Rugby league crowd violence increasing?

[weloveyouwakefield2]

https://inews.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/rugby-league-crowd-trouble-super-league-championship-anti-social-behaviour-fights-flares-1565413#l1rsggxwjd4xyw9v41

[David Shepherd]

The great myth of Rugby League is that it's a "family game".

Crowd trouble is nothing new, we just hear about it more now.

 

[GUBRATS]

9 minutes ago, David Shepherd said:

The great myth of Rugby League is that it's a "family game".

Crowd trouble is nothing new, we just hear about it more now.

 

I'd disagree Dave , overall it's fine , on certain occasions , clubs and the sports management need to take precautions , other than that is pretty good IMO

[redjonn]

well generally Ok but their are pockets of anti social behaviour at nearly every game is our experience.  

[Sir Kevin Sinfield]

21 minutes ago, David Shepherd said:

The great myth of Rugby League is that it's a "family game".

Crowd trouble is nothing new, we just hear about it more now.

 

It’s certainly more family friendly than football, but that’s not saying much 

[Jughead]

I don’t believe it’s just a problem that’s existed in the past year, it’s definitely been growing over the years. 

[redjonn]

4 minutes ago, Jughead said:

I don’t believe it’s just a problem that’s existed in the past year, it’s definitely been growing over the years. 

Don't know about growing but its always been their over the years, all-be-it in pockets considering we like to think its a family friendly.  We tend to ignore it as its in pockets or isolated incidents at a game. Ignoring helps it grow.

To add - Most clubs have a reporting function via text at the ground, but I guess we don't use it enough to help.

[Liverpool Rover]

I don’t think it’s just a sport problem. Society in general seems to be getting more aggressive.

[daz39]

"One official told the i his club needs to better manage potentially inebriated fans before they enter stadiums, while another said: “Rugby League has great tradition of being a family sport and we cannot let a small minority spoil it for the rest of the rugby league fraternity.

“I’ve seen it noted that the rise is being blamed on the Covid period, the restrictions, being at home for weeks on end, etc, and to a certain extent I agree but I also believe we are seeing a number of football fans bringing in this sort of behaviour over and it has no place in rugby league."

 

And there it is, the stock answer to rugby league fans causing trouble - 'it was football fans', NO it wasn't they were rugby league fans at a rugby league game supporting a rugby league team. 

We need to deal with the problem that is becoming a problem head on rather than just excusing it as football fans. 

[Dave T]

18 minutes ago, Liverpool Rover said:

I don’t think it’s just a sport problem. Society in general seems to be getting more aggressive.

I recall reading some stuff on hooliganism and violence at sport where it was linked heavily to problems within society and when times are hard for people anger can manifest itself more at sport events. During hard times in the UK in the 80s there were some real problems with crowd trouble and whilst we clamped down a lot and controlled it, we appear to have relaxed a little and now as life once again has become hard for a lot of people, anger rises and we see sport as an outlet for that. 

RL has a decent proportion of less affluent customers who maybe suffer more from the political climate and I don't see it as a surprise that we are seeing more flash points. 

However, having said all that, I agree with others that we have always had some issues. And as a sport we are at risk of reaping what we have sown. We have always just called ourselves a family game, but not done much to protect that. We allow a lot of drunkenness at our events, using the likes of Rugby AM as official entertainment creates an alpha male yobbish feel to the events, to the point where Magic Weekend is a no-go for me now I go to events with family. 

It has been mentioned about things like numbers to report anti-social behaviour, yet sitting in the 'family-stand' recently at Wire I witnessed yobbish behaviour, with no mention of how to report it, non-existent stewarding and the boy staff around really are those interested in selling beer. 

Clubs and the game need to be very careful right now imho. 

[Dunbar]

26 minutes ago, Liverpool Rover said:

I don’t think it’s just a sport problem. Society in general seems to be getting more aggressive.

What time scale are you referring to here, as over the last 25 years or so there has been a massive decrease in violence in the UK.

