Slightly different approach from CPFC re: play-off ticketing

[Herr Tubthumper]

The way that The Albion worded the criteria for purchasing tickets/identity etc was worded in a very heavy handed way.

Palace's is a lot less threatening, yet basically says much the same.

They of course had the advantage of wording theirs after the reaction, by both sets of fans, had been gauged.

I presume ours was written by Barber? He does tend to use a confrontational/patronising tone when he writes.

 

[Biscuit]

The threatening tone which the club adopted in relation to play-off ticketing was nothing short of ridiculous. Well done to CPFC for not talking down to fans and making them feel like criminals for the crime of wanting to see their team in a play-off match.

 

[Yossarian]

The threatening tone which the club adopted in relation to play-off ticketing was nothing short of ridiculous. Well done to CPFC for not talking down to fans and making them feel like criminals for the crime of wanting to see their team in a play-off match.

Hear hear. Take note Mr.Barber.

 

[Mellor 3 Ward 4]

I presume ours was written by Barber? He does tend to use a confrontational/patronising tone when he writes.

No ideas, but have to assume so.

It's a little like the spiel he wrote in the programme about sitting/standing etc, and how it was against the law etc.......but then goes on about it not being enforceable for away fans.

 

[Ninja Elephant]

Ticket News: Away Leg

No explicit threat to ban fans should a ticket be passed on.

CPFC 1 - 0 BHAFC

You think that having a more competant police force is a bad thing? Surely, it's 1-0 to Sussex Police if anything...

 

[Bozza]

You think that having a more competant police force is a bad thing? Surely, it's 1-0 to Sussex Police if anything...

Threatening to ban supporters for a year will have nothing to do with the police.

 

[Ninja Elephant]

Threatening to ban supporters for a year will have nothing to do with the police.

What's the problem? Misbehave = Year ban. Simple as that, Shirley?

 

[LamieRobertson]

The Last Word: Orwellian curb on fans Comment - Football - The Independent



You are a law-abiding football supporter. You pay your taxes and adhere to your responsibilities as a good citizen. Your basic rights are challenged without recourse and you are treated with contempt, as a threat to public order.


The next time you attend a high-profile match as an away supporter, be sure to carry proof of your identity. You will be filmed, ostentatiously, by police and subjected to the attention of sniffer dogs. You will be contained and controlled.

Do you, like most right-thinking people, believe these Orwellian aberrations cannot happen in 2013? Do you assume the dogma of demonisation died with Thatcherism and the mayhem of the eighties? Then think again. Consider the indignities the authorities are seeking to impose on fans of Crystal Palace and Brighton when they meet in the Championship play-offs.

The clubs should be ashamed of themselves for their complicity in agreeing to a uniquely draconian set of eight conditions, encouraged by the Metropolitan and Sussex Police. They have succumbed to the restriction of natural freedoms by stealth and have sanctioned an ID system by default.

Anyone wanting to watch the next instalment of what is, despite its suburban connotations, a surprisingly intense derby must be a season-ticket holder. They will be allowed a solitary ticket, which must only be used by the purchaser, whose details and seat number will be passed to the police.

All away fans must carry a separate document which confirms their identity. This, together with the ticket, must be handed over for examination by police or stewards at any time at the ground, and when travelling to and from the game.

Failure to comply will result in refusal of entry to the match and any other matches this season. One-year bans will be imposed on anyone who has sold, or given away, a ticket registered in their name, and on anyone found with someone else's ticket.

Pause for a second and let that sink in. Imagine the outcry if similar restrictions were in place at London's O2 Arena next Saturday, to choose another act of mass entertainment at random. The Garage Nation music event will go on until 4am without the authorities being in Defcon 1 mode.

Yet football grounds are, to use police jargon, "sterile areas". Our national game is a fashionable and profitable target. Cowed by perceptions of vulnerability to a new generation of hooligans, it is further compromised by lack of care and consideration for its natural audience.

