TUFC Fans Banned?

[madgull]

Well I, for one, hope that if there is a final day pitch invasion to celebrate the title, the police arrest the entire lot of the bloody criminals! Send the south west's entire fleet of police vans, and lock the bastards up. What's that, you're ten years old and making a memory you'll never forget? Save it for the judge, scum!

Whilst they're all being processed, let's get some confessions of every time they've gone over the speed limit and get those licenses revoked; THE LAW IS THE LAW. Watched or streamed a film online? Jail and the maximum fine. THE LAW MUST BE OBEYED.

Finally, once Operation Buzzkill has finished, we'll get onto the punishment for the football club. Relegation seems the least we deserve, so let's get those points a-docking. Fines have been mentioned, I'm sure a 500k fine would make sure we don't do it again, I mean, we can't invade the pitch if there isn't a team to support.

Jesus wept.

[Teigngull]

After listening to the live feed & now watching the various highlights provided, I can definitely see why some thought it necessary to enter the field of play after Wynts last minute leveler, it meant so much to a lot of people that rational thinking went out of the window, I agree no harm done & if the boot was in the other foot I'd hate to see it, But, the over celebrating In my eyes is not the issue, it's the twatish over posturing of the kiddie winks who think they're hard, that gets my goat.
A couple of lemonade shandys & feck me it's time to take on the world & his wife, GROW UP you juvenile toss pots, you don't represent me or my club & you're not welcome with that attitude, what would happen if we drew Millwall or West ham away in the cup ?
I'll give you the answer now, they'd be nowhere near the fixture because they're nothing but a bunch of kindergarten pussys, FACT.

[Rhys1991]

At the end of the day it's just passionate fans spilling onto the pitch after what seemed to be an impossible comeback, some of us like to celebrate more than others I guess

From looking at the Woking forum they are more cheesed off about the ball boys/girls on the corner where the pitch invasion happened and the fact they were penned in. Honestly I didn't spot it at the time but saw them leave the corner after. In line with many other posts I don't have an issue with people going on the pitch but it shouldn't be to the detriment to the safety (perceived or actual) of others, especially children.

[wivelgull]

Reply to Mr. Elk. Perhaps I should have written with greater clarity. My argument was that 'the influence of TV' encouraged others to pitch invade, having seen such incidents on screen, not that they necessarily wanted to see themselves on tv.

[nickbrod]

From looking at the Woking forum they are more cheesed off about the ball boys/girls on the corner where the pitch invasion happened and the fact they were penned in. Honestly I didn't spot it at the time but saw them leave the corner after. In line with many other posts I don't have an issue with people going on the pitch but it shouldn't be to the detriment to the safety (perceived or actual) of others, especially children.

Ball boys/girls in that corner? I thought Janneh was the ballboy for the Woking keeper!

[Plainmoor78]

It certainly makes for a spectacle. On a slight tangent, it's interesting that some stadiums in the States, such as at Orlando City, have designated areas for the use of pyro as it's recognised as bringing colour and atmosphere (and therefore all important $$$) into the grounds.

A lot of American sports arenas have large uncovered seating areas, hence natural ventilation this is probably why there is a more relaxed attitude towards pyro over there. Whilst over here a lot of stadiums have covered stands and terraces.
Also the rules and laws in this country relating to football spectators are deliberately draconian because they were made initially by unsympathetic Tory governments in the 1980s and 1990s.

[Kingsgull83]

I have to say I agree this is a ridiculous thread (even more so than my ‘when will we be crowned champions’)

Yes it may be against the law but how many teams up and down the country could say that in the same set of circumstances they would have had no fans running onto the pitch?? If there are any I am glad I don’t support them.

I had a good view from the seats of the goal and celebrations, fans of all ages many of whom I recognise from the last 20 odd years at Plainmoor and it didn’t in my opinion seem aggressive (apart from the fools throwing the corner flag)

Let’s get it right there is no way there will be a points deduction or hefty fine.

Can I ask how many of the anti pitch invaders will make their way onto the pitch to celebrate WHEN we lift the title or will I watch from afar and shake your fists at those of us having fun and celebrating the first title win in the clubs history??

[stefano]

Running onto the pitch is, for Torquay United, a fairly recent phenomenon. Before that it was unknown. The Codgery will back me up on this; certainly there was no pitch incursion at the 1965 Spurs game or during the 1965-6 promotion season.

Well even with a fading memory I can say that there certainly was a pitch invasion at the 1965 Spurs game. When Robin Stubbs scored to make it 3-3 hundreds went on to the pitch to celebrate. I was at the Cow Shed end so it was at the opposite end to me, the Babbacombe End where the equalising goal was scored. Part of the fence behind the goal was demolished in the invasion, and after the game some were moaning that had the pitch invasion not happened we would have gone on to win as we had the momentum. It took a few minutes though for Spurs to kick off, and a couple of minutes later it was all over at 3-3. Of course not much would have been added on if anything as the referee knew that Spurs had to rush off to catch the train back to London which was why the kick off was 2.45 instead of the normal 3 p.m. How times have changed!

[Rhys1991]

Ball boys/girls in that corner? I thought Janneh was the ballboy for the Woking keeper!

Ha I also noticed that. They didn't do much ball recovery!

[MellowYellow]

To be clear, pitch invasions are wrong, but there is a difference between a pitch invasion and joyful celebrations momentarily spilling over the white line and on to the turf – and that is where a bit of common sense is needed.

