Have pitch invasions gone too far?

[Tommy]

There seems to be one for any occasion these days. 

[Stan]

Yes. 

Just said in PL forum that it worries me it'll eventually lead to something much more sinister and dangerous. What happened to Billy Sharp was seriously bad enough. I worry you'll get some absolute cunt fully coked up or drugged up who has a knife on them and decides to use it. 

Too many fans go to football looking for a fight these days, and not actually give a shit about the football itself. 

Security just needs enhancing, both getting into stadiums and stopping fans getting onto the pitch. 

[Toinho]

Definitely. No idea why they do it. Bunch of idiots as far as I am concerned. Is it a big thing outside of Britain? I mostly see British club fans doing it.

[Spike]

[Spike]

30 minutes ago, Toinho said:

Definitely. No idea why they do it. Bunch of idiots as far as I am concerned. Is it a big thing outside of Britain? I mostly see British club fans doing it.

I guess you wouldn’t have seen it but there was a bronze beast that streaked during the State of Origin a while back, check out the vids, guy looks like a tanning bed victim

 

[Spike]

 

[Toinho]

2 minutes ago, Spike said:

I guess you wouldn’t have seen it but there was a bronze beast that streaked during the State of Origin a while back, check out the vids, guy looks like a tanning bed victim

 

Yeah, I think we are talking more like the madness of the Everton invasion last night, all because they are staying up. Madness, imagine that being your celebration - just down the road your rivals are almost going to win the EPL and CL lol.

[RandoEFC+]

4 hours ago, Toinho said:

Yeah, I think we are talking more like the madness of the Everton invasion last night, all because they are staying up. Madness, imagine that being your celebration - just down the road your rivals are almost going to win the EPL and CL lol.

More like imagine your celebrations of anything being based upon what your rivals have achieved in a season. Good grief. There was an existential threat to our football club posed by relegation this season but Everton have just seen their team come from 2-0 down to see it off. I thought beforehand that talk of a pitch invasion for seeing off relegation was a bit tinpot but in the circumstances... I'm sorry, who gives a fuck about Liverpool? It's called supporting a football team.

[RandoEFC+]

The Billy Sharp thing was bad but that's one guy out of thousands that have run onto a pitch at the end of a season. Is it technically a bad idea that needs sorting? Yes. Have we seen enough actual incidents to start wetting our knickers over it? No.

I don't really know why at Goodison the visiting teams are still getting changed and coming from a separate tunnel in the opposite corner but if they weren't, the Vieira thing would have been no drama either.

You always get the fun police out in force when they get the chance though. There's such little actual pure, raw emotion left in football nowadays. Fans want to run onto the pitch and celebrate with their team then who cares? Don't be a grass about it.

[Toinho]

42 minutes ago, RandoEFC said:

More like imagine your celebrations of anything being based upon what your rivals have achieved in a season. Good grief. There was an existential threat to our football club posed by relegation this season but Everton have just seen their team come from 2-0 down to see it off. I thought beforehand that talk of a pitch invasion for seeing off relegation was a bit tinpot but in the circumstances... I'm sorry, who gives a fuck about Liverpool? It's called supporting a football team.

It is just disrespectful to enter the field of play, IMO. And completely unsafe. Even if it was for opposite examples. 

Passion and relief is of course unreal and why we love the sport, I truly believe no other sport causes such an emotional reaction like football.
In this case though, I guess you can't take your blinkers off. Which is fair enough, your team have just achieved their greatest achievement in years.

[Toinho]

38 minutes ago, RandoEFC said:

The Billy Sharp thing was bad but that's one guy out of thousands that have run onto a pitch at the end of a season. Is it technically a bad idea that needs sorting? Yes. Have we seen enough actual incidents to start wetting our knickers over it? No.

 

I'll let you think about that for a little while, then you'll realise how ridiculous that sounds.

[RandoEFC+]

17 minutes ago, Toinho said:

I'll let you think about that for a little while, then you'll realise how ridiculous that sounds.

That's your opinion.

My parents were at Goodison Park in the 90s when Gareth Farrelly's goal kept Everton up on the last day. My Mum loves telling stories repeatedly so I've heard a thousand times how the officials started legging it off the pitch before even blowing the final whistle because they knew the fans were about to storm the pitch. This isn't new.

