The Ultimate Super Ayr Thread

[GuyIncognito]

Just now, Nelson said:

In the club’s defence, there is always the spectre of having to pay increased policing costs if we are viewed as not being able to control the crowd ourselves using cheap as chips stewards.  That in no way justifies the behaviour of any individual stewards though.  I don’t believe for one moment the club has given any licence to them to manhandle people.  

There is absolutely no way that the club should not be able to handle a crowd of 2000 using in house stewards. If we can’t then that is a failure on Roy Provan’s (i think) part.

[Thumper]

10 minutes ago, UpInTheAyr said:

Apparently club have reached out to the fan going by what the mum has said on the sre fb. and one of the stewards who wasn't working last night said the manhandling of the other kids was to literally get one of the match balls off them that they were trying to get away with.

I find it difficult to believe that a mob of yellow jackets and a K9 division is less expensive than a match ball. Joe Chalmers delivered match balls to everyone in the postcode.

[Trogdor]

7 minutes ago, GuyIncognito said:

Would you bring back your standing order if it took cancelling it for the club to back down and apologise? Genuine question.

I do think they’ll address it as they can’t let this slide, whether they apologise is different though.

I haven't cancelled it yet and will only do so if the club do nothing. It's not something I take any glee in but the threat is necessary to get the club to budge. 

In your scenario I would re-instate it.

I cancelled it once before and reinstated it without missing an installment. It was during Duffy's ill-fated reign when the club wasn't engaging at all. Then we appointed Mathie and he did a Q&A and I was enthused (the irony isn't lost on me).

Edited September 16, 2023 by Trogdor

[malkyshotton]

With regard to the stewarding at Ayr this sort of thing has been going on for more than a decade. 13 or 14 years ago my son who at the time was 8 or 9 got searched going into the ground without me knowing until he got inside the gate and told me. He was quite traumatised at the time and I was raging obviously. At the time panda pals season ticket holders had to go through a separate gate from adult season tickets holders which just didn’t make sense. I approached the stewards but they just fobbed me off. Managed to contain my rage at the time and emailed the club but it took me at least 3 or4 further emails before I got a reply. Last game my boy ever attended. 

 

Ayr United, been putting people off going since 2010 (at least)
 

 

 

[No_Problemo]

Just now, Nelson said:

In the club’s defence, there is always the spectre of having to pay increased policing costs if we are viewed as not being able to control the crowd ourselves using cheap as chips stewards.  That in no way justifies the behaviour of any individual stewards though.  I don’t believe for one moment the club has given any licence to them to manhandle people.  

I don’t really buy this either, you support your fan base, not victimise them. 

They could have released a statement saying there would be sniffer dogs at the entrance, but it should never even have been under consideration that they would be in the ground. A horrifying lack of judgement, and to be it is becoming clearer with every passing day why Mathie was emptied by Hibs. A bullshitter, clear and simple.

[itzdrk]

4 minutes ago, No_Problemo said:

Rose is a two year deal isn’t he?!

Hahahahahahahaha

[GuyIncognito]

2 minutes ago, malkyshotton said:

With regard to the stewarding at Ayr this sort of thing has been going on for more than a decade. 13 or 14 years ago my son who at the time was 8 or 9 got searched going into the ground without me knowing until he got inside the gate and told me. He was quite traumatised at the time and I was raging obviously. At the time panda pals season ticket holders had to go through a separate gate from adult season tickets holders which just didn’t make sense. I approached the stewards but they just fobbed me off. Managed to contain my rage at the time and emailed the club but it took me at least 3 or4 further emails before I got a reply. Last game my boy ever attended. 

 

Ayr United, been putting people off going since 2010 (at least)
 

 

 

In general the attitudes the authorities have towards football fans in Scotland is a disgrace. I remember at Dumbarton away once we were 2-0 down going into the last minute and about 20 stewards were in front of the stand as if the remaining fans were going to run on. We scored 2 in the last minute though so it wasn’t all bad!

[itzdrk]

5 minutes ago, Trogdor said:

I haven't cancelled it yet and will only do so if the club do nothing. It's not something I take any glee in but the threat is necessary to get the club to budge. 

In your scenario I would re-instate it.

I cancelled it once before and reinstated it without missing an installment. It was during Duffy's ill-fated reign when the club wasn't engaging at all. Then we appointed Mathie and he did a Q&A and I was enthused (the irony isn't lose on me).