Bayern Munich's midweek success invited recycling of a quote from their president, Uli Hoeness: "We do not think fans are like cows who you milk. Football has got to be for everybody. That's the biggest difference between us and England."

Yet Uefa are equally indifferent to the exploitation of Chelsea's fans by the licensed touts of the so-called secondary ticketing industry. Paltry allocations for the Europa League final in Amsterdam have pushed ticket prices as high as £2,400.

Meanwhile, the casual criminalisation of fans gathers momentum. "Kettling" techniques are being used in crowd control. When Brighton fans last visited Selhurst Park, on 1 December, they were kept behind for nearly an hour after the game. Supporters were forbidden from making their own way to local stations and some were prevented from returning to their cars. Crystal Palace fans complained of similar restrictions at Brighton.

"Bubble" matches, in which freedom of movement is suspended and independent travel not allowed, are becoming more prevalent. Over 50 have taken place in the past decade, involving at least 14 clubs. Away fans travel on licensed coaches under police escort. Tickets are often picked up en route, in service stations or industrial estates. The guardians of the game have remained silent. They are, literally, taking a right liberty.

Interesting article..can't quite agree that palace fans were put under similar restrictions ..pre match there were a hundred held while Brighton fans passed (if both sides hasn't postured at each other would have been only a few mins) ..and post match it was the Brighton fans who were made to take a different route

Overall though it does seem as though our club are laying down the law a bit too much ..if the requirement of points is so high surely it's only going to be some of our best supporters going anyway ..why treat them thus?

 

[somerset]

Can anyone tell me what the situation is that I now find myself in....I bought my ticket, so did my neighbour in the next seat who travels from Cardiff for games, he can't make it now as and bearing in mind we all bought our tickets before dates and opposition were known, these retrospective regulations mean that my son in law based in Pompey with the RM Band might have some problems using my mates bought and paid for ticket..... what do the sage contributors to NSC think should happen in this case?

 

[Bob!]

Can anyone tell me what the situation is that I now find myself in....I bought my ticket, so did my neighbour in the next seat who travels from Cardiff for games, he can't make it now as and bearing in mind we all bought our tickets before dates and opposition were known, these retrospective regulations mean that my son in law based in Pompey with the RM Band might have some problems using my mates bought and paid for ticket..... what do the sage contributors to NSC think should happen in this case?

Phone the Club.

They may offer you a refund.

Edit - I thought the away tickets only went on sale last night after the game. If you mean for the Home leg, then the restrictions don't apply for home fans.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Based on no evidence at all apart from a gut feeling, it seems to me that there are certain Brighton 'faces' who only really turn up for Palace away and presumably get their tickets through other family members/friends.

If this means that these idiots are either put off going, or can get stopped before they get anywhere near Selhurst, then I'm all for it.

I agree with you.

 

[somerset]

Phone the Club.

They may offer you a refund.

Edit - I thought the away tickets only went on sale last night after the game. If you mean for the Home leg, then the restrictions don't apply for home fans.

OK that's good, yes it was the home leg on Monday I was referring to.

 

[perseus]

There might be hunt saboteurs or squatters amongst the crowd.

Trespassing | MyLawyer

You can never be too careful

 

[Seagull73]

I presume ours was written by Barber? He does tend to use a confrontational/patronising tone when he writes.

Yes I agree! The default setting for non-press comms does seem to be confrontational.

 

[John Bumlick]

We are fans not customers/criminals/animals

i'd rephrase that and say you are fans and customers not criminals/animals. you're actually paying for the right to be treated like a potential criminal. sad state of affairs.

 

[perseus]

i'd rephrase that and say you are fans and customers not criminals/animals. you're actually paying for the right to be treated like a potential criminal. sad state of affairs.

I don't find the overbearing sense of security guards as I used to (and I did at Withdean with the stewards). An improvement over the years. ID cards are only a drag if you forget them. Police are looking for people who are disruptive like saboteurs. Bags are a bit iffy nowadays. Unfortunate.