Boycott the Exeter match

[Scott Brehaut]

NOT all-ticket:

http://www.exetercityfc.co.uk/news/arti ... 65991.aspx

[tomogull]

NOT all-ticket:

http://www.exetercityfc.co.uk/news/arti ... 65991.aspx

Ta for clearing up that, Scott. The Grecians website is much more helpful than ours ! Absolutely ridiculous that this game is not all ticket but our home game with NEWPORT COUNTY was ! I know all- ticket matches has been done to death on the Forum and I don't want to re-open this can of worms !!

[brucie]

Its a fair point though isn't it. You couldn't really make this up though could you. You couldn't buy a ticket on the day for the Exeter home game. The Newport match was all ticket.
Yet here we are on a bank holiday when police resources will be way less than a normal day. Tempers could be running high especially if we are relegated.
Torquay and Exeter grounds are twenty miles away from each other policed by the same constabulary. yet it appears there is one rule for us and one rule for them.
It is a totally farcical situation.

[gullintwoplaces]

NOT all-ticket:

http://www.exetercityfc.co.uk/news/arti ... 65991.aspx

Some complaints to the Police Commisioner might stir things up. I intend to write after the end of the season to complain about the lack of even- handedness shown by the local police leaders. There is clearly an anti Gulls contingent, at senior level, in the Torbay force. Cages need to be rattled through the Commissioner, as it is not acceptable to penalise the Gulls but give the Grecians freedom. It is an outrageous abuse of power.

[Dave]

Indeed, this has been done to death. It is NOT the police alone that make these decisions, it is the S.A.G which made from a number of different bodies including Police, fire and ambulance services and others, it is the local authority that issue the safety certificate for the ground.

It is more than highly likely that Exeter's S.A.G and Torquay's S.A.G are made up from entirely different set of people, one S.A.G appears to be a little less over zealous and chilled than the other, write to police by all means, don't think they're going be to interested.

[gullintwoplaces]

Indeed, this has been done to death. It is NOT the police alone that make these decisions, it is the S.A.G which made from a number of different bodies including Police, fire and ambulance services and others, it is the local authority that issue the safety certificate for the ground.

It is more than highly likely that Exeter's S.A.G and Torquay's S.A.G are made up from entirely different set of people, one S.A.G appears to be a little less over zealous and chilled than the other, write to police by all means, don't think they're going be to interested.

It is the S.A.G. that makes the decision, but I had always understood that making games all ticket was a decision largely made on Police advice. I may be wrong?

We are supposed to be a democracy and should not just accept that these little Hitlers can mess with our lives for their own bureaucratic reasons. These are publicly funded bodies made up of public sector employees and they should be held to account if they are behaving in an unreasonable manner.

If the Police Commissioner is not interested then I will complain to the Ombudsman. Somebody has to stand up to this bollocks, even if they get nowhere. I am surprised that the local press aren't taking an interest. As you say, it is the Local Authority that issues the safety certificate, last time I looked this was a public body.

[Dave]

Not sure to be honest, I know the S.A.G is advisory, but as said the police are part of the S.A.G, so I should imagine the decision to make the 5 match's all ticket came from S.A.G advice . I know there is this thing called the green guide to spectator safety , which all clubs have to abide by ..http://www.safetyatsportsgrounds.org.uk ... reen-guide. To be honest not sure it is fully case of our club being pushed around by little hitlers.

Why the rules seem more relaxed at Exeter I don't know, maybe they've demonstrated a greater ability to control large crowds, this advice came after our failure to control Leeds fans during the friendly, who by and large did and stood where they wanted to, including, in areas they weren't allowed.

[stefano]

.

If the Police Commissioner is not interested then I will complain to the Ombudsman.

The Ombudsman? Well the best of luck as there is not an Ombudsman in Great Britain who will deal with complaints against the police. In England and Wales complaints against the police are dealt with by the Independent Police Complaints Commission, but I would guarantee that they would not be remotely interested that somebody had to buy a ticket to watch a game at Plainmoor. The only Ombudsman who does deal with complaints against the police in the United Kingdom (as opposed to Great Britain) is the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland. Whilst he would probably initially think that Torquay was a remote hamlet in County Tyrone, eventually through a haze of Bushmills reality would dawn and your letter of complaint would be filed WPB.

I agree it is a pain in the ass having to buy a ticket to watch a game at a ground that is never full even on all ticket days, but I think you can consign your thoughts towards the Ombudsman to WPB as well!

[gullintwoplaces]

The Ombudsman? Well the best of luck as there is not an Ombudsman in Great Britain who will deal with complaints against the police. In England and Wales complaints against the police are dealt with by the Independent Police Complaints Commission, but I would guarantee that they would not be remotely interested that somebody had to buy a ticket to watch a game at Plainmoor. The only Ombudsman who does deal with complaints against the police in the United Kingdom (as opposed to Great Britain) is the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland. Whilst he would probably initially think that Torquay was a remote hamlet in County Tyrone, eventually through a haze of Bushmills reality would dawn and your letter of complaint would be filed WPB.

I agree it is a pain in the ass having to buy a ticket to watch a game at a ground that is never full even on all ticket days, but I think you can consign your thoughts towards the Ombudsman to WPB as well!

