Problems on matchday (split thread)

[Bigbee]

Quite.

We have to maximise our income and for next season we have so far been unable to replace Chelsea and the Qatar Airways roof sponsorship. Those two income streams alone paid for three decent players per season but hey.....let's not worry about that as long as we retain our dignity.....

Last Thursday we had Capello at GP doing an interview for Sky for which we were paid and pitch hire is an important line item in our income side. There was the Victoria Wood Xmas special and other events from time to time. Quite why Chelsea Reserves playing at Griffin Park affects our 'dignity' anymore than supporters throwing bottles at least one of which hit a fellow supporter on Saturday (but at least it wasn't a board with nails in) and with kids coming onto the pitch during a match ffs I simply cannot fathom. If we are charged today then I hope that the parents of the brats who came on 'for a bet' are proud of their little darlings and the bottle throwers think about how they behave and the fall out from their actions but I'm not holding my breath. As I've said before.....if I have to explain it then I'm wasting my time anyway.

And yes I had a lousy week-end reflecting on what happened during and after the game, am totally hacked off this morning and wondering why we bother.

Not really for this thread but as you're seriously pissed off........I think the club should up the stewarding to almost police state for the early part of next season.Get the little bastards chucked out and banned so the rest ,decent law abiding people can watch the games in peace.Relax the efforts once things have calmed down.

 

[abee]

Not really for this thread but as you're seriously pissed off........I think the club should up the stewarding to almost police state for the early part of next season.Get the little bastards chucked out and banned so the rest ,decent law abiding people can watch the games in peace.Relax the efforts once things have calmed down.

I'd vote for that...but what a pity that it's where we find ourselves.

 

[Aussie Bee]

When I was in the Ealing Rd stand against Tranmere I had a good look at the stewards - 50% were young ladies who would be more a home in a disco! How about hiring PROPER stewards that could/WILL do the job if necessary?

Saying that we all want OUR fans to behave - but we all know that's a dream - sh*theads will always turn up to spoil it - just employ a bit of GRUNT boys!

 

[abee]

As for not knowing 'why you bother', you bother because you care -

The message board doesn't bother me it's football in general. I first watched Brentford on January 18 1947 when I was six and I was a junior member of the Supporters Club virtually from then on. We are where we are now because of the utterly hapless and hopeless people who have owned and run this Club to the point where we have gone from being one of London's top clubs to also rans. The last sixty years have seen me watching Brentford crash out of the First Division to the Fourth and having spent all but one of the past fifty five years in the bottom two divisions we had reached a point in November 2007 where I believed that under Dickens and Butcher there was a serious chance of me watching this Club go from the top division into the Conference and probably further down the league structure in some sort of mad spiral of death. I believed that there had to be a better way of running this club and after some board and managerial changes we stabilised in 2007-8, won the League Two Championship by six clear points 2008-9 and consolidated in League One with a very (to my mind) creditable 9th place in 2009-10. Next season we expect to do better so the Club has a lot to look forward to in my judgement. However on Saturday I witnessed three kids spoiling the atmosphere for everyone by running on to the pitch and we are told that at least one of them did it 'to win a bet'. There were then the ugly scenes where maybe twenty bottles were thrown onto the pitch (and at least one hit one of our own fans) and with the almost inevitable sanctions from the FL to follow. This followed on from the match at Millwall and we entertained in the boardroom at the Tranmere game the supporter (with his son) who was hit by the boarding with a nail it in and thrown by one of our own so called 'fans'. The irony of this is that the gentleman went to the Millwall match because he was concerned about his son going to Millwall on his own and a perceived 'threat' from Millwall supporters. That he could be knocked out and taken to hospital by a board thrown by one of our own mindless thugs didn't cross his mind.

After Saturday's match David Heath and Andrew Mills were both drenched in beer thrown by our own 'fans' as they tried to help/escort the Hartlepool goalkeeper to his coach and they both had to pay for their suits to be drycleaned today. Watching these sort of scenes are not how I want to be spending my Saturday afternoons and I'm afraid the Club is not the one that I grew up with. There is a serious cancer developing in football in general and sadly now at Brentford which is the only club I care about and we now have an element who have latched onto the club and who I despise to my core. Their conduct is nothing to do with football but they use football as the excuse to roam the streets offering anyone out who looks at them sideways. They seem to believe that they have the right to hunt down and bash supporters of other clubs or uninvolved members of the public in the name of football. I used to enjoy the goodnatured banter between our own and rival supporters over a beer and a handshake at the end. Is it all down to alcohol and people who can't take their drink.....or is it just feral youths living out their Clockwork Orange dream.

I don't know but this is neither football nor 'sport' as I know it.

