Found this in the Guardian, rattles were banned in the early seventies along with parrots!
and any number of other 'offensive weapons'
and any number of other 'offensive weapons'Take Wembley, for example. Along with "any article that might be used as a weapon", spectators are not allowed to take into the ground: unlicensed musical instruments, including trumpets, drums and "other devices capable of causing a disturbance or nuisance"; Flag poles greater than 1m in length; Flares; Bottles, glass vessels, cans and flasks; Frisbees and "similar items"; Dangerous or hazardous items; Illegal substances; Explosives or ammunition; fireworks; Knives, blades or other weapons; Firearms; Scooters, skateboards or other skates; Laser devices; Smoke canisters; Signs or items with corporate or inappropriate branding; Unauthorised fliers; Spray paint or large industrial style marker pens; Prams and push chairs; Transmitting devices; Professional cameras and recording devices; Large suitcases, lap tops, and back packs; Illegal merchandise items; Water bottles; Illegal charity collection utensils; Motor bike helmets; Umbrellas; Darts; Hampers and Cold Boxes; Air horns; Alcohol; and animals (except service dogs and guide dogs).
But Wembley is far from alone. And the vuvuzela is not the first noise-maker to face a football ban – wooden rattles were banned in the 1970s due to their handy heft for hooligans. Other bans have been slightly odder. In the 1987-88 season Maine Road became populated with a bumper crop of blow-up bananas, named, in honour of striker Imre Varadi, "Imre Banana". Arguably, the finest hour of the City inflatable craze came in September 1988 when the team visited Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea. Away supporters were banned due to trouble in a previous play-off fixture, but some City fans made their way into the ground regardless. "As City scarves and banners would have been a bit of a giveaway," wrote Mike Rowbottom in the Guardian, "a less obvious rallying device was devised. A 7ft inflatable Frankenstein. So simple."
The craze continued. By February Bristol City arrived for a Littlewoods Cup semi-final with 200 sets of blow up fangs in honour of their manager Joe Jordan. At Wimbledon's Plough Lane, 1,500 Grimsby fans turned up waving haddocks. Blackpool started selling two and a half feet high plastic Blackpool Towers.
Something had to give, and it did at Highbury, where local police deemed that the oversized novelty fruits could, by obstructing spectators' views, incite violence.
"Football has become a leading victim of the British mania for banning things," wrote David Lacey. "The latest absurdity came at Highbury on Tuesday night when police video cameras solemnly scanned the terraces for illicit giant bananas." The Gunners, though, soon relented and the inflatable craze was allowed to die a natural death.
Not only inanimate objects have fallen foul of footballs rulemakers. In May 2006 Vladimir Kisilev was in Moscow to show one of his prize-winning pigs at a farm show and afterwards was keen to head over to the Luzhniki Stadium to watch Spartak Moscow v Zenit St Petersburg. Having nowhere to leave his porcine pal, Kisilev attempted to take it with him, but was stopped by police. "I wanted to see the game, but had nowhere to leave the pig," said Kisilev. "I almost managed to get it into the ground in a big bag, but it started grunting and the police noticed."
Irene Kerrigan at least managed to get her pet into the ground. In January 2009 Hertford Heath faced Hatfield Town in a crunch Hertfordshire Senior Centenary Trophy quarter-final tie. Around 150 hardy souls watched a goal-less first half before proceedings took a bizarre twist early in the second half, with play being disrupted by the 63-year-old Mrs Kerrigan's pet Senegal parrot Me-Tu, who, having been a regular at Hertford Heath home fixtures, was demonstrating his new-found ability to mimic the referee's whistle.
"I've never known anything like it in all my football career," said the referee Gary Bailey. "I got a hell of a shock. It was a big game and there were quite a lot of people there. This woman was standing right by the touchline and suddenly unveiled a big cage with this big green parrot in it. I didn't mind at first. But then every time I blew my whistle the bird made exactly the same sound. It was bizarre. The crowd were all laughing. In the end, there was only one thing for it." Mrs Kerrigan and Me-Tu were asked to leave.
-
