Good decision I reckon. According to the Echo he was warned on numerous occasions prior to the game that he would not be allowed into the ground wearing a Pompey shirt.
Neil Allen running the Westwood story doesn’t surprise me. Neither does the fact that the Daily Mail story regarding police concerns about player safety is built on quotes from Pompey Supporters groups.
That’s even more embarrassing. The guy filming it, telling the steward he’s filming it whilst that guy verbally assaults someone going about their job. Embarrassing all round.
They did meet with the police, along with one of ours, at the weekend though. Yeah I'm sure those 'lads' would have absolutely no issue at all if it was the other way round. None at all. Not that that's ever going to happen of course. ****ing idiots.
I've quite often seen Saints shirts being worn on a Saturday afternoon around Gunwharf. Anywhere around Southsea you'd be okay - might get a bit of banter thrown your way. I wear my Saints beanie whilst walking around Pompey with no fuss (although it is grey and the Saints badge is tiny haha).
I'd ban the twat not for the Pompey shirt, but for the ridiculous cowboy hat. And as for that complete tool shouting in the steward's face, throw the prick out. What an embarrassment to humanity.
Although the bloke shouting at the steward was a knob, why was the steward removing his England flag? If you watch England play, there are lots of flags around with team names on. Was this a “no flag” game, or was it because it had Portsmouth on the flag? If the latter, I’m not sure why it had to be removed
[QUOTE="fatletiss, post: 13141569, member: 1008587" Was this a “no flag” game, or was it because it had Portsmouth on the flag? If the latter, I’m not sure why it had to be removed[/QUOTE] It was probably the ‘PRIDE OF THE SOUTH’ bit that got him in trouble
I disagree, they knew what they were doing and were looking for a reaction. If it wasn't for the cup draw we might not have been as strict but we can't risk an incident less than a fortnight before the derby. Swap the situation to St James Park and a Sunderland flag and you get the same result imo.
I understand that, but we’ve now made an incident out of it. Now if he was giving it the large and singing Pompey songs, then fair enough. I’m easy on this, but just think we have them an opportunity to make something out of it, by creating a scene. I can also accept that it could have led to a worse incident, but that would have looked bad on any Saints fan who got involved.
We have but they may have felt that leaving it up all game could/would have caused a bigger incident. This will get blown out of proportion of course, but can you imagine the reaction on the island if it ended up being Saints fans wanting to take it down and it resulted in a minor scrap? Might be wrong but that's how I reckon they looked at it.
Wearing a Pompey shirt should be allowed, as should the flag. If it was a 12 year old kid then I'm sure no one would object. But since it was a group of a dozen or more chavvy-looking 'lads', then I think it is fine for the stewards to assume that the intentions were not innocent. And seeing as the stewards knew this man to have caused previous problems (pissing on seats ffs), then I understand why they were heavy-handed with him. In an ideal world, I think the coming together of Saints and Pompey under one stadium for the same cause, would have been pretty cool. Anyway, apparently the flag was covering the Block number, and that was why it was asked to be removed.
I've mentioned before (though years ago) I once had a missed ferry incident in France which resulted in a mad dash on the bike to Le Harve to catch an alternative. It of course did mean I landed in Portsmouth instead of Poole. I only realised after peeling off my bike gear that I had my Saints shirt on, and the bar was full of Pompey fans, cue Scummer chants. They were actually quite good natured though I think the fact we were in L1 while they were, um, spending taxpayers money like water helped a bit. Even got a big cheer when I rolled of the boat.
A shirt is provocative but I think you should be allowed to have your club on the England flag. It is an England game after all and people like showing what area of the country they're from - that is the done thing. Taking down flags is petty and isn't wise considering the derby is only a week or so away and you guys have to travel to Portsmouth - without an escort!
The Westwood story just ramps up the pressure for this game. Can feel the tension mounting. On the day, I hope they players keep their cool and don't add to the off field shenanigans. It won't need much of a spark.
Just maybe it was the same stewards that had to clean Westwood's piss from the seats and had an axe to grind....
Maybe or maybe not, but it makes it understandable, what Westwood did before was disgusting. Westwood playing the victim sticks in the craw a bit.