 

[marlowbee]

The message board doesn't bother me it's football in general. I first watched Brentford on January 18 1947 when I was six and I was a junior member of the Supporters Club virtually from then on. We are where we are now because of the utterly hapless and hopeless people who have owned and run this Club to the point where we have gone from being one of London's top clubs to also rans. The last sixty years have seen me watching Brentford crash out of the First Division to the Fourth and having spent all but one of the past fifty five years in the bottom two divisions we had reached a point in November 2007 where I believed that under Dickens and Butcher there was a serious chance of me watching this Club go from the top division into the Conference and probably further down the league structure in some sort of mad spiral of death. I believed that there had to be a better way of running this club and after some board and managerial changes we stabilised in 2007-8, won the League Two Championship by six clear points 2008-9 and consolidated in League One with a very (to my mind) creditable 9th place in 2009-10. Next season we expect to do better so the Club has a lot to look forward to in my judgement. However on Saturday I witnessed three kids spoiling the atmosphere for everyone by running on to the pitch and we are told that at least one of them did it 'to win a bet'. There were then the ugly scenes where maybe twenty bottles were thrown onto the pitch (and at least one hit one of our own fans) and with the almost inevitable sanctions from the FL to follow. This followed on from the match at Millwall and we entertained in the boardroom at the Tranmere game the supporter (with his son) who was hit by the boarding with a nail it in and thrown by one of our own so called 'fans'. The irony of this is that the gentleman went to the Millwall match because he was concerned about his son going to Millwall on his own and a perceived 'threat' from Millwall supporters. That he could be knocked out and taken to hospital by a board thrown by one of our own mindless thugs didn't cross his mind.

After Saturday's match David Heath and Andrew Mills were both drenched in beer thrown by our own 'fans' as they tried to help/escort the Hartlepool goalkeeper to his coach and they both had to pay for their suits to be drycleaned today. Watching these sort of scenes are not how I want to be spending my Saturday afternoons and I'm afraid the Club is not the one that I grew up with. There is a serious cancer developing in football in general and sadly now at Brentford which is the only club I care about and we now have an element who have latched onto the club and who I despise to my core. Their conduct is nothing to do with football but they use football as the excuse to roam the streets offering anyone out who looks at them sideways. They seem to believe that they have the right to hunt down and bash supporters of other clubs or uninvolved members of the public in the name of football. I used to enjoy the goodnatured banter between our own and rival supporters over a beer and a handshake at the end. Is it all down to alcohol and people who can't take their drink.....or is it just feral youths living out their Clockword Orange dream.

I don't know but this is neither football nor 'sport' as I know it.

Perhaps these so called fans will chip in when the fine arrives from the FA,
what chance?
Sweet FA

 

[vcmazz]

I don't know but this is neither football nor 'sport' as I know it.

It's very sad that you've had to make this post. Your depression is very clear and I'm sure shared by all right minded, decent supporters.

 

[hairman]

The message board doesn't bother me it's football in general. I first watched Brentford on January 18 1947 when I was six and I was a junior member of the Supporters Club virtually from then on. We are where we are now because of the utterly hapless and hopeless people who have owned and run this Club to the point where we have gone from being one of London's top clubs to also rans. The last sixty years have seen me watching Brentford crash out of the First Division to the Fourth and having spent all but one of the past fifty five years in the bottom two divisions we had reached a point in November 2007 where I believed that under Dickens and Butcher there was a serious chance of me watching this Club go from the top division into the Conference and probably further down the league structure in some sort of mad spiral of death. I believed that there had to be a better way of running this club and after some board and managerial changes we stabilised in 2007-8, won the League Two Championship by six clear points 2008-9 and consolidated in League One with a very (to my mind) creditable 9th place in 2009-10. Next season we expect to do better so the Club has a lot to look forward to in my judgement. However on Saturday I witnessed three kids spoiling the atmosphere for everyone by running on to the pitch and we are told that at least one of them did it 'to win a bet'. There were then the ugly scenes where maybe twenty bottles were thrown onto the pitch (and at least one hit one of our own fans) and with the almost inevitable sanctions from the FL to follow. This followed on from the match at Millwall and we entertained in the boardroom at the Tranmere game the supporter (with his son) who was hit by the boarding with a nail it in and thrown by one of our own so called 'fans'. The irony of this is that the gentleman went to the Millwall match because he was concerned about his son going to Millwall on his own and a perceived 'threat' from Millwall supporters. That he could be knocked out and taken to hospital by a board thrown by one of our own mindless thugs didn't cross his mind.

After Saturday's match David Heath and Andrew Mills were both drenched in beer thrown by our own 'fans' as they tried to help/escort the Hartlepool goalkeeper to his coach and they both had to pay for their suits to be drycleaned today. Watching these sort of scenes are not how I want to be spending my Saturday afternoons and I'm afraid the Club is not the one that I grew up with. There is a serious cancer developing in football in general and sadly now at Brentford which is the only club I care about and we now have an element who have latched onto the club and who I despise to my core. Their conduct is nothing to do with football but they use football as the excuse to roam the streets offering anyone out who looks at them sideways. They seem to believe that they have the right to hunt down and bash supporters of other clubs or uninvolved members of the public in the name of football. I used to enjoy the goodnatured banter between our own and rival supporters over a beer and a handshake at the end. Is it all down to alcohol and people who can't take their drink.....or is it just feral youths living out their Clockwork Orange dream.

I don't know but this is neither football nor 'sport' as I know it.

