Wembley | Page 4 | Vital Football

Wembley

Apologies if someone has said this already...

I think the problem football has isn't necessarily actually a football problem. I believe it's just representative of society. Football is the sport that has the lowest barriers to entry and has the most followers in the country. Therefore when events like an England final occur every man and their dog is out and about.

The more problematic members of society are then in action and once you've got booze and mob mentality it's a flashpoint waiting to happen.

Sports like Rugby and Cricket have a lot less of the country involved and from my experiences are a way less broad representation of society.

Unfortunately for us it tars the sport we all love.

Exactly.
 
Sadly it is a problem that sticks to football like glue for all the reasons already mentioned. It is because the sport we love is the most popular and the most open that we must work hardest to detach this behaviour from our events. The wider problem is for others to solve.
 
The Folkestone plasterer who has been exposed by the press claims to be an England fanatic.
His friends say he’s never been to a football match in his life, so it turns out that he’s not a football racist, but just a racist.
 
The Folkestone plasterer who has been exposed by the press claims to be an England fanatic.
His friends say he’s never been to a football match in his life, so it turns out that he’s not a football racist, but just a racist.
Always plasterers, aren't they?
 
You can have a beer at the cricket or rugby, or overseas football grounds, in your seats, but can't at football (I think the actual law is you can't drink alcohol in sight of the pitch, hence why you often see hashed yellow lines in the gangways and entrances at stadiums where you can see the pitch even in the foyer and in the corporate boxes, you can sit inside and draw a blind and drink and watch the match on the box, but can't step outside and see it in person).
Correct about alcohol at football. You'll notice the signs in the vomitories at Priestfield. The law also applies to the Boxes.
 
To be honest, I think the paralytic drunkeness on display and all that went with it, whether it was the bloke with the flare up his arris, the bloke with the small cock dancing on Olympic Way, or another lad openly scoobing and snorting nose-bang to cheers from other fans etc is sadly more associated with the obligatory 'day out at Wembley'. I've seen this increasingly on display over the last 10 years whenever there is a major cup final match or rugby league game at Wembley. I should know; I only live down the road. But 'jibbing', or bunking your way into the ground aggressively without a ticket is something new and proper w@nky, bin-dipper behaviour, especially given the obvious security implications. I suspect that if the Designer Outlet and various bars, terraced areas and food stalls bt the stadium weren't in situ of the former car parks then the police would have easily observed and monitored the fans gathering and planning each of their respective assaults on the outer perimeters and turnstiles and nipped it in the bud early doors.

The 'Wembley Day Out' shithousery that I've seen enough of in the surrounding Harrow and Wembley areas really takes the shine off of Wembley being a showpiece final for me. Whilst the old Wembley was a river of spilt beer's, p1ss, hamburgers, and 'orsesh1t, it at least had a heritage and an incredible atmosphere to the place and already-after only 14 years- you can see the wear and tear in the new stadium, particularly in the wear of the concrete and ceiling fixtures. And back in the day, people could would get drunk, not decimated by 12pm, as you ran the risk of being refused entry.

But truly, it's the state of some of the more recent visitors to the 'new' Wembley, whether it's a group of Huddersfield fans in Weekend Offender or Henri Lloyd garb giving it the biggun but barely able to speak or stand up, or a Manchester City fan with the blue/purple sick stain of 'Dark Fruits' cider covering his replica shirt, or a Tranmere 'lad' sucker punching and K/O'ing a Newport fan outside a takeaway shop; it makes for an increasingly a depressing experience on matchday, visitor or local, especially if I'm sober and passing on the way home from work. But seeing more than 1,500+ fans storm the gates and occupy the areas reserved for disabled fans or the families of the Italian squad was truly a low point.

Going by the Everton, Liverpool, Manchester (City and United), Sunderland and Wigan fans I work with, it seems to generally be a minority of fans from up North or further afield who seem to bring more chaos and it's usually because they have been on the sauce since boarding the early train to Euston or Kings Cross from 6 or 7 am onwards. Funnily enough, I heard that most of the jibbers on Sunday were Burnley, Blackburn and City/United fans.

Don't get me wrong, I do remember a small of Millwall fans (about 10 of them) jumping over the Town End wall to access Priestfield when we played them at home, but this was more than 23 years ago and and Millwall only had been given 1,300 away tickets (compared with the 3,200 or so the previous year). Also, I don't discount the Swine or any other West Country team being bellends on a Wembley outings, yet the art of 'jibbing' your way through an away day - whether it's not paying for train travel, match tickets, food or even strippers- seems anecdotally to be be a Northern thing.
did you ever to speak to logsie then mark. never paid for a train ticket for over 20 years and would let everyone know.
 
did you ever to speak to logsie then mark. never paid for a train ticket for over 20 years and would let everyone know.
Aah, Logsie. Omg!!
Last saw him at the Slough FA Cup match. Was saying his wife was depressed. Without wishing to be too harsh, I don't blame her. 2pm and he was already pissed.
 