I still haven't restarted mine from when they appointed Hopkin.  

[Trogdor]

6 minutes ago, malkyshotton said:

With regard to the stewarding at Ayr this sort of thing has been going on for more than a decade. 13 or 14 years ago my son who at the time was 8 or 9 got searched going into the ground without me knowing until he got inside the gate and told me. He was quite traumatised at the time and I was raging obviously. At the time panda pals season ticket holders had to go through a separate gate from adult season tickets holders which just didn’t make sense. I approached the stewards but they just fobbed me off. Managed to contain my rage at the time and emailed the club but it took me at least 3 or4 further emails before I got a reply. Last game my boy ever attended. 

Ayr United, been putting people off going since 2010 (at least)

That is utterly grim Malky. I'm sorry to read that. You showed remarkable restraint. 

[callum-ayr]

10 minutes ago, malkyshotton said:

With regard to the stewarding at Ayr this sort of thing has been going on for more than a decade. 13 or 14 years ago my son who at the time was 8 or 9 got searched going into the ground without me knowing until he got inside the gate and told me. He was quite traumatised at the time and I was raging obviously. At the time panda pals season ticket holders had to go through a separate gate from adult season tickets holders which just didn’t make sense. I approached the stewards but they just fobbed me off. Managed to contain my rage at the time and emailed the club but it took me at least 3 or4 further emails before I got a reply. Last game my boy ever attended. 

 

Ayr United, been putting people off going since 2010 (at least)
 

 

 

That’s really sad about that, just shows you what can happen with poor stewarding/security. However it’s also worrying that the club allows an adult to touch a minor without consent of a parent/guardian. The club are ultimately responsible for safeguarding and I don’t think I would have been as level headed as you with both said steward and the club. Fair play to you for even coming back yourself after that. 
 

For a kick off, are stewards PVG checked? 

Edited September 16, 2023 by callum-ayr

[malkyshotton]

Just now, Trogdor said:

That is utterly grim Malky. I'm sorry to read that. You showed remarkable restraint. 

I know your head can’t figuratively explode but must have been close!

[Nelson]

1 minute ago, No_Problemo said:

I don’t really buy this either, you support your fan base, not victimise them. 

They could have released a statement saying there would be sniffer dogs at the entrance, but it should never even have been under consideration that they would be in the ground. A horrifying lack of judgement, and to be it is becoming clearer with every passing day why Mathie was emptied by Hibs. A bullshitter, clear and simple.

That’s missing the point.  Clubs generally want to cut costs by reducing the policing presence at games.  But to do that, they are constantly having to prove that they can manage the crowds with their own stewards.  I witnessed the incident outside the club shop at the Dundee Utd game when a fan threw a bottle at the panda mascot.  It was noticeable that the stewards just stood looking at each other with not a polis in sight.  I’m sure incidents like that will be recorded and highlighted.  So clubs will always be under pressure to show that extra costly policing isn’t required.  The pyro/smoke bomb thing has been an escalating problem for a while now, so if having a woman wandering round with a sniffer dug satisfies the police that we’re at least being seen to do something then fair enough.

But let me say again, that in no way excuses the behaviour of individual stewards.  I’ve seen problems at any number of grounds where minimum wage rent-a-goons get carried away.  The club need to address it and should be given the opportunity to do so.  

[malkyshotton]

2 minutes ago, callum-ayr said:

That’s really sad about that, just shows you what can happen with poor stewarding/security. However it’s also worrying that the club allows an adult to touch a minor without consent of a parent/guardian. The club are ultimately responsible for safeguarding and I don’t think I would have been as level headed as you with both said steward and the club. Fair play to you for even coming back yourself after that. 
 

For a kick off, are stewards PVG checked? 

You’re somewhere in between showing your boy you obviously care and not totally losing your shit in front of him which would have made it worse.

[GuyIncognito]

1 minute ago, Nelson said:

That’s missing the point.  Clubs generally want to cut costs by reducing the policing presence at games.  But to do that, they are constantly having to prove that they can manage the crowds with their own stewards.  I witnessed the incident outside the club shop at the Dundee Utd game when a fan threw a bottle at the panda mascot.  It was noticeable that the stewards just stood looking at each other with not a polis in sight.  I’m sure incidents like that will be recorded and highlighted.  So clubs will always be under pressure to show that extra costly policing isn’t required.  The pyro/smoke bomb thing has been an escalating problem for a while now, so if having a woman wandering round with a sniffer dug satisfies the police that we’re at least being seen to do something then fair enough.