I fully share your opinions. I have a constant argument with a friend about 'fairweather' supporters turning up for 'big' games or freebie/cheapo games and then moaning like **** when we don't win 4-0 (or god forbid the game is crap) boo the players and vow never to come back (until the next biggie/cheapo etc) I'd rather have 5,500 true fans that give a toss about the club. Sadly, that would see us staying exactly where we are now. I guess we have to suffer the idiots to 'progress'

 

[emolitor]

The message board doesn't bother me it's football in general. I first watched Brentford on January 18 1947 when I was six and I was a junior member of the Supporters Club virtually from then on. We are where we are now because of the utterly hapless and hopeless people who have owned and run this Club to the point where we have gone from being one of London's top clubs to also rans. The last sixty years have seen me watching Brentford crash out of the First Division to the Fourth and having spent all but one of the past fifty five years in the bottom two divisions we had reached a point in November 2007 where I believed that under Dickens and Butcher there was a serious chance of me watching this Club go from the top division into the Conference and probably further down the league structure in some sort of mad spiral of death. I believed that there had to be a better way of running this club and after some board and managerial changes we stabilised in 2007-8, won the League Two Championship by six clear points 2008-9 and consolidated in League One with a very (to my mind) creditable 9th place in 2009-10. Next season we expect to do better so the Club has a lot to look forward to in my judgement. However on Saturday I witnessed three kids spoiling the atmosphere for everyone by running on to the pitch and we are told that at least one of them did it 'to win a bet'. There were then the ugly scenes where maybe twenty bottles were thrown onto the pitch (and at least one hit one of our own fans) and with the almost inevitable sanctions from the FL to follow. This followed on from the match at Millwall and we entertained in the boardroom at the Tranmere game the supporter (with his son) who was hit by the boarding with a nail it in and thrown by one of our own so called 'fans'. The irony of this is that the gentleman went to the Millwall match because he was concerned about his son going to Millwall on his own and a perceived 'threat' from Millwall supporters. That he could be knocked out and taken to hospital by a board thrown by one of our own mindless thugs didn't cross his mind.

After Saturday's match David Heath and Andrew Mills were both drenched in beer thrown by our own 'fans' as they tried to help/escort the Hartlepool goalkeeper to his coach and they both had to pay for their suits to be drycleaned today. Watching these sort of scenes are not how I want to be spending my Saturday afternoons and I'm afraid the Club is not the one that I grew up with. There is a serious cancer developing in football in general and sadly now at Brentford which is the only club I care about and we now have an element who have latched onto the club and who I despise to my core. Their conduct is nothing to do with football but they use football as the excuse to roam the streets offering anyone out who looks at them sideways. They seem to believe that they have the right to hunt down and bash supporters of other clubs or uninvolved members of the public in the name of football. I used to enjoy the goodnatured banter between our own and rival supporters over a beer and a handshake at the end. Is it all down to alcohol and people who can't take their drink.....or is it just feral youths living out their Clockwork Orange dream.

I don't know but this is neither football nor 'sport' as I know it.

Probably the most poignant post I've read in my short time here. Given full control of the club and its resources how do you fix it? Do you depend on the fans to "self police", do you empower stewards to physically intervene, build giant polycarbonate partitions for the fans to stay in, etc...

 

[ChelsIsaBee]

It's very sad that you've had to make this post. Your depression is very clear and I'm sure shared by all right minded, decent supporters.

This to me was the most depressing moment of the season (ranks pretty high in my 40 years of attending GP), my daughter and I follow The Bees all over the country, never miss a home game but I honestly thought on Saturday what is the point when we have such moronic poeple coming here. I agree with an earlier post, that larger crowds with more floatign "supporters" who moan and boo when things go wrong will proboably be the norm if we become more successful - I only hope those of us that have lived through the crap times are still here to see these successes :sad:

 

[hairman]

This to me was the most depressing moment of the season (ranks pretty high in my 40 years of attending GP), my daughter and I follow The Bees all over the country, never miss a home game but I honestly thought on Saturday what is the point when we have such moronic poeple coming here. I agree with an earlier post, that larger crowds with more floatign "supporters" who moan and boo when things go wrong will proboably be the norm if we become more successful - I only hope those of us that have lived through the crap times are still here to see these successes :sad:

I had a work mate ask me if BFC was a good place to take his son to see football, as he was worried about trouble (his previous experience was watching Rotherham in the '80s ) I assured him that it would be fine but really hope he didn't take him to the game. If he asks again I'll tell him not to bother. My daughter has been asking about going with me but I wouldn't subject her to having to come face to face with some of the detritus we're beginning to attract - never mind the risk of being brained by something that some brain donor has thrown. So there go some more potential supporters.

 

[WarrenBee]

The message board doesn't bother me it's football in general. I first watched Brentford on January 18 1947 when I was six and I was a junior member of the Supporters Club virtually from then on. We are where we are now because of the utterly hapless and hopeless people who have owned and run this Club to the point where we have gone from being one of London's top clubs to also rans. The last sixty years have seen me watching Brentford crash out of the First Division to the Fourth and having spent all but one of the past fifty five years in the bottom two divisions we had reached a point in November 2007 where I believed that under Dickens and Butcher there was a serious chance of me watching this Club go from the top division into the Conference and probably further down the league structure in some sort of mad spiral of death. I believed that there had to be a better way of running this club and after some board and managerial changes we stabilised in 2007-8, won the League Two Championship by six clear points 2008-9 and consolidated in League One with a very (to my mind) creditable 9th place in 2009-10. Next season we expect to do better so the Club has a lot to look forward to in my judgement. However on Saturday I witnessed three kids spoiling the atmosphere for everyone by running on to the pitch and we are told that at least one of them did it 'to win a bet'. There were then the ugly scenes where maybe twenty bottles were thrown onto the pitch (and at least one hit one of our own fans) and with the almost inevitable sanctions from the FL to follow. This followed on from the match at Millwall and we entertained in the boardroom at the Tranmere game the supporter (with his son) who was hit by the boarding with a nail it in and thrown by one of our own so called 'fans'. The irony of this is that the gentleman went to the Millwall match because he was concerned about his son going to Millwall on his own and a perceived 'threat' from Millwall supporters. That he could be knocked out and taken to hospital by a board thrown by one of our own mindless thugs didn't cross his mind.

