I stand directly in front of Terrace experience and you're that that most sit in the end section of the 'standing area'. I've even seen arguements with non regulars telling folk to sit down coz they can't see.
Printable View
Perhaps your referring to my post, it's weird, I normally sit in the East but got the BTG package for the day. The song they sing is along the lines of
Ole ole oh ah, Erin Go Bragh, up the RA, FTQ, Hibs are a Catholic team.
I know the tune because I hear it nealy every week but can't make it out from my usual seat but it's really clear what they are singing from the FF, especially the guy with the megaphone. It's really disapointing. They got a lot of credit for displays and that but this outweighs any good work they have done if that's the sort of thing they sing. I'm going to report it to the club tomorrow. It's not a good look, especially if you bring guests along to enjoy the day in BTG.
Don't get me wrong, I have been a STH for a long time, I enjoy an atmosphere and don't expect it to be PG but sectarian/bigotry is way across the line.
Always baffled me that there’s a boy who sits and watches the rest of block 7 with his back to the game and not once turns round 🤣
If it’s the guy with the megaphone he never watches the game and wasn’t very happy yesterday because not everyone was doing as he said.
“You’re sitting in the singing section so fu*#*ng sing” was one of his favourite shouts yesterday, I wish he could hear some of the replies to him from the FF upper.
There was noticeable less drum yesterday, still not as good as no drum but a slight improvement anyway, we live in hope that one day they might realise we can’t hear them singing over the drum, there’s just not enough of them to drown it out.
This footage of some high jinx yesterday at Cappielow with Patrick Thistle and Morton “ultras” kind of suggests that the groups are largely made up of young kids, with the average age getting younger. It’s not unique to Hibs.
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1Hi...ibextid=wwXIfr
https://x.com/blocksevenhibs/status/...Ggie80A2m3HH1A
I believe a few ultra groups have put out similar. While I agree largely that get police’s treatment of football fans is brutal, this feels like a burglar complaining that the police get to search his house.
I tend to agree, I wonder what the hibs ultras response will be to this:
“If the police believe that we will quietly accept Section 60 powers becoming the norm, then they are profoundly mistaken”
Wear bullet proof balaclavas, get bigger and thicker drum sticks, learn to shave, stop helping Grannies cross the road ?
No-one I know has ever had any bother from the Police going to a football game, and I've been going for nearly 30 years.
The Police are quite rightly targeting a group who cause trouble.
They also talk about there overwhelming positive influence.
I agree they have some good initiatives in the community, but personally I'm not a fan of the drum and prefer songs starting organically in the crowd. Each to their own on that though, but there point is definitely subjective.
I think the statement says “some aspects of the scene don’t appeal to everyone”, or words to that effect. It’s the criminal bits. The fighting, the graffiti, the unacceptable songs that have been alleged, and then the less criminal but frustrating things like commandeering people’s seats and causing aggro when challenged etc.
If they could join the dots between doing those things and the treatment they get from the police, maybe they stop getting the treatment from the police.
It doesn’t feel like that’s a hard concept to grasp. Yes they do good things, I think they’re generally a welcome addition to the stadium and while the drum isn’t for me, they’re clearly enjoying themselves so good on them.
I’ve said already though that they can’t just point to the positive stuff and dismiss the other stuff as if it’s trivial or just one of those things.
The police aren’t hounding them just because they like a song and a drum beat.
How many times man! Stop wearing balaclavas and smuggling illegal pyro into stadiums. Stop fighting with other ultra groups in the streets and the police will leave you alone!
You literally walk around in the same uniform and behind a banner announcing who you are, of course the police are targeting you!
Maybe if it was written in crayon they would understand.
Maybe the CCS should announce a retrospective statement bemoaning their treatment by the police.
It would make as much sense.
Some of them are barely out of childhood.
They must have made more statements than the paltry numbers they have .
The sooner we get all these groups in the bin the better. Saw on Instagram they were wearing Palestine scarfs at ibrox, majority of them couldn't show you where it is on a map.
There’s some middle ground here. There’s not much wrong with what they say in their statement, football fans do get policed differently. Let’s not shoot the messenger.
Police have a duty to the whole public, not just the 100k or so attending football each week. The other 5.5 million residents of Scotland don’t really want groups of balaclavad up laddies fighting in the streets. I’ve been attending football my whole life and don’t have any issue with the way I’m policed, but then I don’t break the law.
Section 60 powers becoming more common is the result of their own actions. Go to games with no illegal pyro, no balaclava, and don’t fight with other fans and they’ll be just fine, it’s really that simple.