Aah, Logsie. Omg!!
Last saw him at the Slough FA Cup match. Was saying his wife was depressed. Without wishing to be too harsh, I don't blame her. 2pm and he was already pissed.

Was this “Logsie” a regular back in the 70’s and 80’s? For some reason that name is ringing some bells from back in the day.
 
Was this “Logsie” a regular back in the 70’s and 80’s? For some reason that name is ringing some bells from back in the day.

I certainly remember him from away days back then. Last bumped into him at somewhere like Rochdale or Wigan away as he was living up that way.

Definitely a character.

I think my funniest memory was Middlesbrough away on a Tuesday night. At the end of the game a mob of boro came running across the pitch at us. Loggsie was trying to rally us to "stand our ground".

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
 
Apologies if someone has said this already...

I think the problem football has isn't necessarily actually a football problem. I believe it's just representative of society. Football is the sport that has the lowest barriers to entry and has the most followers in the country. Therefore when events like an England final occur every man and their dog is out and about.

The more problematic members of society are then in action and once you've got booze and mob mentality it's a flashpoint waiting to happen.

Sports like Rugby and Cricket have a lot less of the country involved and from my experiences are a way less broad representation of society.

Unfortunately for us it tars the sport we all love.

I think this is a fair point. The sort of behaviour at Wembley on Sunday, which was echoed in pubs and squares all over the country is much broader than just football's problem. The sort of loutish, rowdy, classless, behaviour I see from some at England games is exactly the same chav behaviour I see on the rare occasions I go out for a late one in somewhere like Maidstone or Rochester or that you'll see in Magaluf and Benidorm. Funnily enough, last World Cup I was in Benidorm for a stag do (not my choice) and the behaviour there was very similar to what we saw at Wembley on Sunday.
 
I think this is a fair point. The sort of behaviour at Wembley on Sunday, which was echoed in pubs and squares all over the country is much broader than just football's problem. The sort of loutish, rowdy, classless, behaviour I see from some at England games is exactly the same chav behaviour I see on the rare occasions I go out for a late one in somewhere like Maidstone or Rochester or that you'll see in Magaluf and Benidorm. Funnily enough, last World Cup I was in Benidorm for a stag do (not my choice) and the behaviour there was very similar to what we saw at Wembley on Sunday.
Absolutely, this behaviour problem, just like the racism problem, is about society, nothing to do with sport.
 
I echo what others have said about the woeful publicf behaviour being a societal problem, rather than a football onee. Our problem is twofold. Firstly we have allowed these idiots to piggyback our game and its major events for far too long. Other sports have lower tolerance towards hooliganism and worse. Secondly our national stadium has been at the centre of some truly awful events at the very time the eyes of the world were upon us.

I have attached a link to an article not to endorse the wider points it makes, I don't agree with some and don't wish to discuss them, but purely for the firsthand descriptions of disorder and comments about the suitability of the venue to host big events. It is worth noting what the author says about the various responsibilties too and that may, if true, explain why no one is too keen to talk.

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/euro-2020-final-fans-security-stewards-b1885242.html
 
Funnily enough, last World Cup I was in Benidorm for a stag do (not my choice) and the behaviour there was very similar to what we saw at Wembley on Sunday.

Benidorm is 'lively all year round mate.
When the Cheltenham Cup is on there are large groups of men come over from the North of England. I know a few of them , most are football lads.
 
Absolutely, this behaviour problem, just like the racism problem, is about society, nothing to do with sport.

You`re absolutely right, Nobby.

Too many commentators, such as politicians & agenda driven journos, are far too quick to couple, yobbish, racist behaviour with football, almost to the extent of implying exclusivity.

From what I see, both currently and over the years, English football has come a long, long way in improving ethnicity related cohesion, particularly inside football grounds. Don`t know how many years the Kick-it-out campaign has been running but those of us who actually go to football matches will be very familiar with it. In hundreds of games attended i`ve not once seen anything but clear and loud support for the campaign. Never seen or heard anyone booing the Kick-it-out flags, banners, never seen anyone booing players and staff wearing the t-shirts on the pitch etc. Kick-it-out has been a success and football fans that attend games have clearly and enthusiastically bought into it.