After Saturday's match David Heath and Andrew Mills were both drenched in beer thrown by our own 'fans' as they tried to help/escort the Hartlepool goalkeeper to his coach and they both had to pay for their suits to be drycleaned today. Watching these sort of scenes are not how I want to be spending my Saturday afternoons and I'm afraid the Club is not the one that I grew up with. There is a serious cancer developing in football in general and sadly now at Brentford which is the only club I care about and we now have an element who have latched onto the club and who I despise to my core. Their conduct is nothing to do with football but they use football as the excuse to roam the streets offering anyone out who looks at them sideways. They seem to believe that they have the right to hunt down and bash supporters of other clubs or uninvolved members of the public in the name of football. I used to enjoy the goodnatured banter between our own and rival supporters over a beer and a handshake at the end. Is it all down to alcohol and people who can't take their drink.....or is it just feral youths living out their Clockwork Orange dream.

I don't know but this is neither football nor 'sport' as I know it.

Blimey. That is one of the strongest posts I have ever seen on here.

 

[West Wilts Bee]

Perhaps these so called fans will chip in when the fine arrives from the FA,
what chance?
Sweet FA

Your having a laugh mate, abee is right. We were not bought up like that. These people are not Brentford fans, they are scum. throwing bottles on to the pitch is so hard. It is up to the Brentford fans to identify the scum and get rid. these people are low life . Do they really think we spend loads of money to see these ****ers spoil our day.

 

[abee]

I had a work mate ask me if BFC was a good place to take his son to see football, as he was worried about trouble (his previous experience was watching Rotherham in the '80s ) I assured him that it would be fine but really hope he didn't take him to the game. If he asks again I'll tell him not to bother. My daughter has been asking about going with me but I wouldn't subject her to having to come face to face with some of the detritus we're beginning to attract - never mind the risk of being brained by something that some brain donor has thrown. So there go some more potential supporters.

I had really believed that we at Brentford did things differently and that whatever our fortunes on the field there was always the 'well it's our club and our club it stays for better or worse'. Win, draw or lose there was always the camararderie and the good natured banter. What happened to our 'Family Club' and from where have these idiot people come? Even when times were at their darkest I was cheered by the thought that we weren't like other clubs which had a thug element and that one could always bring a friend along for a decent few hours with decent people.

 

[hairman]

I had really believed that we at Brentford did things differently and that whatever our fortunes on the field there was always the 'well it's our club and our club it stays for better or worse'. Win, draw or lose there was always the camararderie and the good natured banter. What happened to our 'Family Club' and from where have these idiot people come? Even when times were at their darkest I was cheered by the thought that we weren't like other clubs which had a thug element and that one could always bring a friend along for a decent few hours with decent people.

I'll tell you something for nothing mate. Handing out free tickets is not going to attract 'supporters'. It gives some dullards an extra £20 to get pissed up before the game and then stand glassy-eyed not knowing what they're watching. At the risk of ending up like Fulham the club would be better off giving tickets to organisations like supervised school parties where at least there'd be some comeback if the offer was abused.

 

[ChelsIsaBee]

I'll tell you something for nothing mate. Handing out free tickets is not going to attract 'supporters'. It gives some dullards an extra £20 to get pissed up before the game and then stand glassy-eyed not knowing what they're watching. At the risk of ending up like Fulham the club would be better off giving tickets to organisations like supervised school parties where at least there'd be some comeback if the offer was abused.

:yes:

 

[Garybaldbee]

I had really believed that we at Brentford did things differently and that whatever our fortunes on the field there was always the 'well it's our club and our club it stays for better or worse'. Win, draw or lose there was always the camararderie and the good natured banter. What happened to our 'Family Club' and from where have these idiot people come? Even when times were at their darkest I was cheered by the thought that we weren't like other clubs which had a thug element and that one could always bring a friend along for a decent few hours with decent people.

I think every true Brentford supporter identifies with your sentiments in this thread abee. Saturday was one of the most depressing days I have ever witnessed at GP. But we also all know that the problems emanate from a tiny, unrepresentative minority and everybody connected with BFC, including the supporters, has a duty to do everything within our power to ensure that these morons do not take our club away from us. They have no right to do so. It is, and must remain, our kind of club. I'm not willing to easily cede it to a handful of neanderthals. That, not promotion, must be our main priority next season.

As Bigbee suggested earlier, come down hard right from the start in August. Swamp the Ealing Road terrace with stewards and, if necessary Police. Beef up the CCTV coverage, show zero tolerance and send a message that these people are not welcome and at GP and will have no place to hide. We still have time to root out the cancer before it spreads but need to act promptly and decisively.

 

[taxi driver]

I had really believed that we at Brentford did things differently and that whatever our fortunes on the field there was always the 'well it's our club and our club it stays for better or worse'. Win, draw or lose there was always the camararderie and the good natured banter. What happened to our 'Family Club' and from where have these idiot people come? Even when times were at their darkest I was cheered by the thought that we weren't like other clubs which had a thug element and that one could always bring a friend along for a decent few hours with decent people.

I did bring a friend along on saturday and he thoroughly enjoyed himself.

