Steward abuse and standing

[Schards#2]

I was asked at the senior management meeting today to pass on a message to all fans of Reading, the East stand and Y26 in particular, that the club will not condone persistant standing and will certainly not allow abuse of the stewards who are doing the job they are employed for.

This is not a discussion of what the rules should be and whether we agree with them but a warnng that the rules that currently exist will be enforced and if it is necessary large numbers may find themselves banned from the Madejski.

The club is particularly aware that Reading fans are bottom of the fans fair play league and possibly working towards reduced away allocations if they continue this way. Although our fans are witty and knowledgeable in some songs, their song on Saturday abusing their own stewards is a step too far for the club.

As a lifelong supporter, i'm pretty offended that the club choses to judge its fans by some crappy arbritary fans league rather than the evidence of their own eyes every week.

Many fans are suffering financially and having to compromise other areas of their life to follow the team in record numbers this year and, in the main, the size and behaviour of the support has been superb both home and away, indeed its been complimented by many others in the game.

I find it incredible that an organisation such as STAR appears to endorse the club's view.

[Stranded]

As long as STAR are thrown the bone of being able to bolster their membership by gifting royalty points by the club, they will be the club's mouthpiece and dutifully peddle the club line whenever told so to do.

Have to say I'm with you on this one. It leaves a bad taste in the mouth when STAR are apparently so closely aligned with the club on this issue. I joined STAR for the first time this season, sadly it seems it'll be the first and last.

But they and the club have no choice - surely that's not such a hard handle to grasp. No standing is a rule laid down that the club have to abide by like it or not.

Yes there may be some issues about the way it is policed but at the end of the day the rules state you must sit, the stewards are there to ensure you do, if you continue to ignore them and as is alledged abuse them then you will be banned and you ST removed as you have broken the T&Cs under which it was sold to you.

STAR aren't perfect (who is) but to use this as a stick to beat them with is absurd at best.

[TFF]

As long as STAR are thrown the bone of being able to bolster their membership by gifting royalty points by the club, they will be the club's mouthpiece and dutifully peddle the club line whenever told so to do.

Have to say I'm with you on this one. It leaves a bad taste in the mouth when STAR are apparently so closely aligned with the club on this issue. I joined STAR for the first time this season, sadly it seems it'll be the first and last.

STAR in attempting to ensure fans don't get banned shocker!

Of course STAR are closely aligned with the club on this issue. As had been said numerous times on the thread it is a requirement of the terms of the football stadia licence that RFC are trying to enforce. Do you expect STAR to encourage fans to stand at matches and get banned or for RFC to lose their licence?

I haven't seen STAR state that they approve of the no-standing rule.

I would hope that STAR make representations to the club about the perceived difference in treatment between the home and away fans and that they perhaps lobby for a change in the laws relating to standing.

[Sharpy]

fcuk em!! if they want to start a mass brawl by ejecting/banning loads of people then so be it. was close on saturday when an ex nobber refused to sit down and got everyone up on their feet and abit of aggro towards the stewards.

surely our atmosphere has been a credit to the club this season, yet RFC continue to try and crush us.....fact is i doubt the team would be in the position they are in without us.!!

also, surely its most dangerous in a game to stand up when a team scores, then you are jumping about like a looney and crushing is a possibilty, yet standing up throughout the game when fcuk all is going on is meant to be more dangerous?!!

Sharpy says:

RFC and Stewards are oxf*rd and obviously not footy fans, been brainwashed by commercial oxf*rd!!!

[Royal Lady]

As far as I am aware, the "problem" with standing is those in Y25/Y26 who sit at the back, or am I wrong?

[Dirk Gently]

I'd like to hear the clubs view on how it's safe for people to stand in the ground for a concert but if people stand up during a game it's suddenly unsafe.

The 'unsafe to stand in a seated ground' arguement is possibly the most ridiculous arguement ever. If it's safe to jump up and down when a goal is scored how is it unsafe to stand up for quiet periods of play? I'm not saying every single person should stand up but there should be a choice. I think you'd find that 8,000 plus fans would prefer to stand up for every game if they had the chance.

It's time a club had the bottle to go to court and challenge the health and safety regulations that state standing for sustained periods is unsafe.

I agree, the rules are wrong.

