On the pitch

[GodalmingYellow]

Worth keeping this issue separate.

I was disappointed that with such a large crowd expected, there was almost no police presence. Not very clever.

But I sincerely hope these thugs are banned for life.

If other scores had been different, they could have been partly responsible for us losing momentum after having just scored, and so potentially costing us a Football League place.

The waving of the flag in a Vics player's face was pure thuggery.

These are not OUFC fans. They are a disgrace.

[Paul Cooper]

Agree. There does seem to be a small nasty element amongst our support. I hear stories of these people intimidating away supporters after games sometimes.

The club need to in my opinion do more to try and reduce this problem- it could cost us if not.

[Myles Francis]

I noticed that Joe Nichols was stood in the group from where the pitch invasion came, but didn't see if he actually made it onto the pitch. This is the guy who got deported from Portugal during the Euro championships and portrayed himself as a totally innocent party who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was also banned for 3 years following a ruck in Chester in November 2004. That ban was handed down in June 2006, which suggests he may have been at the ground in breach of that ban.

[Mally]

I noticed that Joe Nichols was stood in the group from where the pitch invasion came, but didn't see if he actually made it onto the pitch. This is the guy who got deported from Portugal during the Euro championships and portrayed himself as a totally innocent party who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was also banned for 3 years following a ruck in Chester in November 2004. That ban was handed down in June 2006, which suggests he may have been at the ground in breach of that ban.

I hope you are very sure of all your facts Myles.

As the pitch invasion followed the award of a free kick and scoring a goal there may well have been a lot of mobile phone video cameras pointed at the pitch over and above the stadium cameras. Hopefully if anybody has such videos they will email them to the club.

It was obvious from the kick off that the group in that corner of the East stand needed watching. They stood up throughout the game and that corner was the only part of the stand with almost no yellow on display. A sure sign that they weren't there to support the team.

You have to ask why there weren't more stewards there throughout the game but also after the first 3 idiots had run on the pitch why weren't the stewards from the rest of the ground deployed in front of that section?

Agree about the police. With a police presence there would have been no pitch invasion. They are all very &quotbrave&quot when there's no away support to talk of and a handful of over weight middle aged stewards but I doubt they would have gone on the pitch if they thought they were going to get arrested.

[Myles Francis]

I hope you are very sure of all your facts Myles.

This is the story about the Chester incident: http://archive.oxfordmail.net/2006/6/23/98283.html

On double checking, I accept that I was wrong about the deportation - he was cleared in the Portugese court.

He was definitely in amongst the group at the front left of the OM stand yesterday but, as already said, I did not see if he made it onto the pitch.

[YF Dan]

I can put up with shit football, seasons of woe and misfortune, non-scoring strikers, idiot chairman...but the one thing I really, really struggle with is our idiot fans.

These morons - who think they're hard with their gestures to opposition fans who chant angry in-bred bile at rival fans who's only crime is to support their local team the tossers who run on the pitch and threaten and assault opposition players the idiots who abuse opposition players and the referees from the first whistle to the last the tossers who boo and heckle our own players the nasty undercurrent of covert racism aimed our our black players and those from other teams the &quothard-men&quot who wait outside the away end at the end of the match for the away fans (who were brilliant yesterday) and lest we forget the TiU keyboard warriors...these are the reasons my love of Oxford United isn't what it was and probably never will be again.

As I stood at the front of the London Road yesterday, all I could think was: &quotI don't want to ever bring my son here and subject him to this.&quot It's a shame, a huge shame, because I'd love my lad to support Oxford as opposed to a Premier League team.

The club does itself no favours. The stewarding yesterday was shocking. I complained twice to stewards about the group of idiots who were screaming horrible abuse at the opposition keeper most of the time, or our players when they messed up, and the referee when he dared not to agree with them. All around them, children, subjected to vile language and so-called &quothard man&quot behaviour. The steward only shrugged and suggested there was nothing he could do.

There were moments yesterday when I saw that there is a genuine movement by real fans to reclaim our club from the fuckwits. The flags looked great (when not shoved in their players faces), the reaction to the pitch invasion was heartening, the genuine applause for the team at the end. But, alas it only takes a minority to ruin something good, and unfortunately, our minority is quite big.

[Myles Francis]

As I stood at the front of the London Road yesterday, all I could think was: &quotI don't want to ever bring my son here and subject him to this.&quot It's a shame, a huge shame, because I'd love my lad to support Oxford as opposed to a Premier League team.

I agree wholeheartedly with your whole post Dan, but this struck a particular chord with me. If this game had been a 3 o'clock kick off, it would almost certainly have been the first game I brought my 8yo daughter to. I am so, so glad that I did not. And it is painful to have to say that.

The lack of stewarding was, indeed, shocking. After the initial pitch invasion, I was expecting a significant presence of additional stewards and/or police to make their way to the front of the stand, but there was nobody. I find it staggering to think that at a football match with 10,000|| expected there was no police presence whatsoever. Simply staggering.

[amershamwrighty]

The stewarding was and is woeful.

Yet - if you are over 50 and try to have a nip from a hip flask on a freezing January day, as if by miracle, stewards are all over you like a rash, waving ground regulations in your face.

A curious sense of priorities.

[Werthers Original]

The stewarding and lack of police presence have been woeful all season - every bloody the week the same group of retards wait outside for the away fans. We had 10,000 yesterday, the same sort of gate you might have for say Barnsley vs QPR, and I bet Championship clubs prepare a lot more thoroughly for such fixtures.