[Dave T]

3 minutes ago, Dunbar said:

What time scale are you referring to here, as over the last 25 years or so there has been a massive decrease in violence in the UK.

I know these stats don't give us much context, but they do suggest a rise. 

https://www.statista.com/statistics/288256/violent-crimes-in-england-and-wales/#:~:text=Violent crimes in England and Wales reached more than 1.77,601 thousand violent crime offences.

I suspect there are variations in reporting based on the increases? 

[Dunbar]

1 hour ago, Dave T said:

I know these stats don't give us much context, but they do suggest a rise. 

https://www.statista.com/statistics/288256/violent-crimes-in-england-and-wales/#:~:text=Violent crimes in England and Wales reached more than 1.77,601 thousand violent crime offences.

I suspect there are variations in reporting based on the increases? 

Yes, police recorded crime is an interesting statistic as it relies on the incidences of violence being reported.

Another measure is the Crime Survey for England and Wales which is an interview based survey in which the public were asked about their experiences with crime over the past year - reported or otherwise.

From the year 2002 to 2020 the incidences of violent crime in this survey fell by 51% (-72% from the high point in 1995) and violence with injury fell by 61%.

Crime in England and Wales - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk)

[Tommygilf]

Football has also seen a post lockdown increase in incidents. Given the cultural crossover in our fanbases, it is unsurprising we have seen some of the same issues.

For the likes of drug use, particularly cocaine, this has been a growing issue amongst men in the RL supporting demographic over the past 10 years. Naturally it has received more attention and coverage in Football, but it is unsurprising if pockets are now appearing in RL. In fact, I'd argue its been there for ages (see Hardaker etc as the archetype of this new wave of Cocaine users), but we have been quite lucky that a Rugby League game hasn't been seen as a place to do it (vs the more aggression charged pre-football environment).

Is that changing now? Or is it just the general proclivity of cocaine naturally seeping in?

[RigbyLuger]

Look on social media when a club puts out a statement about smoke bombs/pyrotechnics, the number of morons who say their fun is being spoiled is amazing. Same goes for the people vandalising things with stickers. Are they 6 years old?

[redjonn]

3 hours ago, Tommygilf said:

Football has also seen a post lockdown increase in incidents. Given the cultural crossover in our fanbases, it is unsurprising we have seen some of the same issues.

For the likes of drug use, particularly cocaine, this has been a growing issue amongst men in the RL supporting demographic over the past 10 years. Naturally it has received more attention and coverage in Football, but it is unsurprising if pockets are now appearing in RL. In fact, I'd argue its been there for ages (see Hardaker etc as the archetype of this new wave of Cocaine users), but we have been quite lucky that a Rugby League game hasn't been seen as a place to do it (vs the more aggression charged pre-football environment).

Is that changing now? Or is it just the general proclivity of cocaine naturally seeping in?

never thought about cocaine being a major problem, I would suggest its more alcohol.   The swearing is constant and depending upon what's happening in a game it turns up a level of aggressive behaviour aimed directly at opposing fans that if somebody responds then we would be talking about it more... as it is people try to ignore but it spoils the fun for all around... and I ain't talking about banter...

[gingerjon]

2 minutes ago, redjonn said:

never thought about cocaine being a major problem, I would suggest its more alcohol.   The swearing is constant and depending upon what's happening in a game it turns up a level of aggressive behaviour aimed directly at opposing fans that if somebody responds then we would be talking about it more... as it is people try to ignore but it spoils the fun for all around... and I ain't talking about banter...

I think the data shows that it's around 1-3% of attendees who take cocaine on football match days (this is from this season). They then make up a significant chunk of the more aggressive spectators. There is always the issue with drink and, of course, those who will be on both.

[redjonn]

1 minute ago, gingerjon said:

I think the data shows that it's around 1-3% of attendees who take cocaine on football match days (this is from this season). They then make up a significant chunk of the more aggressive spectators. There is always the issue with drink and, of course, those who will be on both.

golly gosh and jolly hockey sticks and all that... that is surprising and I have never realised.

