[Albion] Why no kettling ?

[Herr Tubthumper]

You don’t remember being kettled after the 5-0?!

Blimey. Still remember it to this day.

Held in the ground for 30 minutes, then slowly slowly escorted en masse to one train station for trains back to Brighton. Dogs and horses blocking every street, helicopter overheard, hundreds of coppers. Took at least another 45 minutes.

Didn’t matter if you’d driven and had a car parked nearby, you weren’t allowed out the kettle. Didn’t matter if you lived somewhere other than Brighton and needed a different station, you weren’t allowed out the kettle. (I lived in Ealing at the time, so was being forced to go in a completely wrong direction).

It was the most over-the-top policing I’ve ever experienced at a football game.

I managed to escape! I was living in Camden at the time and with a girl, we pleaded with an officer to be let out but he wasn’t having any of it. After a lengthy exchange we all became aware the kettle had moved on a bit and me, girl and cop were now all standing on our own. He repeated his lines but I pointed out we were now standing on our own...he then relented and left us to run back to his colleagues.

 

[dazzer6666]

Travelling on the ST coach, normally get a ticket on leaving the bus to allow you through the police line back to the bus. No ticket this time, straight out of the away end and into the Palace exiting the ground. Didn’t see any issues on way back to the coach though, just a few nobbers banging the coach as it left/was stuck in traffic.

 

[Neville's Breakfast]

I managed to escape! I was living in Camden at the time and with a girl, we pleaded with an officer to be let out but he wasn’t having any of it. After a lengthy exchange we all became aware the kettle had moved on a bit and me, girl and cop were now all standing on our own. He repeated his lines but I pointed out we were now standing on our own...he then relented and left us to run back to his colleagues.

Us too. Got out whilst they were forming the escort outside the away end. We just asked and the policeman said fine. Probably helped it was myself, wife and two young kids. As we were parked about five minutes away I was quite relieved.

 

[Terry Butcher Tribute Act]

Worked quite well I thought. Personally i was more concerned about trouble on the way in than the way out

Sent from my SM-G998B using Tapatalk

 

[Titanic]

It seemed to work pretty well for us... large police escort to Norwood Junction including horses, and several 12 coach trains to EC, 3Br and Brighton within 15 mins.

 

[Ozymandias86]

Still plenty of twats smashing mirrors off car doors on the walk back to the station though

Yep, this was embarrassing - the well ‘ard brigade. I filtered off (as trying to get back to Forest Hill) and actually ended up the Palace side of things at the crossroads by Norwood J, which was equally full of muppets in snoods and hoodies mainly causing aggro to police horses…

 

[Timbo]

I got the impression that the police messed up. Looked like they got their timings wrong. There was definitely a bit of panic there.

Definately, I'm not sure the message had got round that there would be no segragation on the way back. There was some very confused looking officers who didn't really know where to move fans to when there was confronation.

In my view the policing was the worst I've seen there last night. Saying people need to stop being dickheads is pointless as they're not going to, it's the same pointless argument cyclists use against drivers, there's always people who can't drive/want to be a dickhead, they just need to be managed and any risk reduced. I'm afraid kettling is the answer.

The police saved their biggest cock up for the station though. 5 absolute Palace whoppers allowed to stand next to the entrance giving out dogs abuse until it turned into a massive problem, batons out wading into a crowd on the edge of a platform which carried on until someone who appreared to be in charge in a white baseball cap turned up and managed to calm everone down in about 10 seconds. All it would have taken would be to move the 5 Palace whoppers down the end of the platform out of the way for 10 minutes.

Lot of people suggesting the Police let everyone out together on purpose to look for trouble which is of course utterly absurd but there does seem to be a few who aren't averse to a bit of excitement. Police have to be ridiculously restrained in the face of some hideous situations (people siitng on the motorway/people protesting against a non existing lock down). All those rules seem to go out of the window when it comes to football fans.

 

[Eric Youngs Contact Lens]

I think some of us who were slightly earlier out than others had a slightly different, and better experience.. the same situations described as above, walking next to opposition fans, unsegregated at the station but everyone was pretty quiet and no issues (albeit surpising that there was no attempt at segregation) .It was interesting that there weren't large groups of people, twos and threes rather than a dozen indivduals or so, which probably meant less obnoxious behaviour on display for other peoples benefit. But it sounds as though it unravelled a bit with the next train etc. And we didn't leave early (honestly!) saw the boys leave the pitch.. Despite my easier experience, it must make the policing even harder - having to react to incidents rtaher than being able to predict them with the kettling model.