I would only write to the Ombudsman if the Police Commissioner advised that it was not a police matter, I do understand how things are with the police. The fact is that the Torbay Police have not been well disposed towards Torquay United for a very long time. Inherited crap from a barking mad superintendent who has long since retired.

Sorry, but I don't think that it is right that local bureaucrats can take unjustified decisions that deprive the club that I support of funds. We see too much little hitlerism these days, pompous local authority bureaucrats not fit to wipe the backsides of the voters.

[stefano]

I would only write to the Ombudsman if the Police Commissioner advised that it was not a police matter, I do understand how things are with the police. The fact is that the Torbay Police have not been well disposed towards Torquay United for a very long time. Inherited crap from a barking mad superintendent who has long since retired.

Sorry, but I don't think that it is right that local bureaucrats can take unjustified decisions that deprive the club that I support of funds. We see too much little hitlerism these days, pompous local authority bureaucrats not fit to wipe the backsides of the voters.

I'm not disagreeing with you GI2P was just pointing out there is not an Ombudsman who deals with complaints about the police. However if you mean if it is not a police matter, there are a lot of Ombudsman roles but probably the Parliamentary and Health Service would be the closest. Still don't think you would get anywhere, but best of luck anyway and do report back any replies you get, as they can often be worth the time in making a complaint just for the hilarity factor!

[DevonYellow]

Some interesting statistics:

Banning orders as at 20th September 2013: Exeter 23, Torquay 17, Plymouth 16.

Arrests 2012/13: Exeter 6, Plymouth 5, Torquay 1.

Something doesn't add up.

[brucie]

Gullinwotplaces has an excellent point. Its about time someone stood up to be counted. My first port of call would be the Chief Constable.
The S.A.G is made up of a number of representatives ie fire/police/marine/council.
Quite clearly the main parties with regard to our local clubs would be the police and each respective council.
The obvious common denominator is therefore the Devon and Cornwall Constabulary. It therefore must be a police matter.
Policing on a bank holiday will be operated on a skeleton staff. Whilst you would probably parade a shift of four or five officers in a town the size of Bideford you would most likely have one officer on duty on a bank holiday.
Pro rata this would be the same across each town/city in Devon and Cornwall.
This obviously calls into question the police's capacity to respond to disorder at a derby match. Quite clearly it would take longer for police officers to arrive at a ground on a bank holiday as the staff would have to be drawn from further afield than it would on a normal saturday.
Given therefore that a game against Torquay v Newport on a normal saturday is made all ticket, yet a game against Exeter away played on a bank holiday is not subject to any restrictions, then you have to say that someone clearly isn't doing their job properly.

[standupsitdown]

I'm not agreeing that it should have been all ticket but I suspect that the police wanted the Newport game to be all ticket because some of their fans have caused trouble at other away games and they wanted to make sure that they were all in the right part of the ground and limited in numbers.
I wouldn't expect Exeter v Torquay to be all ticket unless it was a crucial game where attendance of either set of fans is likely to exceed capacity of their parts of the ground.

[brucie]

But quite clearly the reverse fixture (at home to Exeter) wasn't all ticket. That was on a quieter day than Bank Holiday Monday.
There could quite easily be more riding on the game etc etc.
The debate isn't really about whether the Bank Holiday game should be all ticket - its more to do with the authorities imposing the restriuctions on our club whilst not applying the same criteria to Exeter or Plymouth home games.
If the match against Newport was all ticket because of the potential for disorder from the away fans then why wasn't the same restriction applied when they played Exeter away.
There isn't really an argument. Its a ridiculous situation - there is clearly no more likelyhood for disorder at a Torquay home game than there is at a Plymouth or Exeter home fixture.
What about the problems that were caused at Plymouth when Exeter visited there on a week night not too long ago? - has that resulted in Plymouth derbies being made all ticket ever since.
No - its only Torquay where you cannot obtain entry on the day of the match - and we get the lowest crowds out of the three Devon teams - its farcical.

[gullintwoplaces]

But quite clearly the reverse fixture (at home to Exeter) wasn't all ticket. That was on a quieter day than Bank Holiday Monday.
There could quite easily be more riding on the game etc etc.
The debate isn't really about whether the Bank Holiday game should be all ticket - its more to do with the authorities imposing the restriuctions on our club whilst not applying the same criteria to Exeter or Plymouth home games.
If the match against Newport was all ticket because of the potential for disorder from the away fans then why wasn't the same restriction applied when they played Exeter away.
There isn't really an argument. Its a ridiculous situation - there is clearly no more likelyhood for disorder at a Torquay home game than there is at a Plymouth or Exeter home fixture.
What about the problems that were caused at Plymouth when Exeter visited there on a week night not too long ago? - has that resulted in Plymouth derbies being made all ticket ever since.
No - its only Torquay where you cannot obtain entry on the day of the match - and we get the lowest crowds out of the three Devon teams - its farcical.

Completely agree. The police leaders in Torbay and Torbay Council are being extremely unfair to the club. I hope that any fans who know the parties involved will tell them what they think. Disgraceful abuse of power, from a police force that seems incapable of preventing real crime in Torbay and a Council that couldn't manage a piss up in a brewery.