Got ejected at 19.37 and looking at a two year ban.

[Publius Ovidius]

Interesting one about searching a bag. I come direct from the gym and if the mrs is still in there and I can't get the car keys, I take my bag with me. In there are such things as shampoo bottle, aerosol canister, padlock, sometimes a set of darts, swimming stuff, sometimes them hand weights things....everything that can be chucked at the football. Never once has any steward asked me to take them out, or keep my bag till after the game.

I am always polite, hand it over and after a cursory check it's given back with a smile and a thanks.

Maybe, just maybe you were being over aggressive and obstructive? I don't know that's just supposition, but I have seen the way people behave towards stewards and it amazes me why people have to be so antagonistic.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

I bet some of you on here have jobs that people get stick for.

E.G Traffic Warden, Policeman, bankers etc

And the only reason you give the Stewards stick is that you get given alot of shit yourself during your working day!
People seem to forget that they are normal people who are only trying to earn abit of extra cash and the majority of them, once you start speaking to them are pretty sound, obviously you'll get the odd knobhead but that's life, remember without them we wouldn't be able to go to the Amex, so i think I'll put up with them and be polite for that reason alone!

This.

As an ex-steward I'd comment that a vast majority of supporters when I did the job were pleasant and understanding. I've spent many a Saturday afternoon talking about football with supporters while doing my job.

The only time there was ever any issue was when the Billy Big Bollocks, "Look at me", types thought they had every right under the sun and more. Inevitably every other word was a swear word because they couldn't string a sentence together and almost without fail they had been drinking.

Moral of the story ? Treat the stewards like you would any other decent human being and understand that they enforce the rules not make them. That way everyone wins.

 

[Bold Seagull]

I go in the East with my kids normally, always have a bag with water, extra clothes etc. always walk up to the turnstile with it open for inspection, never even occurred to me to see it as a problem. Stewards have a job to do, not sure how winding them up is going to help anyone.

 

[Brightonia]

To be fair it's been a while since we've had the ol' fans V Stewards debate, was only a matter of time!

 

[Commander]

If everything happened the way you said it did, then you have definitely been very hard done by. Yes, some of the comments saying you were an idiot and brought it on yourself are correct, but a 2 year ban FFS? Ridiculous. Has it really come to that, where a bit of banter with the stewards, albeit I'll advised, leads to someone being banned from the club that they've supported since they were a kid for TWO YEARS? What has the world come to?

For all those defending the stewards, they don't have to do that job, they aren't forced to do it, and they certainly don't have to do it in the way that some of them do. If, and yes it is a big if, this all happened as Bigbelly said it did, then it just goes to show what nasty, vindictive and petty individuals SOME of the stewards are.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Only yourself to blame. Just behave like everyone else has to

I am all for kicking up a fuss when it's warranted but you do need to show people respect. The OP brought this on himself.

 

[BigGully]

I am with BigBelly here, yes I am sure that he might have kept quiet and walked in without offering his view, but for crying out loud he is a fully functioning adult.

If anyone wishes to invade your private space and belongings, then there should be good reason.

Quite frankly it is a cursory offering of security, one that is unlikely to foil some evil plot, so for any adult with some level of intelligent to at times question the idiocy of it all, is always likely.

The paying customer deserves some level of respect and the service provider, in this case the stewards, should be questioned reasonably if their actions seem unreasonable, this should be expected.

I have never had a problem with stewards, I have found them helpful and courteous, but if I felt their actions were unnecessary or obstructive I feel I should be free to reasonably express my view without threat of sanctions.

 

[supaseagull]

Well my personal (admittedly paranoid) belief is that football stadiums are prime candidates for terrorist attacks, so I take comfort in knowing that bags are being searched. You couldn't fit an IED in your pocket!

Haha priceless...couldn't make it up!

 

[User removed 4]

For the people trotting out the "it's your own fault" line - please grow up, that is what school children say and it isn't the issue - the issue is the severity of the punishment that has been threatened.

If you do actually get banned for that it's a bit of a joke, surely a quiet word is the best course of action here. People have banter, this sounds like it went a bit OTT but is that really worth an ejection and 2 year ban?

This, all day long.

 

[Commander]

The only time there was ever any issue was when the Billy Big Bollocks, "Look at me", types thought they had every right under the sun and more. Inevitably every other word was a swear word because they couldn't string a sentence together and almost without fail they had been drinking.