It`s also true that it`s very rare to actually hear anything said from terraces that is clearly racist. I admit that i find some of the bad language on the terraces unnecessary and I don`t care for those who sing petty songs about club owners etc. But, there`s no doubt about it, these days, football grounds are high up the list of social gathering places at which you are least likely to hear racist rubbish.

It`s also true that most English & Welsh football clubs have thriving, active Community Trusts. These organisations do a huge amount for the community, including supporting and reaching out to minority groups. Why don`t we hear much about the trusts` successful community cohesion success stories up and down the country, week in week out - 52 weeks a year. Why ?

Sadly, whenever an adverse event occurs with a connection to football, too many lazy politicians and journos are overly keen to get their hobnail boots out of the cupboard, aware that there`s an easy "kicking" to be had - the kind that sells papers or sucks in voters.

About time that easily swayed critics were made aware of the genuine progress made in Football. Unfortunately, commercial media sales and political votes mean that it`s more convenient to keep the lid on - tightly !
 
You`re absolutely right, Nobby.

Too many commentators, such as politicians & agenda driven journos, are far too quick to couple, yobbish, racist behaviour with football, almost to the extent of implying exclusivity.

From what I see, both currently and over the years, English football has come a long, long way in improving ethnicity related cohesion, particularly inside football grounds. Don`t know how many years the Kick-it-out campaign has been running but those of us who actually go to football matches will be very familiar with it. In hundreds of games attended i`ve not once seen anything but clear and loud support for the campaign. Never seen or heard anyone booing the Kick-it-out flags, banners, never seen anyone booing players and staff wearing the t-shirts on the pitch etc. Kick-it-out has been a success and football fans that attend games have clearly and enthusiastically bought into it.

It`s also true that it`s very rare to actually hear anything said from terraces that is clearly racist. I admit that i find some of the bad language on the terraces unnecessary and I don`t care for those who sing petty songs about club owners etc. But, there`s no doubt about it, these days, football grounds are high up the list of social gathering places at which you are least likely to hear racist rubbish.

It`s also true that most English & Welsh football clubs have thriving, active Community Trusts. These organisations do a huge amount for the community, including supporting and reaching out to minority groups. Why don`t we hear much about the trusts` successful community cohesion success stories up and down the country, week in week out - 52 weeks a year. Why ?

Sadly, whenever an adverse event occurs with a connection to football, too many lazy politicians and journos are overly keen to get their hobnail boots out of the cupboard, aware that there`s an easy "kicking" to be had - the kind that sells papers or sucks in voters.

About time that easily swayed critics were made aware of the genuine progress made in Football. Unfortunately, commercial media sales and political votes mean that it`s more convenient to keep the lid on - tightly !
Spot on Lancs, this latest spate of racism is only being linked to football because the victims are footballers. I'd be interested to find out (although we probably never will) how many of the latest lot of abusers are actually regular football fans.
I wonder if the reason black footballers that get this abuse more than, say cricketers or rugby players, is that they earn a good wage? (Don't forget that Lewis Hamilton gets his fair share, another big earner)
Maybe a lot of the resentment is down to jealousy that black foitballers are earning so much more than these morons? Just a theory, I can't believe that there aren't racists watching any other sport.
 
Would have been interesting if the first two pen takers had missed.
Pierce, waddle, becks, ronaldo (the wink) etc were the target of even more venom post tournament and that was before social media.

same shit mentality from the same type of people. That sold tabloids and radio space in those days, this time the media chose the opposite tact.
 
Spot on Lancs, this latest spate of racism is only being linked to football because the victims are footballers. I'd be interested to find out (although we probably never will) how many of the latest lot of abusers are actually regular football fans.
I wonder if the reason black footballers that get this abuse more than, say cricketers or rugby players, is that they earn a good wage? (Don't forget that Lewis Hamilton gets his fair share, another big earner)
Maybe a lot of the resentment is down to jealousy that black foitballers are earning so much more than these morons? Just a theory, I can't believe that there aren't racists watching any other sport.


Reported in the media, a day or so back, that any person convicted of an offence, pertaining to the tweets aimed at the English trio, will be prevented from attending games - ie have a lifetime football banning order. What a massive assumption that is ! Wouldn`t be a surprise, to us that actively follow football, if very few, none even, of offenders actually regularly attend games. It`s also assumed that the twitter barrage was from English (or UK) based people - as the ongoing police enquiry moves forward i`d like to see stats relating to places (countries) of origin for the offensive tweets. Wouldn`t be surprised to learn that eastern Europe accounts for a substantial percentage. It`s far too easy for idiots with keyboards or phones to anonymously post offensive rubbish.