I’m on board with the sentiment, and it’s been happening long before Block Seven were born, but they are overtly criminal in their behaviour - they post videos showing it - that’s why we, as football fans, continue to get the crap treatment from the police.
We all get tagged into it for their antics.
I can’t take a bottle of juice into the stadium because people throw bottles at the football - it’s the fault of those people that I can’t take a bottle of juice in.
I don’t take pyro into the stadium but I get searched because of the people who do.
There’s no doubt that we get a raw deal from the police, it really sticks in my throat that we do, but then I can’t get to a pub I’m going to because fans are fighting outside it on a busy Saturday evening as folk go about their business, or I watch Block Seven physically fighting stewards inside our own stadium (allegedly because they had the audacity to try and stop them doubling up through the turnstiles…) and I know that the crap treatment is going to last a bit longer.
Football fans have suffered heavy handedness for decades too though, this is nothing new, ultras are just an extension of fan radgeness thats been going on for yonks. Yes they are more political in their views/protests but a lot of that is to get recognition on saturated media platforms but as mentioned above half of them are still in their nappies and probably couldnt pick out Palestine if it smacked them in the face.
I attended games early to mid 70s and onwards and on many occasions was at the wrong end of a Police truncheon or a boot in the arse from an over zealous horse. The word “kettled” is also being thrown around a lot like the word has just been invented. Im sure you and many on here have experienced being “kettled” at games, particularly away games where it happened on a regular basis.
One game that stands out around the late 80s I think when a couple of hundred of us got off a train at Berwick for a game and we were met by a very heavy Police presence at the station, we were “kettled” Police horses and dogs, we were frogmarched up the road and if you stepped off the path you were manhandled and shoved back in line. If you were gobby then you were dragged out and most likely spent a night in the clink.
That was unacceptable but it happened and we just got used to it. Off course we had our bams but there were many hibs fans who werent and also suffered by the heavy handedness that was meted out on a regular basis. I also think Police were far more brutal then than what they are like now, its all regs and policies etc but back then rules were bent, double bent and ****ing bent more.
Ive still got the tattoos on my erse cheeks from the many truncheon leatherings I received through the years and to be honest I was gobby but not a trouble maker. I think theres a bit of “snowflake” about these statements but I get the Police thinking too, our ultras are not innocent wee laddies, its been reported and posted many times on here about their **** behaviour at games and a case in point was the recent aggro between the onion bears and the greeting brigade in Glasgow city centre. If the Police want to avoid repeats of that then they have to start nailing these groups.
Support your club, make a noise but act like fannies in public then you pay the price, its not rocket science.
1980 Scottish Cup game. A good few of us battered stupid for no reason by the Geordie Polis that got sent up there for the day. We got let out of the clink about 7.00 so at least we got home. £40 fine for all of us and I even got granted a personal meeting with the Chief Constable of Northumbria Police to complain about the police handling.
Anyway back on track....
Exactly this.
I was at that Berwick game. Plod beingvhard men on overtime was how I recall it.
Had a worse experience at Motherwell around the same time, we arrived earlyish so were in a small band of Hibbies milling about doing nothing. PC Plod's extra thick division set themselves up at intervals down the steps and walked in randomly grabbing a few folk and throwing them out! No offence was even discussed. Most of us were actually just let back in by a steward but one guy asked to see the match commander. He turned out to be a bigger version of the same problem but rather than deal with a complaint he let the guy go and he had to pay in again.
Sent from my SM-A750FN using Tapatalk
I suppose they are looking for an identity.
But it's not much of an identity if they dress and behave exactly like the other ultra groups.
Hoping it's a trend and it'll expire before I do.
There was me thinking this old people moaning about the kids of today thing would never catch on...
I'm sorry but you get treated differently, every time you go to a game. Some examples....
1. You can't take a bottle of juice in with you,
2. Your freedom of movement around the stadium is restricted and sometimes stopped all together.
3. If you have never been refused access to the toilet then, you have never been to ibrox away end.
These are some of the simple examples that we have just accepted and will. Have affected every single one of us without thinking,, ask your mates that go shopping or the cinema on a Saturday how many of them they would consider normal
You must have been lucky. I remember being on a supporters bus, can’t remember which branch, going to Motherwell in the late 80s. Bus stopped off at a pub in Lanarkshire on route. Got our drinks in and the police burst in telling us if we didn’t leave the pub we’d all be detained. No choice but to get back on the bus.
As for Block 7, I admire their passion for the club but a big no to balaclavas. As I’ve said on here before, there should be a designated area for pyro as I believe there is in U.S. football.
