Stewards

[ethantufcbaker]

I don't understand it anymore, when we were in the Football League I believe it was copyrighted by the BBC for the Football League Show, however there isn't any coverage in the conference (bar the live games on BT Sport which we haven't had yet).

Yes thats true i dont really understand maybe Andy Candy can spread some light on the matter (if thats his area of the club)

[exilegull]

Yes thats true i dont really understand maybe Andy Candy can spread some light on the matter (if thats his area of the club)

I understand these things being enforced by Manchester United who sell out 70,000 each game and who receive millions and millions and a large part of their turnover in sponsorship and where certain photos and videos can be worth millions. I less understand why Torquay United who receive a few crumbs off the table and where photos and videos posted online interest only a handful of people pay anything more than lip service to the demands of those holding copyrights and would risk alienating the ever decreasing number of people who actually turn up and pay.

Stick a note in the programme, put a couple of signs up and leave it at that. If BT or whoever it is, wish to chase YouTube to remove copyrighted material then good luck to them.

[brucie]

Whether the guy was or was not taking a photo on his mobile phone probably isn't the issue. I quite accept that if no photography is allowed then fair enough but really it seems an impossible rule to police.
Was the response to the problem in hand proportionate and quite clearly it wasn't . Had the supporters been drunk,aggressive,rude etc etc etc then fair enough but they were just reasonable people.
Is it fair that these two persons were treated the way they were in the circumstances? - I don't honestly think that anyone could argue that this was the case.
What I don't understand is that if for example I was looking at my mobile phone during the game, would it be reasonable for a steward to march up the steps and into the stand to confront me as to whether or not I was taking a photo.

[stefano]

Brucie raised a legitimate concern which he witnessed and it is a pity that some seem to want to turn it back on him. Stewarding is heavy handed at Torquay and 3 years ago I stopped going for 5 games on principle having been searched outside of the turnstiles at 3 consecutive games. I am a normal looking 62 year old who has never even accumulated as much as a parking ticket in my lifetime! I don't let blokes I know well grope my body so I object to a stranger doing it for no reason whatsoever!

Brucie has a great deal of personal experience of public order and community safety matters, and with dealing with difficult situations with the public, so for me his observations carry a lot of weight.

[fred]

Stewards are required to maintain order in the ground and ensure the safety of the public/paying customers.I feel the problem at Torquay is the stewards have so little to occupy their time with,they feel the need to enforce petty rules which they wouldn't be able to do should we get a full house.I paid £53 for my family to watch the match yesterday,I was asked to keep my feet off the chair in front of me, as was everyone around us.Very petty but what about the people who use the seats as short cut stepping stones before and after the match.Much more of a safety issue I think!
Having recently visited Old Trafford to watch the test match I witnessed excellent stewarding at first hand.15,000 people,all able to drink alcohol,both indian and english supporters mixed together, being treated and helped with respect and dignity by the stewards.There probably were rules being stretched but sensible stewarding ensured I left the ground safely having witnessed no trouble at all.
I'm sure the stewards would be treated with far more respect if they treated fans as a customer and not as the enemy!
Having been supporting TUFC for near 30 years I do fear for the future of the club in many ways.Less than 2000 fans for the first home Saturday game of the new season following a good win in midweek.Torquay need to act before another 500 disappear and being poorly treated by stewards will not help!!

[gullintwoplaces]

We ought to acknowledge Andrew Candy's helpful response. He is going to investigate this and is clearly concerned. Most comments above (bar one person, who doesn't seem to acknowledge that there is a problem) are similar, i.e. we are very concerned that the extremely heavy handed approach of a small number of excessively zealous security staff is damaging relationships between the club and its fans. My personal feeling is that there needs to be some sackings, but this is a personal view.

[chardie]

Compared to stewarding at other clubs, ours is the poorest I've come across. They are an embarrassment to Torquay United. Aren't they instructed that the supporters are also customers and should be treated as such? It's not just Bristow's bench, the stewarding in the Popside is also pretty dire. They especially seem to have an issue with teenagers being teenagers (our customers of the future). Some of the stewards and their supervisors need to be replaced before they cause a serious problem. We all know who they are. Excellent that Andrew Candy is going to address this issue.

[wivelgull]

I wasn't there but I support brucie COMPLETELY.

[Sunnysideup]

Brucie raised a legitimate concern which he witnessed and it is a pity that some seem to want to turn it back on him.

Stef, were Brucies claims accurate, then I would support him totally. However, having been sat less than 10 feet away from the incident, I can safely say he's not accurate.
He spent the best part of 5 minutes (if not longer) spending (as soon as the lone steward arrived) nigh on 5 seconds watching the pitch and then turning in his seat for a 20 second rant (repeat again, and again, etc) at the steward, continuing once the response team (whatever that may be) arrived. At no time did the steward (or the response team) act aggressively that I saw.
As already pointed out, both spectators and a member of the club spoke to the female steward in the response team, suggesting that this was perhaps a bit of an overreaction. I certainly didnt get told to bugger off, or shut up and sit down, or anything impolite by the stewards.

The rights and wrongs of being able to take photos in a football ground are certainly worthy of an entire thread to themselves, however they're not a valid point in this thread.

[brucie]

Fred has probably hit the nail on the head really. In a game such as yesterdays there isn't anything for the stewards to do.
If indeed the steward whom I referred to was acting on instructions via the video operator to confront the lad with the mobile phone, then this seems dafter than ever.
Surely the purpose of the video is to spot safety issues, potential public order situations - that sort of thing and to gather evidence in the case of such occurrences.
The notion that the video operator is panning around the ground looking for miscreants who have their feet on the seats and using their mobiles to take a picture actually beggars belief.
This seems more than nonsensical.
I would never take a bag or holdall into the ground - but it seems that every bag or holdall is searched. To me that seems over zealous as well, the people carrying these items are quite obviously middle aged or elderly and p[erfectly law abiding.
I mean they are hardly likely to be concealing a crossbow or something.

[Gullscorer]

Stewards may have over-reacted; it seems as if Brucie possibly has too. Photography at grounds may deserve its own thread. And the same might apply to fans' behaviour at grounds, or indeed the behaviour of people anywhere.

But if I had to choose between banning photography and banning feet on seats, I would definitely ban the latter. But Brucie you're right: stewarding certainly needs a commonsense approach..

[Dave_Pougher]

And I COMPLETELY support everyone who wasn't there

[brucie]

Sunnysideup - please don't lie about what took place during the incident. No supporter ranted at the steward. That is just a complete lie as well you know it.
No allegations have been made that the response team swore at anybody either but the supporter who spoke to the female response steward just said "excuse me but they have done nothing wrong.This is all an overaction"
The response to that was for the female response steward to thrust her hand out in front of her and say "watch the game" The other dark haired male steward was just stood laughing.
As the person who interjected was sat in his seat at the time the reaction by the female steward was also unwarranted.
In a previous post you said that the original steward was called a "jobsworth" - you know full well that isn't true.
Just because people are not agreeing with your point of view there is no need to lie. The steward could not cope with "losing face" because several people actually stood up to be counted for once.
He was attempting to bully the supporters and people took exception to it.

[Sunnysideup]

Sunnysideup - please don't lie about what took place during the incident. No supporter ranted at the steward. That is just a complete lie as well you know it.

Rubbish. Your continued ranting at the steward made you look like a total tit.

[gullintwoplaces]

Rubbish. Your continued ranting at the steward made you look like a total tit.

So are you saying that the steward behaved professionally throughout and that these two fans deserved what happened to them? Are you saying that the stewards at Plainmoor treat the fans well?