 

[taxi driver]

My thoughts are that ineffective stewarding/policing(I don't know whose remit it is)has led to an escalation of the problem.I watched for 75 minutes and didn't see any bottles thrown at the keeper.No stewards/police do anything regards the 3 little urchins,the keeper gets involved unwisely and a situation which could have been nipped in the bud has taken on another dimension.The kids were wrong,the keeper was ott,the stewards/police ineffective and some Brentford fans were inflamed by the keepers reaction.What happened afterwards I know nothing of.My day passed off peacefully in the Princess Royal.

What I don't understand is how we can have police horses,half of west London's police force and untold stewards surrounding the pitch at full time-yet-nobody made any effort to apprehend the 3 kids who invaded the pitch.

 

[vcmazz]

I had really believed that we at Brentford did things differently and that whatever our fortunes on the field there was always the 'well it's our club and our club it stays for better or worse'. Win, draw or lose there was always the camararderie and the good natured banter. What happened to our 'Family Club' and from where have these idiot people come? Even when times were at their darkest I was cheered by the thought that we weren't like other clubs which had a thug element and that one could always bring a friend along for a decent few hours with decent people.

Kind of disagree with you here abee. I don't think this is anything new. Some times have been far worse than others but I think there's always been a certain element. If you go back to the 70s and 80s, there was trouble pretty much every week.

More recently that that, I remember a game at Orient (Noades' first season?) when a referee by the name of Mr Lynch got up to his antics. There was an element that day who decided to try and dismantle Brisbane Road and I personally took four coins in the back of the nut from our own 'supporters', because I was smothering the young lad I was looking after to stop him taking one.

So for me, it's nothing new, just a new wave of an old problem. How to deal with it though?

 

[WisBee]

................................maybe the Premiership shouldn't 'postpone' its' matches to the Sunday, leaving the feral youths of London to roam around looking for an incident to happen on a Saturday afternoon.............................wait a moment, I'm coming up with an 'outside the box' thought - what about if ALL matches kicked off at a given time on a given day, such as 3.00 (or 3.15) on a Saturday afternoon, and midweek games at say 7.30 or 7.45 on a Tuesday or Wednesday evening, might that be a solution?...................................

 

[vcmazz]

................................maybe the Premiership shouldn't 'postpone' its' matches to the Sunday, leaving the feral youths of London to roam around looking for an incident to happen on a Saturday afternoon.............................wait a moment, I'm coming up with an 'outside the box' thought - what about if ALL matches kicked off at a given time on a given day, such as 3.00 (or 3.15) on a Saturday afternoon, and midweek games at say 7.30 or 7.45 on a Tuesday or Wednesday evening, might that be a solution?...................................

That would never catch on. You have to have matches on Sundays and Mondays. Where's your respect for tradition? lol

 

[Tom the bee]

I think every true Brentford supporter identifies with your sentiments in this thread abee. Saturday was one of the most depressing days I have ever witnessed at GP. But we also all know that the problems emanate from a tiny, unrepresentative minority and everybody connected with BFC, including the supporters, has a duty to do everything within our power to ensure that these morons do not take our club away from us. They have no right to do so. It is, and must remain, our kind of club. I'm not willing to easily cede it to a handful of neanderthals. That, not promotion, must be our main priority next season.

As Bigbee suggested earlier, come down hard right from the start in August. Swamp the Ealing Road terrace with stewards and, if necessary Police. Beef up the CCTV coverage, show zero tolerance and send a message that these people are not welcome and at GP and will have no place to hide. We still have time to root out the cancer before it spreads but need to act promptly and decisively.

bloody hell, 3 kids run onto the pitch and your talking about stewrads police and CCTV

ott.

 

[abee]

bloody hell, 3 kids run onto the pitch and your talking about stewrads police and CCTV

ott.

The kids running onto the pitch led to the bottles being thrown so we are told or are you suggesting that the bottles would have been thrown anyway.

So when the Football League ask what we intend to do about securing the safety of players and spectators at Griffin Park in the future your considered reply would be 'Nothing at all, it was only three kids'. Is that correct and if so is that what you truly believe?

 

[blunstone]

The message board doesn't bother me it's football in general. I first watched Brentford on January 18 1947 when I was six and I was a junior member of the Supporters Club virtually from then on. We are where we are now because of the utterly hapless and hopeless people who have owned and run this Club to the point where we have gone from being one of London's top clubs to also rans. The last sixty years have seen me watching Brentford crash out of the First Division to the Fourth and having spent all but one of the past fifty five years in the bottom two divisions we had reached a point in November 2007 where I believed that under Dickens and Butcher there was a serious chance of me watching this Club go from the top division into the Conference and probably further down the league structure in some sort of mad spiral of death. I believed that there had to be a better way of running this club and after some board and managerial changes we stabilised in 2007-8, won the League Two Championship by six clear points 2008-9 and consolidated in League One with a very (to my mind) creditable 9th place in 2009-10. Next season we expect to do better so the Club has a lot to look forward to in my judgement. However on Saturday I witnessed three kids spoiling the atmosphere for everyone by running on to the pitch and we are told that at least one of them did it 'to win a bet'. There were then the ugly scenes where maybe twenty bottles were thrown onto the pitch (and at least one hit one of our own fans) and with the almost inevitable sanctions from the FL to follow. This followed on from the match at Millwall and we entertained in the boardroom at the Tranmere game the supporter (with his son) who was hit by the boarding with a nail it in and thrown by one of our own so called 'fans'. The irony of this is that the gentleman went to the Millwall match because he was concerned about his son going to Millwall on his own and a perceived 'threat' from Millwall supporters. That he could be knocked out and taken to hospital by a board thrown by one of our own mindless thugs didn't cross his mind.

