Having tried it out on Thursday, I can honestly say that wearing padding is not girly.... it's bloody sensible!
Getting back to the OT, I think that there it is much more likely to be a prank by some juvenile locals rather than anyone from the Southampton and a few Pompey supporters on The News website have said the same. I just can't see teens from Southampton hanging around FP late on a Friday night somehow. Yes there are some people who take the rivalry too far but personally I would miss jokey banter with Pompey fans at work if it was stopped altogether, it certainly makes work a bit more enjoyable, especially these days!
Great to see we are unanimous about this idiotic vandalism. Everyone should be free to indulge in the rivalry in their own way too. That's the freedom of choice the brave soldiers, who fought and died helped to preserve.
The 'bad rivalry', as opposed to the friendly rivalry that used to exist, only really happened after Saints got promoted to Division One for the first time. Up to that point Pompey had always been the bigger and more successful club. It was just the accepted way of things. But when the status quo changed so did the dynamic of the fans' relationship. Basically, they didn't like it up 'em(!) and they reacted accordingly. Regarding this latest episode, I'm glad we all agree that it was a step too far. It is a similar reaction to that of the majority of Pompey fans when the mindless few interrupted Ted Bates' minute of silence.
There seems to be a general feeling that it isn't either a Saints or Pompey fan, probably not even a football fan, much more likely to be a pimply heavily acne-faced idiot, possibly a student (they've just come back). The sheer outrage shown by Saints fans has definitely diffused the situation.