Moral of the story ? Treat the stewards like you would any other decent human being and understand that they enforce the rules not make them. That way everyone wins.

Good heavens, people drinking and swearing at the football? Good God, a two year ban is too good for these Neanderthals, they should be led straight to the gallows.

Where in the rules does it say that somebody making an ill advised joke to the stewards should result in a two year ban from the Amex?

 

[User removed 4]

They don't have to do anything, let alone be hi-vis dickheads, no-one press ganged them into Falmer. Get a bit of perspective you melt.



I dunno, by the look of some of the hi-vis Dorises at the match, it's the only bit of foreplay they're ever gonna get. Why are female stewards bodysearching male custome...sorry supporters anyway?



Yeah, the guy who has lost his season ticket was a real animal, savage.

Every time I read this f***ing place it convinces me even more that football is well and truly f***ed, and I do mean f***ed

Top post.

 

[WATFORD zero]

I was going to start a THREAD about this as i HAD by bag searched by the same BUNCH of GOONS at the East END of the North.

I walked UP and SHE said 'can i look in your bag', SO i said 'of COURSE'

Then, AND here's WHERE it got A BIT POLITICAL, she said 'thanks, ENJOY the game'

If this gets repeated NEXT game, i am GOING to write to the CLUB directly and demand an apology

 

[Brightonia]

Do people actually believe the " we paid our money to watch, so we can do what we want" bollocks??

What do people struggle to understand?

Some people really need to grow up!

 

[BigGully]

I was going to start a THREAD about this as i HAD by bag searched by the same BUNCH of little Hitlers at the East END of the North.

I walked UP and SHE said 'can i look in your bag', SO i said 'of COURSE'

Then, AND here's WHERE it got A BIT POLITICAL, she said 'thanks, ENJOY the game'

If this gets repeated NEXT game, i am GOING to write to the CLUB directly and demand an apology

and how exactly did you think it improved the security and your enjoyment of the game

 

[WATFORD zero]

and how exactly did you think it improved the security and your enjoyment of the game

I didn't even consider whether it improved security or enjoyment as i was thinking on a higher plane and did not concern myself with something so petty

 

[Hotchilidog]

I was going to start a THREAD about this as i HAD by bag searched by the same BUNCH of GOONS at the East END of the North.

I walked UP and SHE said 'can i look in your bag', SO i said 'of COURSE'

Then, AND here's WHERE it got A BIT POLITICAL, she said 'thanks, ENJOY the game'

If this gets repeated NEXT game, i am GOING to write to the CLUB directly and demand an apology

I had exactly the same experience at the West Upper entrance SHOCKING!

 

[prawnsarnies]

Can the club afford to ban him? he buys a lot of pies.

 

[birthofanorange]

Would only wish to add that if and only if, the events truly were as described and there was not a history of 'previous', then should a lengthy ban be enforced, it is totally disproportionate to the offence. Fully in agreement that behaving like a cock will inevitably cause you problems, but this would be a step too far.
For those of you who think it's perfectly reasonable to impose a ban (such as been suggested) or possibly an even more lengthy one, I hope that your behaviour (both in and out of football stadiums) is always beyond reproach and you have never been a bit of a twat.

 

[WATFORD zero]

Can the club afford to ban him? he buys a lot of pies.

No wonder we can't afford that Dutch centre back

 

[SittingbourneSeagull]

Interesting one about searching a bag. I come direct from the gym and if the mrs is still in there and I can't get the car keys, I take my bag with me. In there are such things as shampoo bottle, aerosol canister, padlock, sometimes a set of darts, swimming stuff, sometimes them hand weights things....everything that can be chucked at the football. Never once has any steward asked me to take them out, or keep my bag till after the game.

I am always polite, hand it over and after a cursory check it's given back with a smile and a thanks.

Maybe, just maybe you were being over aggressive and obstructive? I don't know that's just supposition, but I have seen the way people behave towards stewards and it amazes me why people have to be so antagonistic.

Same, I always take a bag into the ground, usually with a bottle of something for my son. I always make a point of offering the stewards the bag, and they usually just glance inside. I think the consumption of alcohol might have played a part, but a two year ban would be harsh. Hopefully OP has learned a lesson and will keep it shut in future.