After Saturday's match David Heath and Andrew Mills were both drenched in beer thrown by our own 'fans' as they tried to help/escort the Hartlepool goalkeeper to his coach and they both had to pay for their suits to be drycleaned today. Watching these sort of scenes are not how I want to be spending my Saturday afternoons and I'm afraid the Club is not the one that I grew up with. There is a serious cancer developing in football in general and sadly now at Brentford which is the only club I care about and we now have an element who have latched onto the club and who I despise to my core. Their conduct is nothing to do with football but they use football as the excuse to roam the streets offering anyone out who looks at them sideways. They seem to believe that they have the right to hunt down and bash supporters of other clubs or uninvolved members of the public in the name of football. I used to enjoy the goodnatured banter between our own and rival supporters over a beer and a handshake at the end. Is it all down to alcohol and people who can't take their drink.....or is it just feral youths living out their Clockwork Orange dream.

I don't know but this is neither football nor 'sport' as I know it.

i know where you are coming from and, sadly, it is a sign of the times.

i have been upset by some of the venom indeed hatred aimed at certain bees' players and management on this board these past few years. only from a very few, probably very young 'fans', i realise. and maybe they write some of the diatribes when they have been on the juice. i don't know.

Most of the time it is good natured and a wonderful forum for us to chat about the club we all love so much. And most of the time GP is a great place to be amongst like minded fellow Bees of

 

[Tom the bee]

The kids running onto the pitch led to the bottles being thrown

So when the Football League ask what we intend to do about securing the safety of players and spectators at Griffin Park in the future your considered reply would be 'Nothing at all, it was only three kids'

Well technically, as you stated, it was only three kids (which led to the bottles being thrown) so I would say it was only three kids as if it was not for them there would be no bottles thrown.

DO you catch my drift?

 

[wanderer paul]

Well technically, as you stated, it was only three kids (which led to the bottles being thrown) so I would say it was only three kids as if it was not for them there would be no bottles thrown.

DO you catch my drift?

'abee' know's what he's talking about, where as yourself.........................

 

[abee]

Well technically, as you stated, it was only three kids (which led to the bottles being thrown) so I would say it was only three kids as if it was not for them there would be no bottles thrown.

DO you catch my drift?

No I don't frankly and I'm not sure that the Football League would either.

 

[Frankthecat]

From my viewpoint the kids were handed over (and led away) by the stewards. Were names taken - kids not stewards - and follow up action taken? I'm not advocating draconian measures but a warning as to the consequences of their actions might be useful.

 

[hairman]

bloody hell, 3 kids run onto the pitch and your talking about stewrads police and CCTV

ott.

Are you just pretending to be ignorant? Hopefully you'll chip in with a week's wages to pay the fine should it come - as it's such a non event.

 

[Garybaldbee]

bloody hell, 3 kids run onto the pitch and your talking about stewrads police and CCTV

ott.

No, not just '3 kids running on to the pitch'. Think about the subsequent bottle throwing, the chaotic scenes at the end of the Luton game last season, the chair throwing incident at Millwall, the neanderthals spoiling for a fight with Hartlepool fans after the game, the aggravation in the Paddock almost every time there is a substantial away following.......spot the trends?

I don't know about you but I'm old enough to remember the late 1970's/early1980's. The fighting, the atmosphere of menace, the cages, the Police response, being treated as a hooligan simply for being a football fan, the near total collapse of the game as a major spectator sport...and ultimately the deaths of hundreds at Heysal, Birmingham and at Hillsbrough (No, Hillsbrough wasn't a direct result of hooliganism but it was a consequence of the one dimensional public order response to the hooligan reputation of football supporters). Forget the sad middle aged hoolie memoirs. It wasn't fun and I've no wish to go back there. Lets come down on this hard before it gets out of hand again.

 

[Newport Pagnell Bee]

Lets come down on this hard before it gets out of hand again.

Couldn't agree more. We can't let this element damage our club any further. We need to get much smarter at identifying unacceptable behaviour & remove offenders imediately. I'm afraid to say that much more proactive stewarding is now a neccessity.

As an aside, I took a friend to the Yeovil V BFC game. His wife had just died & I thought a day out following the mighty Bees would give him some light relief. We'd just arrived in the away end & he was tellling me how he hadn't been to a game for many years. At that very moment, one of our finest right in front of us shouts out "You're support is fxxxing Shxt" etc. He turned to me and said with a shrug "& that's why". It was his first experience of Bees fans. That coupled with the racist abuse that Myles took from our own fans that day ensured he won't be coming to any more Bees matches with me.

 

[south coast bees]

Couldn't agree more. We can't let this element damage our club any further. We need to get much smarter at identifying unacceptable behaviour & remove offenders imediately. I'm afraid to say that much more proactive stewarding is now a neccessity.

