Joke police

[Dutchgull]

Friendly gas you are the nice side of your club but unfortunately i was sitting in the family stand but when you took the lead I was surprised how many gasheads were around me and started gloating. If your fans were not such a bunch of arrogant big time charlie pratts then I may have some sympathy with you but at the moment your club certainly does not figure amongst my favourites !! Not that you will be bothered by that !!

Have fun playing at your Rugby club ........

[Gullscorer]

Friendly gas you are the nice side of your club but unfortunately i was sitting in the family stand but when you took the lead I was surprised how many gasheads were around me and started gloating. If your fans were not such a bunch of arrogant big time charlie pratts then I may have some sympathy with you but at the moment your club certainly does not figure amongst my favourites !! Not that you will be bothered by that !!

Have fun playing at your Rugby club ........

Why are some people so easily wound up by a little gloating? Could you not do the same when Torquay scored? All in a spirit of friendliness and fun, of course... Lighten up, everyone..

[Dutchgull]

Not when your league status is at stake and some ankers want to rub it in and think that they are so big and clever .... Again what would happen if we were in that position and behaved like that at their rugby ground ? We would be thrown out or arrested THATS the difference, Unfortunately thats the reality of todays world. If those ossers have kept quiet and had some restraint than all would be well. Unfortunately BR think they are a big club...

[Frankie Prince]

It is puzzling why everyone seems so shocked at the situation today. It was clear that Bristol R had sold out their full allocation weeks ago and their fans were openly buying up tickets in the various home areas. Apart from suspending online ticket sales, the club did nothing to prevent this. A bit of sense would have been to offer an increased away allocation and make the game all ticket as soon as it was clear there was such an away demand. But even up to the morning of the game, our fans were wondering why they might struggle to get in to the game.

The police adopted a sensible approach given the situation they were confronted with. A heavy handed approach would have led to a real possibility of significant disorder. On the face of it, a few minor scuffles is disappointing, but not surprising given the shambles that poor administration led to. If capacity is 6.5k and average home crowds are around 3k, then for this type of game, it makes economic sense to allocate up to 2.5 or even 3k tickets for segregated away fans.

It is not illegal for away fans to purchase tickets in designated home areas, but the club does have a discretionary right to refuse admission. The police will judge what action to take, based on an assessment of what is best for the maintenance of public order.

I hope lessons are learned. Having secured another season of L2football, the club needs to consider how games like this will be ticketed and controlled in future. Bear in mind Portsmouth will be coming down next season, as will Bristol Rovers. Both will come in numbers and if not restricted, there will be away fans in home sections and, god forbid, a lot more trouble than there was today.

Finally, for those that claim the moral high ground, making aggressive noises about our opposition's fans simply detracts from your case.

[Frankie Prince]

We're Bristol Rovers, We stand where we want

I guess you are joking, but you do your club no credit!

[Southampton Gull]

I'm surprised that so many of our fans are surprised. If the Club were irresponsible enough not to expect the away support to have plenty of home end tickets then we should be directing our displeasure at them, not the Rovers fans. British Gas and friendlygas have both been on here for quite some time and always been gracious and friendly. BG was obviously joking and I think too many of our fans are being arrogant in the way they view things. If Torquay fans act like they should (family club) and don't rise to any taunting there's no problem. Unfortunately we have too many that like to give it large with absolutely no ability to back it up. I'd expect this kind of reaction from the Greeks but not us. If you can't stand close to an away fan without reacting then you're probably an idiot.

[divingbboy]

Not light hearted. Today's poor organisation and poor behaviour by a few Rovers fans could have led to real problems. I like Rovers and their fans, I lived for many years in Bristol, but today was just taking the piss.

Totally agree. Those idiot Rovers fan were sat in the next block over from me. They were blatantly goading the home fans/celebrating goals, etc. Had we gone down, it would have kicked off, big time. Neither the stewards nor the police did anything at all. Just stood there looking at them.

[DevonYellow]

I think what we can take from the comments is that no one had a problem with rovers fans in the home areas per se, it is the gloating and lack of consistent action from police and stewards that has angered people.

The club knew Rovers fans were going to buy more tickets so why not designate more of the ground to them, e.g. a small part of the pop and an extra block of the bench. Whilst this might have been unpopular short term it could have helped to avoid yesterday's situation. I hope they learn from this.

[gullintwoplaces]

Sorry, but I feel many people have missed the point. If this had been a routine game, with only three points at stake then feelings would not have run so high. I can take gloating, it is part of the banter. What I cannot take, however, is chants from some very unfriendly gasheads seated very close to me in the HOME seats that included "You're going down!" in a game that could have seen us lose our League status.

I accept that the club is partly to blame, and the police must accept some share of the blame too (happy to pick up the overtime, not willing to earn it). But I feel that a (relatively small, 40 or 50) number of Rovers fans share the lion's share of the blame for behaving in a nasty, big billy bollox way. Arrogant, swaggering and partly pi**ed, they should have been ejected.