Not many folk go throwing stuff at staff, or have running battles in shopping centres though do they?
As Matty said, blame the people who cant act like adults.
Simple fact is, the polis will put the good of the general public above football fans. That's not changing unless football culture changes. Only a few months ago we had running battles in Glasgow because two clubs couldn't behave...
I've seen football fans trashing cities and towns throughout the UK. I Can't recall that ever being done by rugby fans or other sports? Maybe it has, I certainly cant recall it.
Sent from my SM-S931B using Tapatalk
Waiting for the obligatory Rugby fans are just as bad posts.
You regularly see Rugby fans masked up and having mass brawls in the street and chucking items at player of course.
I don't think it's just football where these young lads get treated differently though. There was the old Family Guy joke with the police officer holding the colour chart going from white to black and the caption running from okay to not okay as it went darker. In Scotland you could probably replace that with a list of postcodes and it would reflect how the police behave differently.
I grew up in a scheme and I don't recall the police being viewed as particularly benevolent or as being on our side. It often felt like we were guilty of something until proven innocent. Blethering with your mates in the street was 'loitering with intent'. Taking a walk through the 'posh' area a mile or so up the road meant you were subjected to questions about why you were there, what you wanted, what were you intending to do etc etc. We were often moved on from the local park when kicking a ball about for no given reason beyond 'because I ****ing well told you to move son'. It went from low level intimidation to out and out discrimination and bullying at times.
That was a long time ago now but I'm not convinced it will have changed all that much. If I was that age again I doubt I'd be happy to hand over my phone to the police or give any details beyond the very basics, in fact I still wouldn't do it now without just cause. Some of these young lads need to reflect on their behaviour, some of them are behaving in a way that is undeniably criminal but for a lot of them they are probably just sick and tired of being harassed and aggressively handled for doing not a lot wrong or being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
There is a middle ground and a bit of dialogue from the end of the police rather than this heavy handed approach would be welcome. When you consider the event of something like Hillsborough, not just that game but the couple of close calls there beforehand, you can see clearly how police prejudices about football fans can have devastating consequences. Plenty people then bought the Kelvin McKenzie/Maggie Thatcher version of the 'truth' and the 'police were heroes' narrative (and many individual officers undoubtedly were) until people stood up and demanded a proper investigation and the actual truth.
My general view, as an older person is that overall, the youth of today are politer and more open minded than my fellow elders.
I didn't get to where I am today by singling out the youth of today but I've no problem having a swipe at bellends of all ages who feel entitled or are disrespectful of others, especially in a football ground.
Sent from my SM-A750FN using Tapatalk
I know there is an element of tongue in cheek involved in the whole rugby chat but I genuinely think there is minimal difference between you average football and rugby fan. Not the extreme elements in either sport which take different forms but definitely exist.
You could easily allow beer at the football and have a whole unsegregated family section and there would be no notable change in the behaviour of most fans. The vast majority of games from League One and below in Scotland are unsegregated and there are no running battles, same as there are huge unsegregated sections and alcohol served at major international tournaments with no issues.
A friend of mine who was a former police commander in Edinburgh, and a jambo, did a study for the police on the conduct of rugby and football fans in Edinburgh. He found a minority of both sets of fans had unacceptable behaviour but expressed in different ways. He also found that the police tended to accept unacceptable actions by rugby fans but not football fans.
No idea why it has to be one or the other. I played Rugby and Football into adulthood and cricket and basketball among others for school teams and also afterwards for the odd game. I'd agree with many of the posts here. The majority of football and rugby fans are the same in terms of behaviour. The bad behaviour is a minority and is very much treated differently by the police. The policing of rugby and football before any issues arise is completely different too. It is almost as if the Police are looking for a fight at big football matches. That being said they would say they were preparing for the worst.
I love football, it's the best sport in the world but the simple difference is you do not get self identified groups of rugby supporters who band together in large numbers looking to fight with opposing fanbases.
This isn't about your average fan, it's these groups of numbers up to and over 100 young men dressing up with balaclavas on looking to cause trouble at times. I've never once heard of that happening at a Rugby game.
The issue for me is the 'most fans' because you are right but that''s also the problem: I happen to have been to a lot of Scottish games at Murrayfield in the past 3/4 years & taken football friends who were initially very agitated by the fact that we could drink at the games; a Celtic season ticket holder in particular due to his politics (which I entirely agree with) was no' happy. Bottom line is that he accepted that he knew and saw too many of his team's supporters who would not drink responsibly and not the way rugby fans were behaving would translate well to Parkhead.. It's a minority but I've also seen too many drunks at ER over the years to believe there would not be trouble - it's a minority, most folk would be fine but that minority would make life grim for everyone around them. It's a cultural thing and I don't like what it says about our society but it's a consequence that I don't think there's any point denying.