But let me say again, that in no way excuses the behaviour of individual stewards.  I’ve seen problems at any number of grounds where minimum wage rent-a-goons get carried away.  The club need to address it and should be given the opportunity to do so.  

The amount of people that G4S etc hire who seem to think they’re invincible the moment they put on a hi vis is incredible. Then the amount of people who simply don’t care as they get paid the bare minimum is really poor too.

[Trogdor]

Wearing a yellow vest doesn't allow you to do what you want and get away with it in a football stadium.

Football supporters are much maligned but your average steward is either the equivalent of a cave man or utterly disinterested. There is no middle ground.

[No_Problemo]

2 minutes ago, Nelson said:

That’s missing the point.  Clubs generally want to cut costs by reducing the policing presence at games.  But to do that, they are constantly having to prove that they can manage the crowds with their own stewards.  I witnessed the incident outside the club shop at the Dundee Utd game when a fan threw a bottle at the panda mascot.  It was noticeable that the stewards just stood looking at each other with not a polis in sight.  I’m sure incidents like that will be recorded and highlighted.  So clubs will always be under pressure to show that extra costly policing isn’t required.  The pyro/smoke bomb thing has been an escalating problem for a while now, so if having a woman wandering round with a sniffer dug satisfies the police that we’re at least being seen to do something then fair enough.

But let me say again, that in no way excuses the behaviour of individual stewards.  I’ve seen problems at any number of grounds where minimum wage rent-a-goons get carried away.  The club need to address it and should be given the opportunity to do so.  

It isn’t remotely fair enough - I couldn’t give the slightest f**k what the Police want, you don’t then treat your entire home support like criminals when they are trying to watch a game. 

And it isn’t missing the point, if the club do desperately want the Police to know they are doing something and waste money on third party morons they could just have them stationed outside the ground. 

The main issue isn’t the individual people, it’s the actions of the club in allowing them to do it. 

[Trogdor]

On the policing? I can't remember the last time I saw a police officer at Somerset. Where are they? Hiding in the conservatory?

[Nelson]

Just now, GuyIncognito said:

The amount of people that G4S etc hire who seem to think they’re invincible the moment they put on a hi vis is incredible. Then the amount of people who simply don’t care as they get paid the bare minimum is really poor too.

Without a doubt.  You pay peanuts, you get monkeys.  I remember a few years back we had nightclub bouncers outside the SRE dressed all in black kissing their biceps and growling at people.  Wasn’t a good look and predictably didn’t last.. The alternative is to go back to proper policing which has a hefty cost attached - and the police can be heavy handed too.  At the Ayr v Killie game 2 seasons ago when we were 3 nil down after 15 mins, a number of fans wanted to leave, but the police refused to let them at the north terrace side for some bizarre reason.  Was all getting quite tense with a few square ups between fans and police.  An unnecessary nonsense I thought - it’s a football ground, if folk want to chuck it early and go to the pub, what was the issue?

[Nelson]

3 minutes ago, No_Problemo said:

It isn’t remotely fair enough - I couldn’t give the slightest f**k what the Police want, you don’t then treat your entire home support like criminals when they are trying to watch a game. 

And it isn’t missing the point, if the club do desperately want the Police to know they are doing something and waste money on third party morons they could just have them stationed outside the ground. 

The main issue isn’t the individual people, it’s the actions of the club in allowing them to do it. 

That’s a very silly comment.  You may not care what the police want, but the club don’t have that luxury.  And decisions over policing can easily be taken out of the club’s control.  As I say, I don’t believe for one second that the club is allowing or encouraging inappropriate behaviour by stewards including the manhandling of fans.  They should be given a fair opportunity to investigate the matter before folk lose the plot and start cancelling their AU500 donations.  

[Trogdor]

2 minutes ago, Nelson said:

That’s a very silly comment.  You may not care what the police want, but the club don’t have that luxury.  And decisions over policing can easily be taken out of the club’s control.  As I say, I don’t believe for one second that the club is allowing or encouraging inappropriate behaviour by stewards including the manhandling of fans.  They should be given a fair opportunity to investigate the matter before folk lose the plot and start cancelling their AU500 donations.  

Speaking of silly comments.

#Weareunited

Edited September 16, 2023 by Trogdor