The Ultimate Super Ayr Thread

[diegomarahenry]

Creating a youth board to improve the experience of fans under the age of 16 is a very admirable thing. Unless the flipside is, everyone older than that will be treated like a c**t. 

The battle between the club and the young team has been a soap opera for a while with both sides saying it is the other that wont speak. I personally don't care who is at fault as long as the club don't start implementing any Tayside police style tactics to "welcome" fans. (taking them at their word that the sniffer dogs were a fuckup)

[Trogdor]

5 hours ago, mugen_power said:

That's you on the watch list now.

[AyrAtlanta]

Photo obtained from the Ayr United board meeting discussing what to do about the pyro situation:

[ComradeDiego]

1 hour ago, callum-ayr said:

Why on earth would anyone want to go and have a meeting with a guy who has actively tried to ban (think I remember a tempoary ban on a few for 3 games, 1 of the boys who received a ban hadn't even been at a game for months due to work) and run fans out of the club for years.  Happened years ago and happening now.

This.

Then you’ve got clubs like St Mirren or Dunfermline who encourage this kind of support?

[diegomarahenry]

Think someone needs to explain to this lad how testimonials work

[Stellaboz]

4 minutes ago, ComradeDiego said:

This.

Then you’ve got clubs like St Mirren or Dunfermline who encourage this kind of support?

You're going to have to show your working for this. 

[ComradeDiego]

1 minute ago, Stellaboz said:

You're going to have to show your working for this. 

Well, on the face of it there seems to be active support at EEP that have their own section and can set up displays etc with no hassle from the club?

[Stellaboz]

20 minutes ago, ComradeDiego said:

Well, on the face of it there seems to be active support at EEP that have their own section and can set up displays etc with no hassle from the club?

I thought you meant flares. They're definitely not encouraged. 

[Hawk89]

19 minutes ago, ComradeDiego said:

Well, on the face of it there seems to be active support at EEP that have their own section and can set up displays etc with no hassle from the club?

You also mentioned St Mirren who have the section at the end of one of the stands next to the away fans. It is fairly common place for clubs to have zones like that, not just within football but across sport. 

I had a reread of the statement last night and what came across to me is that effective; Firstly fans are to blame for pyros, then it was the stewards, then it was a half hearted apology at the end. Surely the apology should lead and not be a footnote? The most glaring thing though is that it is effectively saying "we don't know what is going on inside our stadium".

Even from the comfy seats it surely should have been noticeable that there was a large group of yellow jackets right in and amongst the fans in the SRE? Surely a stadium manager/head of security should be wondering what is going on over there and investigate? I'm not even remotely buying that they didn't know. 

[No_Problemo]

2 minutes ago, Hawk89 said:

You also mentioned St Mirren who have the section at the end of one of the stands next to the away fans. It is fairly common place for clubs to have zones like that, not just within football but across sport. 

I had a reread of the statement last night and what came across to me is that effective; Firstly fans are to blame for pyros, then it was the stewards, then it was a half hearted apology at the end. Surely the apology should lead and not be a footnote? The most glaring thing though is that it is effectively saying "we don't know what is going on inside our stadium".

Even from the comfy seats it surely should have been noticeable that there was a large group of yellow jackets right in and amongst the fans in the SRE? Surely a stadium manager/head of security should be wondering what is going on over there and investigate? I'm not even remotely buying that they didn't know. 

I think we can absolutely guarantee that the stadium manager couldn’t give the slightest f**k how fans, particularly young fans are being treated within the ground. 

The best thing a stadium manager can do to be good at their job is build relationships with different groups within the fanbase, this guys prefers the moronic approach of targeting children. Strathclyde Police used to think that the Ragazzi were one of the main problem groups within Scottish football - they highlighted them alongside all the big clubs. They were literally a group of children. 

[Iain]

Was reading this article from the Guardian today. It's about Postecoglou's impact at Spurs, but I think there's a passage in it that might address the apparent disconnect between Ayr and the support (and why some people feel it was different when MacLeod or maybe McCall were the manager).

And these days, unless you support one of the very biggest clubs, what fans crave above all is a sense of belonging, a rudder, an emotional stake in a game that has largely forsaken them. This is where the coach comes in.

