I was impressed with the Gills support yesterday, in Nottingham. We had 394 ( + 6 ) ! This level of following is fantastic - especially considering last weeks' entertainment @ Sheffield. I hope that the fact that we couldn't score hasn't put you off from attending future games - nor are you too exhausted from the half-marathon walk to our coach after the match. ( we had to go to the Brian Clough Stand to join the coach - Yes, that's right - at Nottingham Forest's ground ! ) - all because of the farce by the jobsworthy 'stewards' who wouldn't allow the coach to stop outside the away end at County's ground - although the Independent coach driver chose to ignore this stupidity and did pick his passengers without them having to trek across country...............anyway.. I do hope that you can sustain your commitment during the the next four away games - all long distance- and tactically likely to be as equally unproductive....... or you could just go to the pub.. that is what 6 Gills fans chose to do - in Nottingham- how many mad Gills fans were in Nottingham ? -- 6 or 394 ?
I clearly was not at the game yesterday but it seriously is about time something was done about stewarding. I think it is far to often that supporters are put in more vulnerable situations than any actual plan of safe stewarding. My experience seems to be more of a case of not on our doorstep. To be fair to Notts County supporters last season i felt it was one of the best grounds friendly atmosphere wise outside that i had been too. But i'm sure their head stewards will have some half brain baked idea why the Gills supporters had to cross the canal. It just seems to be readily accepted that stewards are allowed to be a bunch of....jobsworths....and there is no safety in that.
There have been a couple of matches in the not too distant past (the specific ones that come to mind are Bradford last season and Barnsley this season) where our group of dispirited and frustrated fans have seriously mentioned that we would have been better off staying in the pub. Such discussions were not based solely on the standard of football, but also the quality of the pub that we had been in before the match, and on both occasions the latter was undoubtedly significantly superior. The problem is, of course, that can never be CERTAIN that staying in the pub is the better option, although 3 away games into this season I am very much of the view that the odds are definitely moving in favour of that option.