But it's absolutely nothing to do with the club - they have to enforce the terms of their licence, set by the Football Licencing Authority under the auspices of DCMS. They have no choice in the matter.

[Stranded]

fcuk em!! if they want to start a mass brawl by ejecting/banning loads of people then so be it. was close on saturday when an ex nobber refused to sit down and got everyone up on their feet and abit of aggro towards the stewards.

surely our atmosphere has been a credit to the club this season, yet RFC continue to try and crush us.....fact is i doubt the team would be in the position they are in without us.!!

also, surely its most dangerous in a game to stand up when a team scores, then you are jumping about like a looney and crushing is a possibilty, yet standing up throughout the game when fcuk all is going on is meant to be more dangerous?!!

Sharpy says:

RFC and Stewards are oxf*rd and obviously not footy fans, been brainwashed by commercial oxf*rd!!!

Did you actually engage brain before typing that.

If people are continually breaking the T&Cs and Ground Regs they will be ejected. If some morons then decide to start a riot with the stewards to attempt to stop it what exactly do you think will happen to the club - a friendly warning? No, quite possibly a fine and depending on the severity of it stand closure.

I would guarantee that mass bannings of virtually all those involved in any scuffle would result at the very least. So if that's what you want go ahead.

EDIT: Remember, the ground needs stewards present for it to be open. Continue to abuse stewards and we could, just could, get to the point where no-one fancies it for minimum wage. If a stand has no steward's it won't be opened.

[Uncle Andy]

I find it incredible the club and in particular STAR take one table and base their opinion on crowd behaviour on this. If you look at the Sunday Mirror table we are third and complimented about are humour away at Everton it is just an opinion. Those people who believe away fans are chucked out in there droves under the stand in the away end are believing the propoganda (no chance) Reading have got their stewarding wrong. They have two standards away fans home stands. The stewards in general ,there are exceptions, have no rapport with the fans. They police outside the away end as if al qaeda are in town and wonder why tensions develop. then they send out a message on a message board via a third part. if they have something to say then use there official voice there website

[Sharpy]

As far as I am aware, the "problem" with standing is those in Y25/Y26 who sit at the back, or am I wrong?

be serious, everyone stands up...they dont even like it when we have a corner or surging towards to box and everyone stands in anticipation.

the pigs are just as bad, filming and taking piccies for their oxf*rd journals when we are singing harmless non offensive songs. obviously directed at people in aq hats etc, but thats just stereotypical...

[Royal Lady]

In a televised game at Liverpool I think it was, recently, the PA announcer was clearly heard reminding fans that it was offence to stand during games. I thought at the time, they were only really saying it to appease the FA reps who might be there and so it could be heard on the tv that they're trying to do something.

If people are standing en bloc near the front for long periods of time, I fully agree that they should be told to sit down. What I don't agree with, and have witnessed is an old codger of a steward telling a single person to sit down when they've stood up momentarily to have a rant at the ref for example.


And, WHEN the stewards are seen to be asking away fans to sit down, perhaps then some of the "yoof" in Y25/26 might agree it's fair for them to be told to sit down too.

[Sharpy]

fcuk em!! if they want to start a mass brawl by ejecting/banning loads of people then so be it. was close on saturday when an ex nobber refused to sit down and got everyone up on their feet and abit of aggro towards the stewards.

surely our atmosphere has been a credit to the club this season, yet RFC continue to try and crush us.....fact is i doubt the team would be in the position they are in without us.!!

also, surely its most dangerous in a game to stand up when a team scores, then you are jumping about like a looney and crushing is a possibilty, yet standing up throughout the game when fcuk all is going on is meant to be more dangerous?!!

Sharpy says:

RFC and Stewards are oxf*rd and obviously not footy fans, been brainwashed by commercial oxf*rd!!!

Did you actually engage brain before typing that.

If people are continually breaking the T&Cs and Ground Regs they will be ejected. If some morons then decide to start a riot with the stewards to attempt to stop it what exactly do you think will happen to the club - a friendly warning? No, quite possibly a fine and depending on the severity of it stand closure.

I would guarantee that mass bannings of virtually all those involved in any scuffle would result at the very least. So if that's what you want go ahead.

do one

no it just upsets me that we cant support our team as we seem fit. the passion has been taken out of the game. we live in a nanny state

[TFF]

As far as I am aware, the "problem" with standing is those in Y25/Y26 who sit at the back, or am I wrong?

