Halifax Fan

[darrenk]

Just been informed that it has been on the radio this afternoon (either Real Radio or Radio Manchester) that a Halifax fan had to have brain surgery last night after the game, according the story he was attacked on Dallam Lane whilst travelling back to his coach. Police are appealing for witnesses to come forward and there was a lot of people around that area at the time ?

[THE RED ROOSTER]

Confirmed

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-11418232

Disgrace - Anyone who saw this contact the Police.

[RLDave]

This is an absolute disgrace. I hope the culprits are caught pronto and dealt with strongly. I know alot of people seem to expect this from a football crowd and not from a Rugby League game but it's disgusting in any sport.

I agree with what Stevo was saying (I think it was on boots n all) about fans stepping in and putting a stop to it themselves. If you see someone acting up then step in and say something. We can't let a huge police presence like last nights become a regular sight at League games.

When watching the game back this afternoon I heard the Sky presenters saying the Fev fans thought Fax fans were invading the pitch when we were told to evacuate and that is why they had tried to get on the field to get at the fax fans. But the message was clearly given out over the speaker system at the HJ for our stand to make our way onto the field, so they knew full well what was going on. Ridiculous anyway, but especially when there was so many children present. It's said alot, but we don't want them picking this kind of behaviour up.

[Jill Halfpenny fan]

Dreadful news.

[terrywebbisgod]

This is an absolute disgrace. I hope the culprits are caught pronto and dealt with strongly. I know alot of people seem to expect this from a football crowd and not from a Rugby League game but it's disgusting in any sport.

I agree with what Stevo was saying (I think it was on boots n all) about fans stepping in and putting a stop to it themselves. If you see someone acting up then step in and say something. We can't let a huge police presence like last nights become a regular sight at League games.

When watching the game back this afternoon I heard the Sky presenters saying the Fev fans thought Fax fans were invading the pitch when we were told to evacuate and that is why they had tried to get on the field to get at the fax fans. But the message was clearly given out over the speaker system at the HJ for our stand to make our way onto the field, so they knew full well what was going on. Ridiculous anyway, but especially when there was so many children present. It's said alot, but we don't want them picking this kind of behaviour up.

Talking to two Fev fans at work today who said that in the stand they were in you couldn't hear the P.A system clearly and that thought that the Fax fans were invading the pitch.

[RLDave]

Talking to two Fev fans at work today who said that in the stand they were in you couldn't hear the P.A system clearly and that thought that the Fax fans were invading the pitch.

Well fair enough, but still not the best way to respond.

[terrywebbisgod]

Well fair enough, but still not the best way to respond.

True but is still isn't clear what happened to the Halifax fan, on one of the Halifax sites it mentioned something about a prank that had gone wrong and no Fev fans were involved,maybe it's best not to carry this on until all the facts are known.

[RLDave]

True but is still isn't clear what happened to the Halifax fan, on one of the Halifax sites it mentioned something about a prank that had gone wrong and no Fev fans were involved,maybe it's best not to carry this on until all the facts are known.

I suppose you're right (again lol). The internet does seem to distort things sometimes. When I woke up this morning it was a fev fan in hospital, then it came out it was actually a Fax fan.

[Matt J]

This is an absolute disgrace. I hope the culprits are caught pronto and dealt with strongly. I know alot of people seem to expect this from a football crowd and not from a Rugby League game but it's disgusting in any sport.

I agree with what Stevo was saying (I think it was on boots n all) about fans stepping in and putting a stop to it themselves. If you see someone acting up then step in and say something. We can't let a huge police presence like last nights become a regular sight at League games.

When watching the game back this afternoon I heard the Sky presenters saying the Fev fans thought Fax fans were invading the pitch when we were told to evacuate and that is why they had tried to get on the field to get at the fax fans. But the message was clearly given out over the speaker system at the HJ for our stand to make our way onto the field, so they knew full well what was going on. Ridiculous anyway, but especially when there was so many children present. It's said alot, but we don't want them picking this kind of behaviour up.