I obvious live in a different world.

[Phil]

I think there’s been a dark, violent undercurrent to the game for many years now. It’s hard to comment without mentioning individual clubs who’s fans will then jump into this thread with a load of whataboutery 

There’s some clubs I won’t go to. Many years ago, I remember the fans of a club who lost in a semifinal running into the pitch to attack the fans of the winners.

A fan of one club received life changing injuries after being attacked at the end of a game at magic weekend a few years ago, I’ve been told the police know who the perpetrators are, but in the absence of  any statements can take no action.

We’re not squeaky clean by any stretch of the imagination 

[ATLANTISMAN]

My wife said to me today what I like about the Dragons is no-one swears i said to her that do but its in French:) 

 

P 

[Cardypaul]

I think the problems in RL at the moment are just an indication of the problems in wider society, do I have any evidence? Not really just what I see and hear out and about, I know one hospital which now has permanent security because of all the trouble, in fact it’s a joke that it’s a good day if there are more ambulances than police cars. 
Question is what’s the answer but I think a large part of it lays outside of the game.

[fighting irish]

1 hour ago, Phil said:

I think there’s been a dark, violent undercurrent to the game for many years now. It’s hard to comment without mentioning individual clubs who’s fans will then jump into this thread with a load of whataboutery 

There’s some clubs I won’t go to. Many years ago, I remember the fans of a club who lost in a semifinal running into the pitch to attack the fans of the winners.

A fan of one club received life changing injuries after being attacked at the end of a game at magic weekend a few years ago, I’ve been told the police know who the perpetrators are, but in the absence of  any statements can take no action.

We’re not squeaky clean by any stretch of the imagination 

And here we all are, wondering why our games are not awash with new (young, well-to-do) spectators.

I took a friend (new to RL) to the Summer Bash a few years ago and whilst he thought the game was spectacular, he felt uncomfortable amongst the chanting swearing (drunken) fans.

After the game he told me he'd never go again!

This is a scourge which needs to be eliminated as soon as possible.

Pretending its not a problem, or that the perpetrators are not true RL fans but football hooligans, or claiming that it's  infrequent (so nothing to worry about) or even more injurious, making light of the fear this kind of behaviour  induces in the mild mannered general population, will kill our game, stone dead.

Everyone with the games best interests at heart should do whatever they can to report this dreadful anti-social behavior and ensure these people are ostracised and banned from our club terraces and thereby prevented from destroying the true fans enjoyment, terrifying any new would-be fans and dragging our great game towards bankruptcy.

[Phil W]

We're lucky at Thunder we don't seem to have much if any bother.

Our community department do a lot of work with schools and local clubs getting kids to games. As do a lot of other clubs, I'd hate it to get to a point at Thunder or anywhere else where schools felt they couldn't attend matches because of crowd problems.

I guess the best thing the majority can do is report things to stewards if there's an issue at a ground.

[daz39]

9 minutes ago, Phil W said:

We're lucky at Thunder we don't seem to have much if any bother.

Our community department do a lot of work with schools and local clubs getting kids to games. As do a lot of other clubs, I'd hate it to get to a point at Thunder or anywhere else where schools felt they couldn't attend matches because of crowd problems.

I guess the best thing the majority can do is report things to stewards if there's an issue at a ground.

Same with us at Huddersfield, we don't really have any trouble but i'm sure we have individuals who would be that way inclined given a chance, most of ours are just moaning gets thankfully.

[Josef K]

2 hours ago, gingerjon said:

I think the data shows that it's around 1-3% of attendees who take cocaine on football match days (this is from this season). They then make up a significant chunk of the more aggressive spectators. There is always the issue with drink and, of course, those who will be on both.

I have never taken any recreational drugs, but if you take coke before/during a game are you going to remember anything about the match. I always think it’s the same with those who go to a game who are absolutely plastered even before KO. What is the point in going the match ?.