when in effect the owners should be making the changes. Something like this needs to be fan led and I just hope someone somewhere gets of their backsides and promotes this idea with the Club.
It is not just safe standing, just imagine the atmosphere is those fans in those areas have flags, banners and horns?
The sooner the better.
I would strongly support safe standing. If we do it the Club must consult with existing ST holders. I guess a big issue is how do they pay for it when the Club is so cash strapped? Or should the fans be expected to fundraiser for changes to their own stadium when in effect the owners should be making the changes. Something like this needs to be fan led and I just hope someone somewhere gets of their backsides and promotes this idea with the Club.
It is not just safe standing, just imagine the atmosphere is those fans in those areas have flags, banners and horns?
The sooner the better.
Old Darwen Blue
Prediction Champion 2021 & 2022
Don’t get your hopes up. Creating a safe standing area costs a lot of money and the venksters won’t pay it. Anyway we had our standing and singing area in the Darren End but the club kicked us out.