Dan on Facebook...
Today, at half time I was told by an ‘under cover security guard’ that if I continued to text about the football match at the KCOM stadium I’d be ejected from the ground.
At half time a man in casual gear followed by a steward, came up to me and said ‘tell me what this says’
holding a badge up that said security. I said (spoiler alert)
‘...security?’
He then explained he’d been watching me text throughout the first half, he asked what I’d been texting (in a not so friendly manner)
I felt on edge telling a stranger what I’ve been texting, felt a bit invasive, and I felt uncomfortable saying I’d been innocently texting opinions on the match and my thoughts on what was happening to friends and family.
My Dad explained we text friends the score. The man said if we continued to do so we’d be ejected from the ground.
When we asked why, he said there’s trouble with people notifying betting companies/or gamblers of events at a match so they could cash out/make a bet void.
So basically he was assuming I was some sort of gamblers informant at the KC Stadium (when I was just texting my girlfriend dumb stuff about Tom Eaves’s hair)
I couldn’t get my head around it. I explained Hull City tweet details of the match faster than I ever could due to having stadium WiFi, along with Phil Buckingham and David Burns both tweeting details faster than I ever could (unless the security guard thinks I’m psychic and can see a goal coming)
I pointed out that thousands of fans text and tweet throughout the match regarding the game, the club even asks you to vote for a man of the match via social media...
I asked ‘what if I text a minute after an event has happened, or even 15 mins?’ Mr security man said we shouldn’t be texting about the match at all. And that this has been stated upon entering the ground (can you see that in the picture?!) and that these texts can’t include time of goals or goal scorers.
I knew this was a lie, I asked how he could have possibly known what I was texting about, to which he didn’t have an answer. That made me feel incredibly watched. To reiterate these are private texts, one of which I sent to my girlfriend and me mum.
I explained I’d text score updates and opinions for years to which he replied it was a new thing starting this year, and as it’s the first match of the new season he didn’t want to kick me out having not known these new ‘rules’...
He softened at this point as if this was all a nice chilled run of the mill conversation (never happened to me in 20 years of watching live football)
I didn’t text throughout the second half, my phone vibrated with updates and I didn’t have the nerve to look cos I’m a geek and a stickler for the rules.
I felt a bit on edge for the rest of the game and subsequently didn’t text anyone.
I’ve been following city since I was 7, home and away nearly every game since I was 13, and not once has anyone told me not to text updates privately to friends.
If anyone has any clarity on this that’d be great as I’d like to let my friends know thoughts and opinions on the game as it happens, but don’t want to feel like I’m going to get kicked out of watching Hull City every time I do so!