lost that loving feeling - When a Man Can't Stand for a Corner

Football's come a long way. So far it seems, that we are no longer allowed to watch it standing up. Or so we were told yesterday at Ewood Park while watching Forest take on Blackburn Rovers.

The issue of standing up is an important one especially when we try and watch the Reds from our Trent End seats. In order to be civil we agreed to stop banging the sheeting on the back of the stand behind us last season. But now we seem to take constant abuse for just standing up. You can understand us not being allowed to stand if we were obscuring people's views, but as we sit on the back row, it shouldn't be a problem. But it is apparently, and we are constantly threatened with ejection if we do not remain seated for the game. To this end, we are constantly hassled by the so-called "safety stewards". They seem to be more concerned with making sure we can't enjoy ourselves to actually worry about anyone's safety. And they took this to an extreme last Wednesday at the Darlington Cup tie when we arrived at the ground to see two Stewards waiting for us in our seats, one of which stayed there for the whole game. In my book that counts as harassment. We have only seen one other fan being warned personally by them, yet we are most defiantly not the only one's standing up. It may be because we were there last year, and as we are responsible for a large part of the atmosphere generated by the Trent End, we hold some power or influence over the rest of the stand. Therefore we are being made examples of. This seems to me as discrimination against precisely the people who the club have being trying to draw to the club - loyal, vocal, passionate supporters. Yet the representatives of the club discriminate against us for that reason.

However, it gets worse. As I mentioned, yesterday we made the Journey up the M6 to watch Forest at Blackburn. Not only was the game a complete waste of time, but the rest of our group of 4 didn't see half an hour of it because they were thrown out. Not for vandalising the stands, not for abusive language, not for causing trouble between rival groups of fans, but for standing up! Again we were on the back row, and again we had a visit from another power-mad Safety Steward. The first thing he told us was that it was "illegal to watch a football match standing up". I don't know if this guy spends his Sunday mornings going round parks and playing fields telling people they are breaking the law unless they sit down on the wet grass, but it strikes me as slightly stupid that you cannot watch a football match while standing.

Anyway, we were warned that if we were caught standing up again we would have had our last chance and would be thrown out if we persisted. We reluctantly agreed and took our seats. However, 5 minutes later, Forest won a corner. As this was at the other end of the ground, we stood up to get a better view. Low and behold, this disruptive behaviour was enough to warrant police intervention. It was then that the other three were escorted out, soon to be followed by a another individual. I escaped because I had been sitting down the first time we were warned, but was told if I stood up again I would be thrown out too. I ignored these warnings, as by that point most of the stand were on their feet in protest anyway.

It seems that nearly all football grounds are now enforcing these stupid rules, perhaps in reaction to the troubles in Euro 2000 that has seen the level of policing at all venues increased this season. But as far as I can remember, the trouble in Belgium was not caused by people standing up, but people throwing bottles and chairs outside the ground. The case for the defence of the actions taken against us goes as follows: Rules are rules and if we want to watch the match then we will just have to sit down. But how on earth do you get a bit of atmosphere and support going if you have to sit down? If we wanted to sing support for a cause, sitting down with our arms crossed, then we'd go to church instead. It is impossible to get a good song or chant going if you are glued to your seat.

What is needed is a bit of common sense from all parties concerned. For a start, the people who made this regulation in the first place. What exactly is the danger of fans standing up during a game? Last season Forest implemented a 5 minute rule. ie if you stood for 5 minutes then you were told to sit down. Anyone care to explain that? Does human instinct force you to cause a riot if you stand up for longer? In a similar vain, the only reason I escaped ejection with the others was when the first warning was issued, I was in my seat. Does this mean you have to stand up three times to start trouble?

The Stewards and Police fobbed us off with some story about how the people with the video cameras in the security office had been on the radio about us. Fair enough if they have been told to chuck someone out they have to else they lose their job. But if the people in the security box have got their eyes on us all the time, they obviously can't be watching the game. So they wouldn't know that Forest had a corner which was why we were standing. This shows a complete lack of understanding of a situation that they should be experts on.

My final point is that we are not hooligans. We are just fans, trying to get behind the team in the only way we know how. By standing up, we are not likely to cause a riot. Nor are we likely to start hurling bottles at the opposition (which at the City Ground are at the opposite end of the pitch). We pose no threat to anyone's safety, so why do the "safety" staff harass us continually? These people are employed to keep everyone safe, not ruin our day out.