I'm all for a bit if banter but the Stoke fans disgraced themselves today by launching coins and other objects at the Saints fans in the Itchen. Something large was thrown at one point (a can maybe) and was only two rows in front of where I was sat with my 9 year old son. I hope they review the CCTV and catch the little Chavs that were doing the throwing!
They made a lot of noise though, totally outsung the Northam, despite twice as many people being in the Northam + Kingsland corner. St Mary's has definitely got quieter the longer the season went on.
Which is one of the reasons why they are not a good idea. Also, having a flare in the face is not a good idea, and it is very easily done in a crowd. They are very dangerous and best only used for their proper purpose, when you have a boat sinking underneath you. The ones used at football grounds are sometimes even more dangerous because they are often out-of-date flares that are no longer fit for proper purpose. They can produce spectacularly unreliable results. On the subject of crowd behaviour, I heard that ManU fans were offering WBA fans upto a £1000 outside the Hawthorns. When ManU went into a lead, fighting broke out amongst the massed ranks. This, on the final day of the season, when you would have thought there might be a little step back from the usual rivalries, but no. Is it any wonder that the average football fan is thought of as an absolute thug, certainly by non-football supporting types, ie the majority of the public..?
Didn't realise they'd been throwing coins etc, there's no excuse for that. And the flares were ****ing stupid. But I thought they were quite good as supporters apart from that. The chants of "how **** must you be, we're winning away" raised a begrudging smile on my face.
They were not flares, they are smoke bombs. Flares produce flame & heat, smoke bombs are just gas and pretty much the same as a fogger machine at a nightclub etc.