As one of the many boisterous and vocal supporters at Kingfield I had a clear view of our team scoring the last minute equaliser. This was followed by 90 seconds of ecstasy, exuberance, jumping around, hugging people you would never hug anywhere else. It is accompanied by smiles, laughter, singing. Yes, a few joyous supporters did whoop and holler onto the corner of the pitch, but no harm was done. Why would it, for 99.99% of Torquay fans, violence could not be further from their minds, at the moment.

We all want to prevent pitch invasions, but not criminalise and throttle a few fans who steps over a line by a few centimetres while celebrating..When our players went to the fans to celebrate– there’s was nothing to worry about, our fans were safely back on the terraces in a minute, and the players were getting on with the game.

If we cannot apply common sense, the game is in serious trouble. For example, the law states that technically, within the “missile throwing” provisions throwing the match ball back on to the pitch can be a criminal offence, - I kid you not - but we apply common sense, do we not?

[Louis]

[Rhys1991]

To be clear, pitch invasions are wrong, but there is a difference between a pitch invasion and joyful celebrations momentarily spilling over the white line and on to the turf – and that is where a bit of common sense is needed.

As one of the many boisterous and vocal supporters at Kingfield I had a clear view of our team scoring the last minute equaliser. This was followed by 90 seconds of ecstasy, exuberance, jumping around, hugging people you would never hug anywhere else. It is accompanied by smiles, laughter, singing. Yes, a few joyous supporters did whoop and holler onto the corner of the pitch, but no harm was done. Why would it, for 99.99% of Torquay fans, violence could not be further from their minds, at the moment.

We all want to prevent pitch invasions, but not criminalise and throttle a few fans who steps over a line by a few centimetres while celebrating..When our players went to the fans to celebrate– there’s was nothing to worry about, our fans were safely back on the terraces in a minute, and the players were getting on with the game.

If we cannot apply common sense, the game is in serious trouble. For example, the law states that technically, within the “missile throwing” provisions throwing the match ball back on to the pitch can be a criminal offence, - I kid you not - but we apply common sense, do we not?

[sgf]

After listening to the live feed & now watching the various highlights provided, I can definitely see why some thought it necessary to enter the field of play after Wynts last minute leveler, it meant so much to a lot of people that rational thinking went out of the window, I agree no harm done & if the boot was in the other foot I'd hate to see it, But, the over celebrating In my eyes is not the issue, it's the twatish over posturing of the kiddie winks who think they're hard, that gets my goat.
A couple of lemonade shandys & feck me it's time to take on the world & his wife, GROW UP you juvenile toss pots, you don't represent me or my club & you're not welcome with that attitude, what would happen if we drew Millwall or West ham away in the cup ?
I'll give you the answer now, they'd be nowhere near the fixture because they're nothing but a bunch of kindergarten pussys, FACT.

I'm confused by this post.

I agree with your sentiment regarding the pitch invasion but there was no twatish over posturing, no threats of violence, nothing. The only allegations of violence have been levelled at wokings security who, allegedly manhandled a disabled supporter and struck his daughter in the face.

What the cameras and photos don't show is the woking supporters running the length of their home end to goad our supporters each time they scored. Our fans in that corner responded with the v's. That was it.

Considering the numbers there, I thought we were a credit.

The kids in the corner was unfortunate but it was only high spirits

[wivelgull]

I bow to Mr. stefano's superior memory!

[Steve_TUFC]

Hi all,

I’ve been a home and away supporter for more than 40 years and never been bothered to post until now.

The spontaneous celebrations which spilled over onto the pitch was totally harmless, just fans and players coming together celebrating an amazing come back and the realisation of being worthy league champions. I totally agree with MellowYellow but unfortunately too often than not common sense doesn’t prevail.

I was actually really saddened to post by the 20 to 30 idiots mostly but not all kids that decided to turn up and just taunt the away fans, stewards and police at the right end of the away stand. Why oh why are they allowed to cover their faces with hoods, black scarves, face masks and goggles? I now really regret not confronting one teenager who kept strutting up and down the front of the stand pretending to be a tough guy with his hands up high with a black hoody and black scarf over his face, he really needed sorting out and kicked out of the ground. In all probability it would’ve been me kicked out and banned from games. Now reality is that these were mostly teenagers trying to act tough and hard in front of their mates and would run a mile if faced with a real opposing thug but I’m just really saddened by the distraction during the match and the bad image it leaves on the club and us real TUFC fans and the fact that nothing is done about it during the game. Why do we put up with this at games? Why can’t stewards (or police) insist on faces being uncovered at matches and go with a zero tolerance approach, ask them to move away or if they refuse then take a photo/video as evidence to avoid any comeback and then kick them out, forcibly if needed. The exit gate was only feet away from the group and there was enough police and stewards present to create a line and push them all out. I don’t buy the ‘it was the safest approach to avoid trouble’ as it will only continue or get worse if this isn’t sorted out properly once and for all within minutes of any hint of trouble. I actually do believe the club should do more by publishing and enforcing a code of conduct for fans at both home and away matches. Behave below the expected level of a true TUFC fan and you are asked to leave the ground. Covered faces aggressively taunting away fans, stewards and police are clearly below the expected level of a TUFC fan.

Spontaneous celebrations with fans spilling onto the pitch, singing at away fans and at the new Torquay legend the one and only Ben Gerring are all just harmless fun and football banter...common sense should mean that fans and the club unite and focus on the real problem which is the teenage yobbish element which was unfortunately very much present at the game on Saturday.