Looking forward to next season, there are gonna be some proper tasty derbies: saints v pompey west ham v milwall, i think half of londons metro police force will be out for that one possibly swansea v cardiff although its probably the most pathetic derby, whenever i watch it the stadium is never sold out. possibly leeds v huddersfield
I'll bit...the Cardiff/Swansea derby isn't allowed to have a full capacity due to crowd problems in the past. It is not because they can't fill the stadiums I assure you, it's more because of the muppets of fans they have!
Does that mean we will have more fence rattling at St Mary's next season and the subsequent major police operation and court cases to catch those afforementioned fence rattlers. Because, fence rattlers are worse than Al Queda, apparently.
I do like a bit of action around the stadium on derby day, gets the adrenaline going. Not much happened last time though except a fence was pushed over by some Saints fans, aren't we 'ard.
There were empty seats dotted around the stadium. I can't see how leaving those empty stops any crowd trouble
West Ham, Millwall, Birmingham, Cardiff, Portsmouth, Derby and Leeds all in the same division is a bit of a perfect storm.
Still think it could get ugly again next season. I had the misfortune of being one of the Saints fans who was stuck in Fratton Park for about three hours after a match while their fans were outside literally waiting to lynch us.
In 2004 I felt perfectly safe in the ground, which wasn't quite the case when we were walking along Goldsmith Ave! Even so it took me 2.5 hours to get home and I only live a 5 min walk from the ground having caught a train and a cab! Pompey fans seem to be particularly pleased that Birmingham are down....
There will always be trouble, there is nothing they can do to prevent it. Both sets of fans will be up for it
No, a minority of both sets of fans will be "up for it." I will be with the majority who want to get all the adrenalin rush inside the stadium, and will have no interest in trying to get past the police. The last match at St Marys, I stayed to the end, and then walked away from the trouble. But then, I am only really interested in the football. Yes, the police will be busy. I don't think that is a cause for celebration. Just my opinion.
I agree with everything you said. But sometimes even the best of people do get caught up in the moment.
Exactly what are you achieving by the use of violence........do you consider it makes you hard because 5 or 6 of you gang up on one bloke? What satisfaction is there in it for you? Or do you quite like the time you are sent down. Just remember some of us have been down that path we have seen the stupidity of it. We have witnessed how all the brutality effects the family. The victims as well as the perpetrators families. If that is all you want then you are not a true Saints fan...thats all I can say!!!!!!
If you mean pushing against a police line to try to get to Pompey supporters, then no, the "best of people" do not. The violent and the easily lead perhaps, but not the best.
I love my team but have no need to attack other fans, nor would I expect my son to. Football should be about enjoyment (difficult sometimes I know) not about hatred. Rivalry is not hatred. I want to be proud of my team not ashamed. A good guide might be..what would Markus do? Remember he was interested in saving us because of our good fan base. A violent history would probably have deterred him.