As an aside, I took a friend to the Yeovil V BFC game. His wife had just died & I thought a day out following the mighty Bees would give him some light relief. We'd just arrived in the away end & he was tellling me how he hadn't been to a game for many years. At that very moment, one of our finest right in front of us shouts out "You're support is fxxxing Shxt" etc. He turned to me and said with a shrug "& that's why". It was his first experience of Bees fans. That coupled with the racist abuse that Myles took from our own fans that day ensured he won't be coming to any more Bees matches with me.

Is this Fact because i have never heard any towards a player?

 

[Newport Pagnell Bee]

Is this Fact because i have never heard any towards a player?

Fraid so. Two guys giving out a lot of stick, particularly at Myles. I can quote word for word but I won't. Some others who post on here heard the same.

 

[westwing]

I heard racist abuse aimed at our players at Leeds away.
Obviously the players were unable to hear but I was horrified.
People involved were completely off their faces.

 

[GP200]

Fraid so. Two guys giving out a lot of stick, particularly at Myles. I can quote word for word but I won't. Some others who post on here heard the same.

...........yep was near this.....................awful attitude and chant towards a Bees player...................

 

[eaglebee]

I know several families with young children who have stopped attending GP anymore due to this "new" hooligan element, this is obviously costing the club lost revenue.

I feel the level and standard of stewarding at GP is insufficient for the amount of aggravation these mindless cretins are now are causing, unfortunately some of our stewards only appear fit or able enough to show fans to their seats and telling them not to block the isles and sit down, as several were standing open mouthed and unable to react to the situation that occurred on Saturday.

Surely the time has come to employ some “professional” stewards to be in attendance at the troubled area’s, they could go in and remove the offenders, have them photographed then ejected, the cost of employing them would come from the upturn in revenue.

The time has come to start saving our club from these mindless cretins, all of us have mobile phones capable of taking photographs, why don’t we start a rouges gallery and pass on all info to the club for them to then take action, or would that be “infringing their civil liberties”.

Lets get control of our “Family Club” back before it all escalates out of hand

 

[NorthamptonBee]

This is depressing. I am somewhere in the middle here, the bottle throwing and the pretend football violence within the ground is crap but surely not enough to put people off. Everyone is different of course but I'd never let fear be a reason for missing my team play, perhaps being a kid in the 80s where the atmosphere was always nasty makes this current undertone seem like child's play. There wasn't enough that went on at the weekend to turn people away, was there? Society is pretty crap, gangsters everywhere who think that violence is the first resort rather than the last IMO. It must be impossible for the club to police but banter and common sense still lives on and it's there in much higher numbers.

 

[nick logan]

I know several families with young children who have stopped attending GP anymore due to this "new" hooligan element, this is obviously costing the club lost revenue.

Thats just ridiculous. What do they think might happen. There has been very little trouble in the ground. Still one of the safest places in the League. Lets not exagerate this.

 

[Les Beeavinu]

Thats just ridiculous. What do they think might happen. There has been very little trouble in the ground. Still one of the safest places in the League. Lets not exagerate this.

I take my son and nothing I've seen would put me off taking him - I'm able to explain to him what's going on and whether it's right or wrong.

The trouble is, if you are new to Brentford and witness something you don't like, it wouldn't be about being worried - it would be a case of not enjoying the experience enough to make the effort next time.

 

[Adam]

Your having a laugh mate, abee is right. We were not bought up like that. These people are not Brentford fans, they are scum. throwing bottles on to the pitch is so hard. It is up to the Brentford fans to identify the scum and get rid. these people are low life . Do they really think we spend loads of money to see these ****ers spoil our day.

I can see your point. But people claiming Saturday was one of their lowest moments of been a Bee is a bit silly TBH. Throwing bottles on the pitch has been happening at GP since I can remember, hence the ban on bottle tops about 10 years ago. I dont agree with it but its part and parcel of football now (and has been for a long time) and however much you try you cant have control over how 5000+ people act week in week out. Before the final whistle on Saturday I was so nervous that these "fans" were going to run on and try and get at Flinders but thankfully they didnt even attempt to get to the front of Ealing Road. Had this situation arose at Luton, Aldershot, Wednesday, Fulham, Leeds, Cardiff etc etc I am sure the situation would of ended very differently. Its funny how you have people on other threads reminising over full fist fights in the Royal Oak End and others saying these idiots now are the worst ever. I agree something needs to be done and banning orders over time should do the trick but in the mean time lets just take it on the chin and to our best to discourage them. One thing I have also noticed is when they sing things like "you better run for the tunnel" etc other "honest" supporters join in with them. If they attempt to sing things like that or direct inappropriate abuse the sensible thing should be to not join in and make them feel alienated , and not welcome.

 

[Brian]

Its not just this incident tho' in ER on saturday there were people smoking in front of me, who then took offence to me asking them to put the fag out or go outside the stand if they must smoke, they just blatently ignored me and carried on, the trouble is I genuinely dont think they could give a toss who they upset as it was their first time there and would probably be their last

 

[vcmazz]

I'll tell you something for nothing mate. Handing out free tickets is not going to attract 'supporters'.

I genuinely dont think they could give a toss who they upset as it was their first time there and would probably be their last

So you think maybe hairman has a point? These trouble makers are daytrippers?

 

[Brian]

So you think maybe hairman has a point? These trouble makers are daytrippers?

Not sure how many freebee's get given out (if any) for Ealing Rd but these people definately wernt that interested in the football the girl wasn't even looking at the pitch most of the time.
Thankfully they moved for the 2nd half so we just had to put up with Slatts and co instead roflrofl

 

[Paul O'Brien]

bloody hell, 3 kids run onto the pitch and your talking about stewrads police and CCTV

ott.