And god some of our fans are thick and aggressive.

[recordmeister]

I can put up with shit football, seasons of woe and misfortune, non-scoring strikers, idiot chairman...but the one thing I really, really struggle with is our idiot fans.

These morons - who think they're hard with their gestures to opposition fans who chant angry in-bred bile at rival fans who's only crime is to support their local team the tossers who run on the pitch and threaten and assault opposition players the idiots who abuse opposition players and the referees from the first whistle to the last the tossers who boo and heckle our own players the nasty undercurrent of covert racism aimed our our black players and those from other teams the &quothard-men&quot who wait outside the away end at the end of the match for the away fans (who were brilliant yesterday) and lest we forget the TiU keyboard warriors...these are the reasons my love of Oxford United isn't what it was and probably never will be again.

As I stood at the front of the London Road yesterday, all I could think was: &quotI don't want to ever bring my son here and subject him to this.&quot It's a shame, a huge shame, because I'd love my lad to support Oxford as opposed to a Premier League team.

The club does itself no favours. The stewarding yesterday was shocking. I complained twice to stewards about the group of idiots who were screaming horrible abuse at the opposition keeper most of the time, or our players when they messed up, and the referee when he dared not to agree with them. All around them, children, subjected to vile language and so-called &quothard man&quot behaviour. The steward only shrugged and suggested there was nothing he could do.

There were moments yesterday when I saw that there is a genuine movement by real fans to reclaim our club from the fuckwits. The flags looked great (when not shoved in their players faces), the reaction to the pitch invasion was heartening, the genuine applause for the team at the end. But, alas it only takes a minority to ruin something good, and unfortunately, our minority is quite big.

Gosh, I hope someone was there with a video camera...

[recordmeister]

The stewarding and lack of police presence have been woeful all season - every bloody the week the same group of retards wait outside for the away fans. We had 10,000 yesterday, the same sort of gate you might have for say Barnsley vs QPR, and I bet Championship clubs prepare a lot more thoroughly for such fixtures.

And god some of our fans are thick and aggressive.

Let's not forget it was a 4pm kick off on a sunny day a lot of thise idiots would have been in the pub all day, drinking shit larger since 11am, probably.

There was a huge lack of Police for an event with 10,000 people. I've been to MOR gigs with more police than that.

[Baboo]

I am as angry about this as I am about Brian Lee. No, probably more so. Never thought it possible, but there you go.
This is now going to be one of the main memories of the 08/09 season souring so many steps in the right direction.

The club really does have to sort the stewarding out. Lessons from the Lincoln vist (first season at the Stadium?) were never learnt.

[Ascension Ox]

As I stood at the front of the London Road yesterday, all I could think was: &quotI don't want to ever bring my son here and subject him to this.&quot It's a shame, a huge shame, because I'd love my lad to support Oxford as opposed to a Premier League team.

I agree wholeheartedly with your whole post Dan, but this struck a particular chord with me. If this game had been a 3 o'clock kick off, it would almost certainly have been the first game I brought my 8yo daughter to. I am so, so glad that I did not. And it is painful to have to say that.

The lack of stewarding was, indeed, shocking. After the initial pitch invasion, I was expecting a significant presence of additional stewards and/or police to make their way to the front of the stand, but there was nobody. I find it staggering to think that at a football match with 10,000|| expected there was no police presence whatsoever. Simply staggering.

Bring your son to a game, normally the atmosphere is prettty good and you know it chaps.

Yesterday was not well organized though. The lack of police presence was the most mind boggling thing. The ratty coterie at the end of the game waiting for the Northwich fans to come out were not an insignificant number. Many were pissed out of their skulls. Many were in their forties. 'Old school' tossers. A few police would have scattered the motlery crew , no doubt.

Penny pinching from the club imo, not good.

I took both my 8 year old and 12 year old to the game yesterday. They have both been to several games before. Yes, the language is horrible, but it's nothing new, there's always been terrible swearing at football. In a way it's part of life for my daughters to experience that, you can't ban bad language.

You can ban drunkenness and violence though. Did not hear overt racist abuse but plenty of drunk dads in the North Stand seemed to be spending ALL GAME moaning about Yemi however.

[tomoufc]

While we're on the subject: while those fans who used to spew their disgusting vitriol at asian referees and black players have been educated out of, or have had to hide, their open racism at matches, the same cannot be said for some fan's attitudes towards women.

One thing that made me feel really sick this season was when the Grays physio, who was a young woman, came to the rescue of their badly injured goalkeeper. &quotHere we go&quot, I thought. And sure enough came a chorus of wolf whistles and smutty fucking comments. I left the ground with a huge admiration for any woman working in football and a big dissapointment with some of our fans.

If I had kids I would think twice about taking them to a game not because of any bad language or becuase I would fear they would somehow come to harm, but because they might get the wrong idea about how women should be treated. Let's stop living the 1950s and start showing some bloody respect.

We can do that without dismantling the somewhat formidible fotress atmosphere that mean we are a team to be feared at home.

[Radley Rambler]

Sensible club statement here:

http://www.oufc.co.uk/page/News/0,,1034 ... 29,00.html

Communications generally have improved this season and this is a considered response provided quickly enough to show that the club are taking it very seriously.

Well done.