Hereford

[Sparky]

Well what a game that was, I honestly thought that this was going to be a stern test but in the end it was’nt. The referee was doing okay but then went card mad for petty infringements. Overall a solid performance from everyone. One big question though, who’s idea was it to let the Hereford fans go out first, absolute madness and an invitation for trouble to kick off. Don’t think there is a ground in the country that lets away fans go out first. That said lo local boys have rarely had to deal with this situation in little old Banbury.

[puritanmk]

This isn't good.

[spiritof86]

Sorry but TVP failed in a big way today , out of their depth

[puritanmk]

Did the TVP send that pensioner to hospital? I won't get more involved in this 'debate' as two wrongs do not make a right. I'd rather the club is known around the league for the best squad and football I have seen in my life. Not the 20 or so edgelords who are living out their Green Street fantasies.

[blackbeltjones]

Police way out of their depth today, clueless at times.

Keeping Banbury fans in at the end, caused of most of the problems - away fans kept in 99% of the time - built up a bottleneck and then started to get heavy handed when people got frustrated.

Riot van blocking access to station exit so fans had to walk near the station...and then it kicks off when they start hitting teenagers and pepper spraying.

Club needs to learn with segration etc. - no bar for away fans and poor facilties - need someone with football/commercial experiance to maximise revenue and understand away fans - majority want a good time with a beer/food.

Excellent result on the pitch.

[spiritof86]

Aug 27, 2022 19:43:47 GMT 1 puritanmk said:

Did the TVP send that pensioner to hospital? I won't get more involved in this 'debate' as two wrongs do not make a right. I'd rather the club is known around the league for the best squad and football I have seen in my life. Not the 20 or so edgelords who are living out their Green Street fantasies.

These things happen but they shouldn’t I agree BUT come on TVP failed miserably in their handling of the game , pepper spraying mainly kids just wanting to go home

[Steve T]

"Banbury just looked a better team all round - hungry, moved it quickly, good pace, solid - everything we weren't!"

"All true, the better team, bar, possibly, the last twenty minutes. Would go as far as saying that Banbury, how I don't know, were as good for an hour as any side I've seen in this division. Too many of our own were off the pace today, and contributed in part, to all of their goals. Which said, 3-1 didn't overly flatter them. I suspect however, that last seasons starting team would have got properly spanked."

"Shouldn't make light of these things, but the sight of Thames Valley plod manfully holding back the local ultras was a scene lifted straight from The Walking Dead."

saveedgarstreetforum.proboards.com/thread/7026/another-defeat

[YYZ]

Fair play to Banbury - by far the better team today and you deserved to win.

The nonsense at half time, and after the game, must be a worry to Puritans though. I managed to scuttle past the after-match stuff outside the ground to get back to the station quickly, but saw the half-time idiocy at first hand. Only a metal gate and fence separating local folk as they entered your clubhouse (I won't call those involved fans - don't know what to call them really - though I accept we all have them...) from the away side of the gate/fence where are positioned the away supporters portaloos. There was one steward on the Hereford side of the fence.

Beer began to be hurled over the fence at the away support queuing for the loos by the lads around the entrance to the clubhouse. Hand-gestures and chanting quickly ensued from both sides, and then a traffic cone was picked up by an individual on the Banbury side of the fence and thrown over the fence onto the Hereford side. This was followed by a bin of some description - I assume one or the other was responsible for the Hereford chap's injury (I have photo of the individual about to hurl the traffic cone). 

And still, just the sole steward trying to keep order (she didn't stand a chance by now). This happened within the confines of your ground, not outside. Police did arrive a few minutes later - I recognised some of them as West Mercia police, I couldn't say whether there was TVP among them - but they were the same officers who had been standing amongst the Hereford support on the terrace at the Sutton (?) end.

Banbury have a good side and I genuinely hope that you do well, but due care and sensible decisions need to be taken by your club when hosting any team with a relatively sizeable following. You can't blame TVP for everything.

All the best for the rest of the season.

[Sparky]

Thanks for the best wishes for the season, this as you know is a first for us at this level so as we have learned today we are now negotiating a steep learning curve,hopefully those behind the scenes take further advice and learn lessons from todays events to mitigate against a recurrence. Sadly the higher teams progress the more the knuckle draggers are attracted,fingers crossed we can nip this early doors.

[frog12345]

Why no buffer zone inside and outside the ground?
The police created a pinch point at the narrowest point on Station Approach. When was the decision to let some Hereford fans out first and who made that decision? If this was a proactive decision why were the home fans allowed out the gates or stopped the 20/30m pinch point, surely that would have made more sense.
Inside the ground why didn't the club allow only those with club membership to enter the area between player's tunnel and Sutton end? Toilets could have been provided behind the town end or elsewhere
As for stewards, the bulk are a waste of time, I only saw one lady interacting with the crowd inside and outside the ground, the rest just looked menacing.
Club officials, where were you? Did any circulate or try and put out any announcements to de-escalate situations?

[Steve T]

Hereford's reputation went before them. On their rise up the leagues after they reformed, it was true that a few of their 'followers' caused trouble at away games but by far the greater problems were caused by locals who came looking for 'action'. Comments on the Hereford forum about yesterday suggest a weary 'seen it all before, we're the good guys now'. There's particular criticism for the police:

It was my first away game of the season and from where I was and what I saw our fans behaved themselves and did us proud. On the other hand many of the Banbury fans reacted to the huge Police presence, that was reminiscent of taking a large sledgehammer to crack a tiny nut and followed the hype and narrative that there would be and had to be trouble because some silly Hancock decided to advertise the game as a threat to public order.

Consequently, throughout the Town before the game, on the way to the game and at the end of it, there just had to be a flare up if only to justify the massive presence of the Police.

I said elsewhere that this game would be a test. The club and the police appear to have failed it.

[Sparky]

The police must have believed the pre match hype and came tooled up in force, all had their batons drawn and carrying riot helmets, yes there were some skirmishes but the police reaction was totally over the top. As has been said the club and the authorities now have to get together and review procedures to ensure we don’t get a repeat for future segregated games and to weed out the local troublemakers. We do not want a bad reputation to develope.

[Steve T]

Statement from the club: www.banburyunitedfc.co.uk/news/banbury-v-hereford-2724045.html

"...the behaviour of a very small minority of supporters yesterday was unacceptable."

Supporters? Hardly...
_____________________________________

Statement from TVP:

"Thames Valley Police worked with Banbury United to deal with disorder before, during and after today's football match between Banbury and Hereford at Spencer Stadium. It was reported that items, including bottles and a traffic cone, were thrown. One person was injured.

"In order to avoid any further disorder, the force decided to keep some Banbury supporters in the ground for approximately 10 minutes after the game to allow the Hereford fans to leave the area.

"One person was arrested for a public order offence."

www.herefordtimes.com/news/20812295.police-make-arrest-banbury-united-v-hereford-game/

[Sparky]

Bit rich to say Banbury supporters were kept in the ground, a large bulk of the town end left the ground then were held at the end of the lane by a police cordon.

[Steve T]

What hasn't been mentioned on here is that Andy Whing did, of course, have a short spell as assistant manager at Hereford. Here's an observation from their forum:

Interesting comparison to be made though. Cast our minds back, Whing given a cheque to disappear and Josh* allegedly given post on big salary. So one has taken a fan-owned club with no major financial backer to a promotion and joint first place in NLN on sub-1,000 gates, the other, if I'm being gracious, has made snail-like progress on top 3 divisional gates but has yet to achieve 2nd place at any point.

[*Gowling, current manager.]

Their loss...