 

[ForestRowSeagull]

Was quite handy for me as slipped out left and up the hill and managed to get on a bus back to Brixton. In the past i'd been sent round the houses to stations in the complete wrong direction.

 

[Timbo]

Despite my easier experience, it must make the policing even harder - having to react to incidents rtaher than being able to predict them with the kettling model.

It's a really difficult one, there were plenty of instances of squaring up and then panicking when they realised there was nobody between them. Moving everyone in one go makes the posturing a thousand times worse if you're putting a row of police between them but then it just becomes posturing. While you won't stop that, the over agressive policing is one thing that could be toned down a bit, like I said previously the guy in charge at the station had that incident sorted in seconds.

 

[AnotherArch]

You don’t remember being kettled after the 5-0?!

Blimey. Still remember it to this day.

Held in the ground for 30 minutes, then slowly slowly escorted en masse to one train station for trains back to Brighton. Dogs and horses blocking every street, helicopter overheard, hundreds of coppers. Took at least another 45 minutes.

Didn’t matter if you’d driven and had a car parked nearby, you weren’t allowed out the kettle. Didn’t matter if you lived somewhere other than Brighton and needed a different station, you weren’t allowed out the kettle. (I lived in Ealing at the time, so was being forced to go in a completely wrong direction).

It was the most over-the-top policing I’ve ever experienced at a football game.

I totally agree with your timings. It was after 6.15pm when we were finally released from the 'police control'. That was getting on the station after having been forced through that tunnel about 6 feet wide. Whether you wanted the train or not, you all had to go through that little tunnel. Station Road, Norwood is a place I never want to break stride in ever again.

Over-the-top policing and badly planned/executed. When 4000-odd people (i.e. excluding the coaches) are being squeezed into a tunnel wide enough for 3, then there will be some pushing. No information was given - except 'get back' by that chief copper up on the horse. If we had not been beaten comprehensively it could have got nasty. Then those truncheons would have been swinging and there would have been broken bones and bodies instead of just our badly injured pride.

 

[Cheeky Monkey]

I totally agree with your timings. It was after 6.15pm when we were finally released from the 'police control'. That was getting on the station after having been forced through that tunnel about 6 feet wide. Whether you wanted the train or not, you all had to go through that little tunnel. Station Road, Norwood is a place I never want to break stride in ever again.

Over-the-top policing and badly planned/executed. When 4000-odd people (i.e. excluding the coaches) are being squeezed into a tunnel wide enough for 3, then there will be some pushing. No information was given - except 'get back' by that chief copper up on the horse. If we had not been beaten comprehensively it could have got nasty. Then those truncheons would have been swinging and there would have been broken bones and bodies instead of just our badly injured pride.

People in front of us were being struck on the hands by truncheons as they put their hands on the rail leading down into that tunnel, you were almost grateful to get into it to escape the rabid police frenzy, then half way along it you turned a corner and there was this riot shield holding solo robocop just stood there, baton raised waiting to use it. It was like sone funfair house of horrors reminiscent of Nazi Germany.

 

[Dancin Ninja BHA]

You don’t remember being kettled after the 5-0?!

Blimey. Still remember it to this day.

Held in the ground for 30 minutes, then slowly slowly escorted en masse to one train station for trains back to Brighton. Dogs and horses blocking every street, helicopter overheard, hundreds of coppers. Took at least another 45 minutes.

Didn’t matter if you’d driven and had a car parked nearby, you weren’t allowed out the kettle. Didn’t matter if you lived somewhere other than Brighton and needed a different station, you weren’t allowed out the kettle. (I lived in Ealing at the time, so was being forced to go in a completely wrong direction).

It was the most over-the-top policing I’ve ever experienced at a football game.

As above - was a complete f-ing joke that day, took me 3.5 hours to get back to Cheshunt in Hertfordshire. Madness

Have boycotted Selhurst ever since that day (but it was really the 5-0 drubbing that stuffed it up for me, the kettling was the icing on the cake so to speak )

 

[Return of the Rev]

So is kettling good or bad!