You're not stopping thousands of fans from making it onto the pitch if that's what they've decided. And as a spectator, who doesn't love a pitch invasion?

I don't condone what our fans did trying to wind up Vieira on the pitch after the game but the solution is for the opposition and officials to get off the pitch if they don't want to get caught up in it.

There are so many bigger problems in life and in football. Pitch invasions have been happening for decades and how many people have actually been hurt? That Billy Sharp thing was the worst thing I've seen in my life and he's fine, and they managed to throw the cunt in jail. Now we're supposed to imagine worst case scenarios that haven't happened as a reason for losing our shit over it.

Next we'll be telling fans they're not allowed to celebrate goals anymore because some bloke's glasses got broken after his team scored a last minute winner. Yawn.

[RandoEFC+]

 

 

 

Imagine seeing this and thinking it's a problem because one bellend waved his phone in Vieira's face.

Football is for fun. Don't be melts over it.

[Stan]

13 minutes ago, RandoEFC said:

Imagine seeing this and thinking it's a problem because one bellend waved his phone in Vieira's face.

Football is for fun. Don't be melts over it.

I think you're missing the point of concern though - player safety. Sharp gets knocked out from a vicious headbutt and you're ignoring that that happened. 

I get you're caught up in the euphoria of last night and I don't downplay that in itself, but you also can't ignore the dangers of how bad this week has been when fans have just gone berserk for the wrong reasons. 

[RandoEFC+]

23 minutes ago, Stan said:

I think you're missing the point of concern though - player safety. Sharp gets knocked out from a vicious headbutt and you're ignoring that that happened. 

I get you're caught up in the euphoria of last night and I don't downplay that in itself, but you also can't ignore the dangers of how bad this week has been when fans have just gone berserk for the wrong reasons. 

I'm not ignoring that that happened, in fact I've literally mentioned it in an earlier post, but it's one incident, there was no lasting harm done and they've put that bloke in jail. In the grand scheme of things, is it that big of an incident?

Before, like I said, wetting our knickers because of one dickhead out of tens of thousands who have run onto a football pitch to have a party, I'd like to hear what the suggested solution is. Are we going to start increasing the number of stewards by ten times to stop fans running onto the pitch? Or are we going to go all Eastern Europe and put massive fences up between the stands and the pitch? All because one Brexity lunatic headbutted someone? Because these are the measures you'd need to take to actually do something about it and for me, it simply isn't a proportional response.

Thousands of Everton, Forest and Swindon fans will remember those scenes for the rest of their lives from this week. Even before you get to the logistics, I'm just not having this pearl clutching over one incident taking that away from football fans of the future.

[Stan]

6 minutes ago, RandoEFC said:

I'm not ignoring that that happened, in fact I've literally mentioned it in an earlier post, but it's one incident, there was no lasting harm done and they've put that bloke in jail. In the grand scheme of things, is it that big of an incident?

Before, like I said, wetting our knickers because of one dickhead out of tens of thousands who have run onto a football pitch to have a party, I'd like to hear what the suggested solution is. Are we going to start increasing the number of stewards by ten times to stop fans running onto the pitch? Or are we going to go all Eastern Europe and put massive fences up between the stands and the pitch? All because one Brexity lunatic headbutted someone? Because these are the measures you'd need to take to actually do something about it and for me, it simply isn't a proportional response.

Thousands of Everton, Forest and Swindon fans will remember those scenes for the rest of their lives from this week. Even before you get to the logistics, I'm just not having this pearl clutching over one incident taking that away from football fans of the future.

Of course its the minority. I don't disagree that thousands and thousands of fans will enjoy and embrace those moments. 

But yes, a player getting headbutted unprovoked IS a big incident. I don't think it can be downplayed as much as you are. 

I guess my concern is now the potential of what could happen before something even worse than what already has happened occurs. You've had players and a manager assaulted and goaded within the space of a week. 

My question is - if nothing is done now, what will happen next? 

Yeah Billy Sharp was fine but its not totally inconceivable he could have had much worse damage to his face. He's very fortunate only stitches were required. 

Security does need to improve at games. It's shocking in general. Stewarding or policing should increase - I'm well aware resources are low though so it probably won't happen. 