Football is a far harder game to excel at. It's a numbers game, football is played by a massive number of people compared to Rugby across the world, to become a professional footballer you are competing against millions upon millions of others who want to make it to that level.
Very very few do.
In Rugby the number of players is far lower so your chances of success are higher as you are competing against a much smaller talent pool.
They can make all the statements they want but whether they have a point or not is largely irrelevant.
The police have a duty to protect the public be that in the streets or in the stadiums so they will continue to try to nip any bad behaviour in the bud.
Why are they wearing face coverings? Exactly!
I'm referring to the demands of the game not the number playing it.
Both rugby and football are well down the list of most demanding sports (across numerous measures) though, most of which are individual eg gymnastics is well out in front (followed by boxing and mixed martial arts (MMA) and fencing, although the latter is often inclded as a MMA), with ice hockey the most demanding team sport.
Rugby fans don't express any where near the passion that football fans have for their club.
It's a completely different thing, rugby crowds are more akin to a theatre crowd than football so it's no surprise that football attracts folk that are a bit more troublesome
The measures are more than just physical, although strength and conditioning have played a far bigger role in rugby since the advent of professionalism.
Skill, stamina and tactical awareness are among the numerous other measures. I recall seeing Michael O'Neill giving a talk (possibly at the Sheffield Institute of Sport) where he pointed out that the average footballer is capable of absorbing no more than three minutes of tactical instruction. Any more and you've lost them as a manager. You get exceptions obviously like Alan 'all yer brains are in yer effin head' Gordon but football's popularity is largely down to its inherent simplicity compared to many other sports.
Easy to underrate the skill and technique of elite rugby players. Check out Antoine Dupont or Finn Russell. Absolute wizards.
Thought this was about our current ultra incarnation :confused:
That statement reeks of entitlement. Entitled to do what they want because “ultras scene”
If they want to start by cleaning up their minging mess on the graveyard walls where our own Dan McMichael lies in state, that might be good…then show a bit of respect to fellow fans at away games. Maybe not forcing folks from their seats? Or all the other selfish stuff that has gone on over recent years. As others have said, I’m sick of being “treated badly” at Pittodrie or Motherwell or Tynecastle because they have put targets on all our backs. Not us, them.
As for thinking any innocent intentions involve wearing a balaclava for any reason in everyday life is normal or that it is not something that makes other members of society feel uncomfortable, well…
Over to Statement UHs to remove so many of the reasons Polis Alba have been put in this situation…
In a perfect world we would be allowed booze at the footy and the minority who want to cause trouble would be dealt with by the authorities, the issue isn;t so much the fans more the Police's inability to be able to deal with any trouble.
They have a 1312 banner today.
Felt the songs and noise from behind the goals was really good today.
Good atmosphere all round.
Hopefully they can put together a display for the final home game thanking all the players and staff for their efforts this season.
Singing that "Celtc are the team for me and you" song. I am generally confident they have different words for it, but that'll not be entirely guaranteed with that lot.
Going against the grain, but i couldnt hear them at all today, all i could hear was that ****in drum to my right and the same to the left from their lot.:rolleyes:
And what the hell was that uggy uggy uggy all about?
Great win though. :greengrin
I think all the ultras groups just sing variations on the same songs.
There was a squad of Dundee fans in the pub around us pre match and it sounded like they were singing Hibs songs. That one you mention but with something about Simon Murray dropped in, 'super Trevor Carson in goal', Discolands etc etc
GGTTH getting a fully airing every week is a more than decent trade off though imo.
Wonder how much a personalised Rocky Bushiri tifo would cost 🤔
They've gone too far!
Scarf twirling. Just NO!!
Same on the tellybox... couldn't hear the ***** drums either... which was nice :greengrin... Watched the 2nd half of the Dons game earlier, and had to mute :rolleyes:
A tv scan of the so called 'ultras' at ER was like one of a school playground. I was actually embarrassed that they're taken seriously
https://x.com/ims_afc/status/1916165581054558330?s=46
And they get tickets set aside every away game for this too.
As I said on the matchday thread.
I saw all the nonsense as I was leaving the ground.
Miraculously, they all managed to obtain tickets, again, and amazingly they all managed to obtain the prime seats together.
Time for Hibs to remove the privileges they quite clearly have.