To quote you, bloody hell. Three kids run onto the pitch and spark off disgraceful scenes which could have serious ramifications for the club - think fines, terrace closures (I'm not being funny here and so on - we're talking about an opposition player having bottles thrown at them - glass or plastic, it doesn't matter).

Twenty-odd idiots or however many it was also create an atmosphere which puts an opposing player in fear, and help to hit a Bees fan. Earlier in the season a Bees fan was hurt by another Bees fan (using the term loosely here). Last season a Bees player was hurt by a Bees idiot, and I understand that another Bees fan was hit by another idiot.

And you think that increasing the security on the terraces is ott? God help us.

 

[burgessbee]

My thoughts are that ineffective stewarding/policing(I don't know whose remit it is)has led to an escalation of the problem.I watched for 75 minutes and didn't see any bottles thrown at the keeper.No stewards/police do anything regards the 3 little urchins,the keeper gets involved unwisely and a situation which could have been nipped in the bud has taken on another dimension.The kids were wrong,the keeper was ott,the stewards/police ineffective and some Brentford fans were inflamed by the keepers reaction.What happened afterwards I know nothing of.My day passed off peacefully in the Princess Royal.

What I don't understand is how we can have police horses,half of west London's police force and untold stewards surrounding the pitch at full time-yet-nobody made any effort to apprehend the 3 kids who invaded the pitch.

all stewards at home end and all police on pitch at away end were there there was no problem,bring the police in to the home end as well they might and i say might have got into the trouble makers instead of just watching like the stewards did.

 

[Owlsmoor_Bee]

Thats just ridiculous. What do they think might happen. There has been very little trouble in the ground. Still one of the safest places in the League. Lets not exagerate this.

You're right but we have acquired a following of horrible little chavs over the past couple of seasons Nick. I sit in the relative slumber of D Block so don't see any of it at home games but I've had to put up with some shocking little sods away from home.

At Norwich, a bloke sat in front of me and my dad with his two kids (14 & 15ish). The dad was off his face, and the three of them spent the entire game standing up gesturing to the home fans. I'd be amazed if they watched more than 15 minutes of the entire game. When I eventually got fed up of seeing nothing but their backs, I asked if they might like to sit down so the rest of us could watch the game. This was met with a volley of abuse from all three of them and the threat to "smash my f***ing face in"...

We all know what happened at Millwall and I was two rows in front of the little sh*t who threw the sign. Again, if he and his little group of chavs saw as much of the game as they did the Millwall fans I'd be astonished.

And again at Swindon. The top row of our fans were an absolute disgrace. Ten or so spent the entire game aiming the most disgusting abuse they could at the adjacent Swindon fans and barely spent a minute watching the game.

I love the atmosphere at football, especially the away games and many of the youngsters make that atmosphere what it is but there is an increasing element of nasty little oiks who have absolutely no interest in the football side of things and are there simply to abuse the away fans and look for a row after the games. If they were proper Bees fans, then they'd take notice when other Bees fans asked them to behave or tone it down rather than simply turning their abuse and violent threats on them instead.

 

[Glenisterbee]

I went to a lot of away games last season and the Carlisle and Hartlepool games were among them. Carlisle was a wonderful start to the season and i took a friend who fancied a day out. There was a chap amongst our 511 that day who was spitting pure venom and hatred (to quote someone above) the whole game and five minutes in we moved a few rows away to escape the earache and aggravation. This buffoon was so drunk he could barely stand. He didnt ruin my day but we moved because of him. At Hartlepool which was a friday night game there were eight to ten idiots sat directly behind the goal giving Flinders absolute dogs abuse re his wife etc etc. Classy stuff it was. They were getting very disapproving looks from all around but it didnt stop them. We would hardly have had floating fans traveling 265 miles to an away game so these people are amongst us. Fortunately they are a tiny minority but are present all the same.As Abee said earlier the days of shaking hands with opposition supporters and wishing them luck seem to be long gone. I feel that these scumbags follow every club. Its not just us.

 

[shouldbee]

The kids running onto the pitch led to the bottles being thrown so we are told or are you suggesting that the bottles would have been thrown anyway.

So when the Football League ask what we intend to do about securing the safety of players and spectators at Griffin Park in the future your considered reply would be 'Nothing at all, it was only three kids'. Is that correct and if so is that what you truly believe?

My impression was that the bottles were only thrown when Flinders man-handled the kids. He should have left it to the stewards to remove the kids not taken the law into is own hands, you just cannot do that anymore.

 

[hairman]

Thats just ridiculous. What do they think might happen. There has been very little trouble in the ground. Still one of the safest places in the League. Lets not exagerate this.

I agree Nick but maybe it does come down to what people 'think' may happen. I'm guessing that's why my workmate asked me if GP was a safe place to take his son. If he'd seen what was happening on Saturady he may have come to the conclusion that it wasn't a good place to be with a 7 year old. I for one wouldnt condemn him for that.

 

[ianhl]

My impression was that the bottles were only thrown when Flinders man-handled the kids. He should have left it to the stewards to remove the kids not taken the law into is own hands, you just cannot do that anymore.

Doesn`t matter what the goalkeeper did ...Missiles of any kind ( from smartie tube tops to bottles CANNOT be thrown at a football match!...the pricks that did it are ****ing around with my football team.