In our stand, we had no idea what was happening, we saw your lot running onto the pitch, but the announcement was just in your stand, so it looked like a riot was about to happen, Featherstone fans thought they'd been issued a challenge, especially with the way it emptied and your crowd angled towards us.

I've heard the same about it being a prank, I've heard beaten up, but the RL World has already decided Featherstone are guilty, if he was beaten up, then we all need justice.

[Trojan]

Talking to two Fev fans at work today who said that in the stand they were in you couldn't hear the P.A system clearly and that thought that the Fax fans were invading the pitch.

You couldn't hear the PA system. You couldn't hear throughout the entire match. The Halifax fans came on just after Fev had scored, and whether they like it or not those facing the south stand were making threatening gestures.

[Keith T]

The tannoy system was pathetic all day to be honest. At one time during the emergency there was 3 messages going out at the same time. One sounded like an automatic message then there was another and also the fella on the pitch with his roving mic.

Even when they were announcing the teams via the roving mic it was hard to make out names etc, because a) he was holding the mioc too close to his mouth and b ) there always seemed to be background music to the message. The only really clear message was the warning that the stadium was no smoking and smoking was not allowed in any part of the stadium!!!!

Edited September 27, 2010 by Keith T

[1976PMJwires]

Very surprised about the PA system comments

i have attended many sell out games @ HJ and never had issues.

Infact beginning of the season game with Wigan, they were singing for most of the match and you could clearly hear the PA system........ selective Yorkshire hearing or not so clever

so if the comments are true, Warrington will lose the finals going forward.... Peoples health and safety is the important factor here.

[Bomb Jack]

IF Widnes are in SL 2012, i expect the Stobart will replace the HJ as the venue for the Grand Finals day.

Hope the lad in this topic makes a full recovery.

[Les Tonks Sidestep]

The tannoy system was pathetic all day to be honest. At one time during the emergency there was 3 messages going out at the same time. One sounded like an automatic message then there was another and also the fella on the pitch with his roving mic.....

Yes the automatic message was telling EVERYONE to evacuate the stadium but was so quiet that had it actually have been necessary to do so I hate to think what the consequences may have been.

[Dave T]

Very surprised about the PA system comments

i have attended many sell out games @ HJ and never had issues.

Infact beginning of the season game with Wigan, they were singing for most of the match and you could clearly hear the PA system........ selective Yorkshire hearing or not so clever

so if the comments are true, Warrington will lose the finals going forward.... Peoples health and safety is the important factor here.

TBH, there are some issues depending on where you stand, but that tends to be the case at most grounds. Wembley was the worst I have been to for a good while, although I expect an emergency announcement to be clearer.

[l'angelo mysterioso]

In our stand, we had no idea what was happening, we saw your lot running onto the pitch, but the announcement was just in your stand, so it looked like a riot was about to happen, Featherstone fans thought they'd been issued a challenge, especially with the way it emptied and your crowd angled towards us.

I've heard the same about it being a prank, I've heard beaten up, but the RL World has already decided Featherstone are guilty, if he was beaten up, then we all need justice.

good call, although for what it's worth I was in the North Stand and heard the announcements

and just exactly where does this pathetic 'your fans are worse than our fans' get anybody. Outside the ground before the game I sawe behaviour by fans of bot clubs that made me ashamed, including onme of the supportrs of our club being arrestd after he'd beaten up a passer by.

Your eloquent last sentence is the key Matt. Also most of the fan of both clubs were innocent, and for fans of one club to label and name call the fans of the other is counterproductive and a bit pathetic. A large part of the answer to this issue in general lies in our own hands. We don't have to put up with it and that starts with not putting up with it from our own fans.

[ckn]

Two posts deleted and one member given a 24 hour ban. We're really getting sick of people jumping in and abusing other fans, clubs and posters. This is the seventh thread on the Championship Final that we've had to moderate in, we're way beyond the point of being tolerant on people posting abuse on these threads.

Please re-read the General Forum Rules, specifically:

No disruptive, offensive or abusive behaviour. Contributions must be constructive and polite, not mean-spirited or contributed with the intention of causing trouble.