Pastor Postecoglou shows importance of journey even if you never reach heaven | Tottenham Hotspur | The Guardian

[diegomarahenry]

2 minutes ago, No_Problemo said:

Strathclyde Police used to think that the Ragazzi were one of the main problem groups within Scottish football

There was a period they were, they let off flares a lot at Somerset, a child had a serious asthma attack during one game as a result.
They also got in to fights including a mass brawl in Coatbridge with Airdrie fans that made the papers. 
 

As a result, Ayr were classed as a category A club, along with Rangers, Celtic, Aberdeen and Hibs. The club were forced to have police at the ground, including horses which cost a fortune. 
Away games meant clubs had to bring in extra stewarding also, Alloa almost allocated every individual a steward on entry.

It could be seen as clamping down on folk just trying to create an atmosphere but it was limiting the enjoyment of the majority of the support and costing the club money 

[No_Problemo]

2 minutes ago, diegomarahenry said:

There was a period they were, they let off flares a lot at Somerset, a child had a serious asthma attack during one game as a result.
They also got in to fights including a mass brawl in Coatbridge with Airdrie fans that made the papers. 
 

As a result, Ayr were classed as a category A club, along with Rangers, Celtic, Aberdeen and Hibs. The club were forced to have police at the ground, including horses which cost a fortune. 
Away games meant clubs had to bring in extra stewarding also, Alloa almost allocated every individual a steward on entry.

It could be seen as clamping down on folk just trying to create an atmosphere but it was limiting the enjoyment of the majority of the support and costing the club money 

I don’t think that fight was the Ragazzi, I’m sure that was the older generation. 

It was a huge over reaction based on a few flares IMO. 

[diegomarahenry]

4 minutes ago, No_Problemo said:

I don’t think that fight was the Ragazzi, I’m sure that was the older generation. 

It was a huge over reaction based on a few flares IMO. 

It’s still Ayr fans, the police don’t just sanction the individuals.

The flares thing, it was marine smoke flares they set off at the time, bright orange, under the Somerset roof. It’s one thing setting them off at Hampden and chucking them on the pitch, it’s another choking half a dozen fans, blinding them with smoke and causing asthma attacks. It would be like setting one off in your living room. 

[No_Problemo]

3 minutes ago, diegomarahenry said:

It’s still Ayr fans, the police don’t just sanction the individuals.

The flares thing, it was marine smoke flares they set off at the time, bright orange, under the Somerset roof. It’s one thing setting them off at Hampden and chucking them on the pitch, it’s another choking half a dozen fans, blinding them with smoke and causing asthma attacks. It would be like setting one off in your living room. 

When the Police are going around pretending that they were some form of organised criminal gang, then of course it’s relevant that the fight was not them. You don’t just blame a group of kids and target them for everything anyway - surprisingly it’s easier for them to target some 13 year olds than the 40 year old roasters who wanted to get into a fight. 

 

[Trogdor]

Is there not such a thing as safe pyro? I'm sure I read something about it to allow fans to create an atmosphere and a display without impairing fellow spectators or wooden stands. It may of course be a figment of my imagination.

[No_Problemo]

1 minute ago, Trogdor said:

Is there not such a thing as safe pyro? I'm sure I read something about it to allow fans to create an atmosphere and a display without impairing fellow spectators or wooden stands. It may of course be a figment of my imagination.

I’m sure in certain places they have specific areas for Pyro etc?

I don’t see that ever being a discussion here, despite the fact it is being used anyway and being an entirely sensible thing to do. 

[ComradeDiego]

38 minutes ago, diegomarahenry said:

They also got in to fights including a mass brawl in Coatbridge with Airdrie fans that made the papers. 
 

Don’t think that was Ragazzi

[diegomarahenry]

5 minutes ago, No_Problemo said:

I’m sure in certain places they have specific areas for Pyro etc?

I don’t see that ever being a discussion here, despite the fact it is being used anyway and being an entirely sensible thing to do. 

As soon as a flair lands on the pitch, there is a murmur of - Ah for f**k sake around the ground and a delay while we wait on someone to boot it off the park. Then the referee to note it down in his note pad. 

How that adds to atmosphere in Scottish football, especially Ayr v.  Cove Rangers, I do not know. 

[diegomarahenry]

1 minute ago, ComradeDiego said:

Don’t think that was Ragazzi

Regardless of who it was, between the flares and the street brawls, the majority of the support was impacted by the punishment along with the club financially.