Some of the excuses given on here by FriendlyGas and BritishGas just aren't acceptable, and I am very surprised that regulars on this forum think that what they say is OK. So what if gasheads had booked hotels in Torquay? They should have got their Away End tickets first. So we are a club with a small fan base, that doesn't excuse muscling in to home seats and standing areas in such a loudmouth, nasty, gobby way. And I was VERY offended by BritishGas's comment that "we're Rovers fans, we stand where we want", I didn't take it as a joke, any more that he would take a similar comment from a Bristol City fan.

At the end of the day I agree that a draw was a fair result. I have nothing against Rovers at all, I know a few very well and I always have good banter with them. I met some gasheads in the pub yesterday, and all were friendly and concerned not to see Torquay go down. The t*ats in the home part of Bristow's Bench were not like this though, they were gobby and confrontational.

[Mav]

I don't see what the issue was, they took the lead and cheered and gloated. I was under the impression (and is certainly evident around me) that the bench tends to be occupied by a more elderly generation. So why do these older people feel threatened by people supporting their club. The amount of gesturing, abuse, and shouts at the stewards by Torquay supporters in the bench was ridiculous. The easiest way to keep them quiet was to support the team (which they stopped doing as the concentrated their shouts at the Rovers fans). As soon as we took the lead, problem was solved.

As a club, the fact that we where not full to the capacity, we should be glad that we where able to take more money off visiting supporters than normal. I am sure the extra who sneaked in will help keep the TUFC bank balance just that little bit healthier for longer during a long summer with no income.

[Neal]

Its always been the case for the last 35 years that I have been going to watch TUFC that the easy option is to eject home supporters. That's not to say they might deserve it but some balance would be nice, as in this case it was away supporters in home areas. If it was an equivalent size of TUFC supporters in the away end with Bristol fans what do you think would have happened. They would most certainly have been ejected and probably banned from future games. All that is being asked is fairness!

[RN Gull]

Yawn Yawn... rise above it - Rovers fans on the whole were good natured and respectful. We sat next to some in the Family Stand - yes they cheered when their team scored - so what? If we can't get along together as human beings with mutal respect it's actually sad.

I brought my wife and daughter and her boyfriend (all first time) and all 3 were amazed at the lack of atmosphere generated by TUFC fans for such a crucial game. They will not be coming again. They were however impressed by the passion and atmosphere the Rovers fans created. They did not feel threatened at all by them. Although a different story when some middle age meat head BR fans kicked off at some TUFC fans outside Wetherspoons later! Which the police handled effectively and swiftly i might add.

BTW i think the police & stewards were spot on not to intervene at the ground - would have provoked a bad reaction from some.

[PhilGull]

Just ignore BritishGas, he'll soon find out he just supports another little local club when the Pompey hoardes turn up next season. After they've sold out their away allocation and put a few hundred in the home end I wouldn't be surprised to see them outnumber the home fans at every away game next season.

[Frankie Prince]

Just ignore BritishGas, he'll soon find out he just supports another little local club when the Pompey hoardes turn up next season. After they've sold out their away allocation and put a few hundred in the home end I wouldn't be surprised to see them outnumber the home fans at every away game next season.

But despite BritishGas' hamfisted attempt at humour, the lessons from yesterday should definitely not be ignored. The game should have been called as all ticket from the outset and proper measures put in place to ensure segregation. All of the Bristol R fans in home areas yesterday would happily have been together with their own support, if adequate segregated space had been made available.

For those that say, why should away fans have any more allocation, I would say we're not in a position to turn away the money that this brings. Properly segregated, the stewarding and policing in and around the ground is easier - and less costly. The message is that we need to learn how to cope with teams with a bigger away support. Be flexible in the away allocation. Have proper measures to ensure away fans cannot buy tickets in home areas, but if they do, handle this in a firm, but on confrontational way by moving them to the away area- and ensure that there is the space to do this on bigger match days. It's not rocket science!

[taxilady]

Agreed on more away seating. If games are all-ticket, can we still reserve our tickets by phone & collect them on the day? If so, not such a problem for exiled supporters, or even local supporters who work away. With regard to the Bench, Mav..some of what you call 'elderly' supporters may well be 'retired' Popsiders, Ministanders & others who have already been there, done it , sung it, battled it & indeed bottled it on occasions; and now, quite frankly don't WANT it thanks.. the aggression, the jeering etc that we had to put up with yesterday by less good-natured BR fans than it seems got into the Family Stand. Personally, I wouldn't have minded those. Incidentally, in calling for the invaders to be removed, the people around me certainly did not stop their support for the Gulls...we admirably managed both vociferously! Delighted with the outcome however; would have been better to have not conceded the late equaliser, but we're still in the League so never mind! I'm still exhausted, but I've got my voice back...