[Dave T]

good call, although for what it's worth I was in the North Stand and heard the announcements

and just exactly where does this pathetic 'your fans are worse than our fans' get anybody. Outside the ground before the game I sawe behaviour by fans of bot clubs that made me ashamed, including onme of the supportrs of our club being arrestd after he'd beaten up a passer by.

Your eloquent last sentence is the key Matt. Also most of the fan of both clubs were innocent, and for fans of one club to label and name call the fans of the other is counterproductive and a bit pathetic. A large part of the answer to this issue in general lies in our own hands. We don't have to put up with it and that starts with not putting up with it from our own fans.

Excellent post.

I would expect that the posters on these boards are a good bunch and wouldn't get involved in unsavoury incidents at RL, so by labelling sets of fans as things like ####, it is only having a go at the wrong people, and it can cause plenty of bad blood on here, which isn't what we want.

Ultimately, whoever these idiots support, they should be stopped from entering matches, and whilst there is criticism of the policing on some boards, I would rather they were heavy handed with those that deserved it, whereas too often in the past the stewards and police have been too soft on these people who ruin other people's enjoyment.

Going back to Wembley (not dragging up who they supported) but it was quite satisfying in a strange way to hear thousands of fans booing the handful of idiots who were fighting during the game. We absolutely shouldn't accept the decline in standards of behaviour that has been evident at many grounds over the past couple of years. I feel we have taken the 'best behaved fans' thing too far and become too relaxed in managing it.

[Terry Mullaney]

It's been said before and I agree that the kick off time needs looking at. I know it's difficult with three games being staged but an evening start for the big match gives these lunatics all the time they need to get plastered. I can't remember the last time I saw trouble at a Rovers game and I attend the vast majority of them so it would seem that the big occasion attracts the undesirables who sadly get a kick out of spoiling for trouble through too much booze.

As for the tannoy, I was in the North stand and could hear everything quite clearly. However we were very confused as a repeated recorded evacuation message was instructing all fans to leave the site through the nearest exit. But yet the live announcements were informing us that the west stand only was being evacuated. That wasn't very good at all as we didn't know whether we should stay or leave. Not ideal in an emergency situation.

I hope the young man from Halifax makes full recovery and the perpetrator, if there is one, is dealt with accordingly. It was a great occasion despite the sickening way we gave the game away, and we don't need such idiots spoiling any more of them.

[Dave T]

It's been said before and I agree that the kick off time needs looking at. I know it's difficult with three games being staged but an evening start for the big match gives these lunatics all the time they need to get plastered. I can't remember the last time I saw trouble at a Rovers game and I attend the vast majority of them so it would seem that the big occasion attracts the undesirables who sadly get a kick out of spoiling for trouble through too much booze.

I'm a bit split on that, as tbh, there were plenty of drunken idiots at Wembley for a 2.30pm kick off!

[Trojan]

I'm a bit split on that, as tbh, there were plenty of drunken idiots at Wembley for a 2.30pm kick off!

TBH I like a drink as much as the next bloke. But I don't often drink before I watch Rugby - although I have been known to imbibe in the Moon Under Water before the GF just to be sociable with other forum members. But normally I don't drink before I watch Rugby because if I've had a drink I've a job sorting out what's going on on the field and it spoils the game for me.

I saw plenty of fans of both clubs the worse for wear en route to the ground. After the pitch invasion and the threat of confrontation I'd have thought the prudent thing to do would have been to close the bars, but there was still plenty of ale available.

Many people on here will take the line of least resistance and blame Fev but I was at Headingley three years ago and watched Fev beat Oldham, and then Cas beat Widnes. Fev and Cas fans in the same ground with drink available sounds like a recipe for trouble - but I never saw any. So what was different this time? Perhaps it was the inaudible PA system? Or contradictary announcments. All I know is that when the 'Fax came onto the pitch, no one in the South stand knew why they were coming onto the pitch and assumed they wanted either to get the game stopped because 'Fax were losing, or they wanted to cause trouble.