I'm not so sure on the fence/barrier thing. I imagine it's being considered. 

The other alternative which will hit the fans and club in equal measure is reduced capacity or closing stands. 

[RandoEFC+]

1 minute ago, Stan said:

My question is - if nothing is done now, what will happen next? 

But this is why I mentioned the example earlier from the 90s. Pitch invasions aren't new. People probably asked this question 25 years ago and while I'm not downplaying the Billy Sharp incident intentionally, if that happening one time is the worst thing in the last 25 years from a pitch invasion, I just don't think it's worth losing our shit over.

[nudge+]

I love a happy mass pitch invasion. Yes, it can be a safety concern as thousands of overwhelmed, adrenaline pumped people rushing to the same place at the same time is always going to carry a risk of injuries, but it's also absolutely beautiful to see the fans, players, coaching staff and club officials celebrating together in excitement. Emotions make this sport what it is, and ecstatic mass celebrations on the pitch after an important event like a title win, promotion, or avoiding relegation is part and parcel of it, in my opinion. It brings people together; wouldn't want it any other way. 

[Stan]

7 minutes ago, nudge said:

I love a happy mass pitch invasion. Yes, it can be a safety concern as thousands of overwhelmed, adrenaline pumped people rushing to the same place at the same time is always going to carry a risk of injuries, but it's also absolutely beautiful to see the fans, players, coaching staff and club officials celebrating together in excitement. Emotions make this sport what it is, and ecstatic mass celebrations on the pitch after an important event like a title win, promotion, or avoiding relegation is part and parcel of it, in my opinion. It brings people together; wouldn't want it any other way. 

I absolutely love all the emotion of it too - the mass euphoria in football at a time of pure relief is something that can rarely be matched in life.

Difficult because I don't want that taken away but I also don't want the safety of players/managers from any club be jeopardised. 

 

[RandoEFC+]

3 hours ago, Toinho said:

Which is fair enough, your team have just achieved their greatest achievement in years.

Missed this initially . I would have a dig back but I genuinely don't even know who you actually support so you'll have to do without.

[Danny]

One of my favourite memories was invading the pitch after we beat Swindon Town in the League 1 Play Off Semi Final. A great memory to look back on at Griffin Park…people are on their way to having these privileges removed

[Azeem]

Yes don't mind pitch invasions at the end of historic matches. Since the possible outcomes of such important matches are known players should be told beforehand to immediately run towards the dug out if pitch is invaded and security to form a circle around them. 

Might not be as easy as I'm saying but a bit of planning can avoid any mishaps that come with it

[nudge+]

14 minutes ago, Stan said:

I absolutely love all the emotion of it too - the mass euphoria in football at a time of pure relief is something that can rarely be matched in life.

Difficult because I don't want that taken away but I also don't want the safety of players/managers from any club be jeopardised. 

I do understand that it is a safety concern, but there are ways to minimize the risk (more security personnel for season deciding matches, establishing safety perimeter for the team, working closely with fan groups to coordinate crowd safety, etc), so maybe work on that? Straightout banning and prohibiting things because something bad might happen is just incredibly sad, imo. Personally, closeness to the fans is an extremely important part of any sport to me, and it has been disappearing with the ongoing commercialisation, sadly, as it all becomes a bit too sterile for my liking. 

[Stan]

1 minute ago, nudge said:

I do understand that it is a safety concern, but there are ways to minimize the risk (more security personnel for season deciding matches, establishing safety perimeter for the team, working closely with fan groups to coordinate crowd safety, etc), so maybe work on that? Straightout banning and prohibiting things because something bad might happen is just incredibly sad, imo. Personally, closeness to the fans is an extremely important part of any sport to me, and it has been disappearing with the ongoing commercialisation, sadly, as it all becomes a bit too sterile for my liking. 

Agree with that - I hope there are ways or strategies to co-ordinate together from club to fan groups and vice-versa.

I'd rather have solutions trialled as opposed to banning it outright. I feel like the latter will happen before the former based on events of the last few days. 

[Claret and Blue]

You get into a managers face like that fucking plank last night or any man's face for that matter giving it the big one expect them to react. Viera to me did the right thing. Shame he didn't volley him back into his seat. 

 

Pitch invasions okay by me if you don't act like a knob.