I would have thought the "problem" with standing is those in Y25/Y26 who stand at the back

[Sharpy]

how can you comment when you're not up there with us!!! there are pockets of standers.....if they were removed the mad stad would be like a library

[Dirk Gently]

As long as STAR are thrown the bone of being able to bolster their membership by gifting royalty points by the club, they will be the club's mouthpiece and dutifully peddle the club line whenever told so to do.

Have to say I'm with you on this one. It leaves a bad taste in the mouth when STAR are apparently so closely aligned with the club on this issue. I joined STAR for the first time this season, sadly it seems it'll be the first and last.

So when STAR gets early warning of an imminent crackdown on people not abiding by the stadium conditions, would you rather they didn't give people early warning of this?

[Royal Lady]

As far as I am aware, the "problem" with standing is those in Y25/Y26 who sit at the back, or am I wrong?

I would have thought the "problem" with standing is those in Y25/Y26 who stand at the back

yes yes that's what I meant. If they're all at the back couple of rows and standing and no-one is complaining that they can't see - what really is the problem? That's what I've never understood. It is no more dangerous to stand in the back couple of rows in the East Stand, than it was to be stood on the South Bank when people continually surged forward, and as I have mentioned before, woe betide you if we scored a goal, I feared for my life on more than one occasion.

[shadesrwrf]

As long as STAR are thrown the bone of being able to bolster their membership by gifting royalty points by the club, they will be the club's mouthpiece and dutifully peddle the club line whenever told so to do.

Have to say I'm with you on this one. It leaves a bad taste in the mouth when STAR are apparently so closely aligned with the club on this issue. I joined STAR for the first time this season, sadly it seems it'll be the first and last.

But they and the club have no choice - surely that's not such a hard handle to grasp. No standing is a rule laid down that the club have to abide by like it or not.

I agree, the club has to comply with rules and regulations but it's the club's interpretation of them I take issue with. It seems that we're rapidly moving to a situation where any standing will be outlawed. Perhaps the guys who work the PA ought to be warned as presumably playing Tom Hark will soon be interpretted as incitement.

I'd rather see STAR stay out of this altogether and let the club pass the message on themselves. I'm really not sure they need to be messengers for the club on this one. We have a similar problem where I work. The union, supposedly reprentatives of the employees, have become nothing more than servants of the organisation. I'd hate to see STAR go the same way.

[TFF]

I'd rather see STAR stay out of this issue altogether and let the club handle it. I'm really not sure they need to be messengers for the club on this one. We have a similar problem where I work. The union, supposedly reprentatives of the employees, have become nothing more than servants of the organisation. I'd hate to see STAR go the same way.

Can you imagine the flak STAR would receive on here if it came out that they were present at the management meeting where mass banning orders were discussed as a way of solving the "persistent standing problem" but chose not to warn the membership?

[Royal Lady]

I think Shades means that the Club shouldn't involve STAR in this in the first place. If they have something to tell us, they should put it in the programms, in the press and on their official site. Are they going to tell STAR if we sign a player and ask them to pass it on to us in future.

[shadesrwrf]

I'd rather see STAR stay out of this issue altogether and let the club handle it. I'm really not sure they need to be messengers for the club on this one. We have a similar problem where I work. The union, supposedly reprentatives of the employees, have become nothing more than servants of the organisation. I'd hate to see STAR go the same way.

Can you imagine the flak STAR would receive on here if it came out that they were present at the management meeting where mass banning orders were discussed as a way of solving the "persistent standing problem" but chose not to warn the membership?

Actually I agree with that. It's the manner in which they pass the message on that I take issue with. I hope STAR have done some independent research regarding this matter before aligning themselves so closely with the club.

Apologies for the edit. I realised that my original statement suggested that STAR should not be invovled in this at all. Of course they should, representing the fans' views.

[Stranded]

I think Shades means that the Club shouldn't involve STAR in this in the first place. If they have something to tell us, they should put it in the programms, in the press and on their official site. Are they going to tell STAR if we sign a player and ask them to pass it on to us in future.

But the club are putting it on the OS and in the program according to STAR earlier in this thread. starliason has just taken the decision to let those of us on here have a heads up. Would you prefer it if they weren't invited to any meetings at all?