[Dave T]

TBH I like a drink as much as the next bloke. But I don't often drink before I watch Rugby - although I have been known to imbibe in the Moon Under Water before the GF just to be sociable with other forum members. But normally I don't drink before I watch Rugby because if I've had a drink I've a job sorting out what's going on on the field and it spoils the game for me.

I saw plenty of fans of both clubs the worse for wear en route to the ground. After the pitch invasion and the threat of confrontation I'd have thought the prudent thing to do would have been to close the bars, but there was still plenty of ale available.

Many people on here will take the line of least resistance and blame Fev but I was at Headingley three years ago and watched Fev beat Oldham, and then Cas beat Widnes. Fev and Cas fans in the same ground with drink available sounds like a recipe for trouble - but I never saw any. So what was different this time? Perhaps it was the inaudible PA system? Or contradictary announcments. All I know is that when the 'Fax came onto the pitch, no one in the South stand knew why they were coming onto the pitch and assumed they wanted either to get the game stopped because 'Fax were losing, or they wanted to cause trouble.

Ofetn I just don't think it can be explained. I touched on this a few weeks back (possibly after Wembley) that this isn't organised hooliganism from any club, it is a number of individuals who can't handle their drink. All clubs have them, and it could simply be a mix of a few factors all lining up, whether that is a late kick off, cheap beer in pubs round the ground, gloating victorious fans, sore losers, local rivalries etc.

I think this is why it is potentially a difficult issue to sort. Organised hooliganism is possibly easier in that there are tactics to handle it, however with sporadic idiots, it becomes difficult, as it can catch people out.

I think I mentioned it earlier in this thread, I would like to see stewards and police being much stronger in terms of not letting drunk people into grounds and moving them from the surrounding areas. A stronger presence in the ground is also a must.

The move to summer has made it much more pleasant to go out early with family and friends, grab some lunch, a couple of beers and then go into the match. The vast majority handle this fine, a few let us and the game down.

[peterworth]

As for the tannoy, I was in the North stand and could hear everything quite clearly. However we were very confused as a repeated recorded evacuation message was instructing all fans to leave the site through the nearest exit. But yet the live announcements were informing us that the west stand only was being evacuated. That wasn't very good at all as we didn't know whether we should stay or leave. Not ideal in an emergency situation.

We were in the south stand and struggled to make out any of the PA announcements. I noticed that the speakers were the old-fashioned megaphone type, rather than more modern box-type. To be honest, if the fire had been in our stand there would have been total confusion due to the inaudibility of the announcements. This is a potentially serious safety issue for this stadium and should be investigated. The initial feeling in the south stand was that there had been a deliberate pitch invasion to stop the game.

With regard to the Halifax fan, I wish him a speedy recovery and trust that the circumstances surrounding this incident are made clear asap.

[l'angelo mysterioso]

It's been said before and I agree that the kick off time needs looking at. I know it's difficult with three games being staged but an evening start for the big match gives these lunatics all the time they need to get plastered. I can't remember the last time I saw trouble at a Rovers game and I attend the vast majority of them so it would seem that the big occasion attracts the undesirables who sadly get a kick out of spoiling for trouble through too much booze.

As for the tannoy, I was in the North stand and could hear everything quite clearly. However we were very confused as a repeated recorded evacuation message was instructing all fans to leave the site through the nearest exit. But yet the live announcements were informing us that the west stand only was being evacuated. That wasn't very good at all as we didn't know whether we should stay or leave. Not ideal in an emergency situation.

I hope the young man from Halifax makes full recovery and the perpetrator, if there is one, is dealt with accordingly. It was a great occasion despite the sickening way we gave the game away, and we don't need such idiots spoiling any more of them.

my feelings entirely

[tonyXIII]

Why are the emergency messages pre-recorded? Isn't there a bloke with a microphone who could issue an appropriate message live? Pre-recorded messages of a general nature (eg. statements about the club's policy on racism or adverts for upcoming games) are fine, but in an emergency, you can't cover every possible eventuality in advance but a bloke with a microphone can issue appropriate messages at the right time.