A lot of the home fans in the Vicarage Road end, ie. the family stands came from the Rous just a season or two ago. There's plenty of room in the Rous now and i have a lot of friends who sit with their kids in the family section of the Vicarage Road end and hate it because they're so close to the agression of the away fans. They would far rather the Family stands moved back to the Rous. That would leave very few home fans in the Vicarage Road end.
In case you did not realise there is a rather large wall at the bottom of the rous which is about 5-6 feet tall. and most of the people sitting there will be kids ergo they wont be able to see!! You are only going to drive fans away if you force them to give up their good seat for a crap one. Would you do that?? I dont think so!! Millwall fans were actually the worst!!! tearing up seats, verbally assaulting little children, threatening to bash my head in. At least all i got from QPR fans was shhhhh or shut up. where do you get the idea that there will be less trouble if there are more of their fans?? giving them a whole stand will just fuel them on more and more!!!
It makes a lot more sense to sell the current away section, and if the club wants more, tell them that they would need to buy at least 800-1,000 more so that we could cover the increased cost. I don't want to pile on the club for one bad decision, but with Leeds staying down, Southampton going up and potentially Wolves and West Ham going down, away followings aren't getting any smaller any time soon. Knowingly underselling the away end to such a degree that there will definitely be hundreds of away fans in the home areas is the worst possible solution, particularly in a match that we have nothing riding on. If we give those who want to go back to the Rous the opportunity to do so at family prices, there are probably enough seats of equal quality in the Rookery to accomodate the rest. We could then use the empty half of the VR for home or away fans on a game by game basis, as we see fit.
you have just hit another issue NNW, what happens if the away club only wants the usuall capacity? how do people like me who want my seat in the VR end know where they will be sitting? i love the view and the banter with the away fans and being able to go so close to the pitch. I would loose out and who would do the same for us??
It's not a crap seat though. For a start the wall is only tall on one side of the pitch.....down the Rookery end it's not a problem at all. Even at the Vic Road side the seats at the bottom have been taken out....the ones that remain have views where you can easily see the whole pitch. You're assuming that you're going to be seated row a, seat 1 in the corner of the Lower Rous stand with no view of the pitch. The Lowers Rous has a good view of the pitch.....and the Rookery has a great one. There's nothing special about the Vic Road End's view....and even with the fans moved there would be empty seats in good seats for you to move to....you wouldn't be forced into the corner. I sat in the corner of the Lower Rous with the tall wall anyway....there wasn't a problem. They weren't in our ends or invading the pitch though. As I said...if Millwall had had their own stand then they wouldn't be be able to throw seats at Watford fans anyway. If really necessary...just don't give Millwall the nearest part to the Lower Rous. You wouldn't have to worry about where you're sitting....as you'd have a season ticket in the Rous or Rookery. You can get close to the pitch in the Lower Rous.....closer to be honest....along the whole pitch. Who would do the same for us? A club who need the money.
Some good well thought out comments there Moose! I have always thought it odd to put the family area next to the away fans!!!
I am sure the move of the family area from the Lower Rous to The Vic Road end was supposed to be temporary whilst the SW corner was "going" to be redeveloped...why not allow those that would like to move back?
that's what i thought w-y...i expect that's what the club intended, but why they haven't moved them back is a mystery. Most of the families i know don't enjoy sitting where they do, though i suppose there's nothing to stop them getting seats in the LR, they just wouldn't be in the family stand.
MadMoose- The wall may only be 6 foot high in that corner but in case you did not realise that is where the space is! There are several rows free there and as you work toward the Rookery there are less and less free rows. There is certainly not room for the 1000 or so families to sit in the groups as they do (there are 8 of us in our group). I know for a fact that you canââ¬â¢t see the whole pitch at all, you see the near side and thatââ¬â¢s about it because you are at pitch level which give you a rubbish view cos you have no judge of where the ball is on the pitch; is it central or is it in the far third. The QPR fans were actually polite and never threatened any of us with violence. They were there to have a good time and yeah so what some invaded the pitch. No one was hurt (with exception to the QPR fans who were assaulted). If we gave them the whole end it is just going to cause more hassle as there is so many more of them! You say that I would get a season ticket in the rookery or the Rous, but where is the space? You would be trying to fit over 1000 fans in to already 80% full stands. This simply will not work! Also you forget that the club would have to move the whole family end in general! They could not just move family groups to the rookery or the Rous. They pay for tickets in the family enclosure to feel safe and because itââ¬â¢s cheaper. Where would you locate the family end if you only have 2 stands? Finally I know it is a bad idea to have the family area next to the away fans but it was only meant to be temporary and it means that there is less likely to be violence as the away fans donââ¬â¢t attack kids but would attack adults.
The price is obviously a big issue, and is undoubtedly why the club in the end had little choice but to keep the family area where it was. But where would you feel safer seating your seven year old: within bottle, coin or chair throwing distance of Millwall and Shottingham Forest, or in the Rookery End? All other things being equal, I know where I'd prefer.
I simply ment that it sounds safer, i know in reality its not. But to a fan it sounds better if you are in the family enclosure.
I don't remember ever going to Blackpool, but while they were in the Championship didn't they have some open air temporary stand. I know that the SW corner has to be finished first, but if only a limited sum of money is available I wonder if anyone has looked into a similar arrangement for away fans.
I assume you're talking about trying to use the North East corner, as opposed to putting them in the South West?
Thank you NNW, badly put on my part. I was thinking of the days when I used to carry out some work at Silverstone. Quite a lot of the seating was temporary on scaffolding, similar things were also used at Edgbaston cricket ground.
So using families to hide behind for any thugs in the away end ,wont stop them BHD neither will incompetant stewards or cowardly coppers! If an away teams fans wanted to riot they would go the route of least resistance!! I dont think the club should have the families there! Not all fans are going to be as nice as the qpr ones (and dont forget they were in a very happy frame of mind)! Consider a similar circumstance with say Leeds and we won 4-0 stopping them from promotion! would you really want the families in the front line then? the club was at fault on 2 counts 1) they should have given qpr the whole end,then they would have been in one place which would be more controllable for the cops! 2) somehow they haveto stop Watford fans buying tickets and selling them to away fans! if you implement these ,then IMO the club has done as much as it can to minimize any aggro! I for one am glad the rangers that went in the Rookery got a good hiding ! shouldnt have been there anyway! If you go into the wrong end you do the repectful bit of keeping your trap shut! I been in the wrong end before now and kept quiet till I got home !then ran around like a looney
I can't agree that in a civilised society it serves you right and you deserve to get a good hiding for supporting your team - in other sports opposition fans can mingle - what is wrong with some football fans?
Football has always attracted thugs Leo, there are many books on it about the ICF and so on Its a fact it happened ,and although thankfully it has decreased ,it will never go away , the tribalism of a thug attached to football club you will not stop! In theory I agree with you ,in reality it will never happen ,there has been trouble on the increase in rugby and cricket,probably alcohol fueled! for the last couple of years (probably the numpties banned from football!) Civilised society, I still read about murders gang killings rape ,assault violent robbery etc , I think we are a long way from being in a civilised society!
Its not like watford has a thuggish reputation , so the ranger/s in the rookery that got a hiding must have done something to warrant it! or upset the home fans in some way! We were surrounded my rangers and I did have to growl at one once! then we had a good laugh and good banter!
