Our lass has just been watching a programme about mobs & yobs on channel 5, my ears pricked up when I heard the words 'football hooligans'. Lo and behold it goes to a match at the king prawn against Barnsley where the crowd is being well behaved. But wait, some blonde bimbo watching CCTV in the control room spots a group of lads making an atmosphere! One of them is slouched against the back wall with a foot up on the back of the chair, banging on the corregation in time with the chants. So she orders the stewards to wait for him at the end of the match, ambush him and drag him off to a security room. The lad is charged with banging on the wall and having a foot on a chair and given a 3 match ban! Now my question is, is this how petty they will be just to justify their presence and ultimately their jobs? Or was this particularly weak example just a gimmick for the TV cameras? I suspect the latter, but some of the stewarding I've witnessed over the years really does make me wonder. It's pathetic. Has anyone else experienced or witnessed such heavy handedness for something so ridiculous?
I remember one game during the pearson reign where i was crowd watching. I spotted on of the stewards below me (south stand) talking quite excitedly into his radio and looking up the stand. I looked around me expecting it tp be kicking off! Couldn't see anything. However, less than a minute later, half a dozen stewards come running up the stairs past me. They stopped at this old guy, must have been pushing 60, and relieved him of a hip flask! Completely ridiculous reaction and response. I know there is an alcohol ban in the stands, but this guy wasn't causing any problems and should have been dealt with by way of a word in his ear.
