WSW v NSW Police: "Not with-out a warrant"

[Rowdy]

Few of the boys from Bay16 & myself eating a steak & beers pre-game in the first game of their first season down there were spat on by them when doing their inaugural 'pre-game march' past the restaurant we were sitting outside of, minding our business (and smiling in awe of them).

Fcuk'm, the Cops can pepper-spray the lot of'em imo.......

Wanderers resist police crackdown on fans:


Western Sydney Wanderers have issued their strongest statement yet that they will not support the over-policing of fans at Pirtek Stadium.

The Club’s CEO John Tsatsimas penned an open letter to supporters following media reports that police were ramping up restrictions on the club's active support, the Red and Black Bloc.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported that the traditional march to the game was under threat.

Police were also looking to prevent the display of provocative banners, as well as zero tolerance for swearing and the prohibition of jumping shoulder to shoulder during chants.

If passed the restrictions would represent the most strident and sweeping attack on active support seen in the country.

The Wanderers confirmed they had received correspondence from police with a list of proposed implementations on match days.

Tsatsimas said: “While the club will never tolerate flares or any form of anti-social behaviour, the club has opposed the severity of the proposals and what we believe is excessive and we feel compromises the enjoyable football experience.

He added: “The integral elements of active support will not be compromised and we will do everything within our means to ensure that the atmosphere of the Wanderers that we have come to know and love remains central to our purpose.

“The Western Sydney Wanderers will always advocate for an authentic football experience (and) a positive impact by the active supporter area which has formed an integral part of the fabric of the club and has contributed to the success of the Wanderers since its inception.

“The club will continue to maintain this position.”

The recent issue of FourFourTwo highlights the system of saturation policing at Wanderers games.

Mother of three, Megan Atkins, who along with her whole is a member of the RBB said: “At no other sporting event I have been to in Australia, in England – and I’ve been to soccer games in England, rugby and cricket – I’ve never seen a police presence like it.”

The Western Sydney Wanderers since the end of last season has attempted to mediate the relationship between NSW Police and our active supporter group, the RBB.

Tsatsimas said: “For the past five months we have met with the Police and nominated representatives of the RBB in attempts to arrive at a position that will maintain the atmosphere and enjoyment for all members.”

The Red and Black Bloc issued a statement on their Facebook page saying they would not accept the restrictions.

The supporter group said they were told breaching the conditions could result in the game being delayed and that “cost recovery of all police and OSG required to manage the event will apply to Pirtek Stadium and WSW”.

The RBB responded: “This is an ongoing battle. We will not go away.”

The police hard-line comes after comments to FourFourTwo by NSW Assistant Commissioner Alan Clarke that there were "very few problems across the A-League".


Read more at http://www.fourfourtwo.com/au/news/wanderers-resist-police-crackdown-fans#X5hMuUsZwmUb5LGC.99

 

[sydmariner]

F**k pepper sprayin em' taser the f****n c**ts

 

[JoyfulPenguin]

In regards to active support, I really love it. Adds something to our game that no other sport has. But I went to see Heidelberg vs Melbourne City on Tuesday. I get banter and am all for it but the Alexander fans had one chant all night that had anything to do with their own club. The rest was just being asshats to City and booing whenever City's players were read out. Surely active support should be more about supporting your own club and not bagging someone else's?

 

[sydmariner]

i watched the game online the other day & i noticed that people were throwing flares was this true?

 

[Rowdy]

...... Surely active support should be more about supporting your own club and not bagging someone else's?

Unless .........


...... it's the 'Scummers from Newcastle'

 

[JoyfulPenguin]

i watched the game online the other day & i noticed that people were throwing flares was this true?

Yeah there were so many flares. They threw them on to the ground too. They basically ripped a flare every five minutes.

 

[VicMariner]

Tension between the police and the WSW fans is increasing.
http://www.fourfourtwo.com/au/news/...n-lead-another-cronulla-riots#:jfdY2ExMLKHITA
http://www.fourfourtwo.com/au/news/...ice-association-nsw-president#:G9QZN2ywccHITA
Some of the comments are might be bordering on hysterical but if you see the response from WSW fans it's all deflection or hiding under rocks. They almost universally refuse to accept any responsibility or see a problem.

When the police finally crack how will it affect supporters of other teams? Are the majority going to suffer for the actions of a few?

 

[dibo]

The fans are part of the problem. If (as John Tsatsimas told the inquiry yesterday) Police have simply stopped talking, then that's a problem too.

There's an open question as to why they might've stopped talking - if they've been trying to consult and arrange things with certain members of the RBB only to have others decide to ignore all agreements then I can't blame them, if they're just being jerks then they can cram it.

But siding with David Leyjonhelm is just weird. Leyjonhelm is a nutbar (he reckons we should have a designated area for letting off flares, but he also thinks we should be arming schoolteachers). If you're trying to give the impression that football is a mainstream sport that everyone can be part of, siding with Leyjonhelm is not the way to go about it. It's a great way of signalling that it's a weirdo's sport, followed by weirdos and backed in by weirdo politicians. It makes it all the more 'reasonable' to sideline the sport and its fans.

But I think the RBB like being singled out. They like people talking about them like they're trouble. They like being edgy and dangerous, and that f**ks it up for everyone who isn't a tattooed bloke in a black t-shirt two sizes too small with a bad attitude, no employment prospects and strict bail conditions.

The more they get singled out the more they can play it up. They f**k shit up, f**k up the relationship with the club and the stadium and the police, get told they're not allowed to do a bunch of things like tifos or have drums, megas and the like, and then go f**k shit up again. Rinse and repeat. It's the embodiment of a whiny teenager. I wish they'd f**king grow up.

 

[Forum Phoenix]

Ludicrously bad handling by the Police association guy. Certainly not how you contain a situation. But active support does not require you rip flares. It is not some sort of precious constitutional right to do so. It's illegal. Nor does it make your support any more meaningful. They should be honest, they do it because it makes them feel (and in photos look) cool, dangerous and ultra.

Banners and marches are a different thing, but there is an anti authority theme running a mile deep in RBB which has clearly got them at logger heads with local authorities since day dot.

Always thought active support should be about going above and beyond in supporting the team, but their are definitely groups who make the active support all about them, and ironically seem to have precious little to do with their teams.

 

[FFC Mariner]

They deserve everything they get.

Teach them to invent football

 

[sydmariner]

They deserve everything they get.

Teach them to invent football

 

[Capn Gus Bloodbeard]

What a cock-up all round. Poorly handled be every single involved party. RBB playing the classic 'just because we're all criminals that's no reason for the cops to be harassing us' line (seriously, I'd be more worried if they weren't given close attention to the police, dodgiest f**king group of so-called fans this country has ever been unfortunate enough to suffer). When you do you best to look like a criminal, encourage criminal behaviour and engage in such..well, what do you expect?

Wanderers club for playing the victim card and not doing anything to keep the RBB in check

The police for some absolutely disgraceful comments - you'd think they were getting paid by Murdoch with the 'sokkah hooliganz' crap they come up with, it's absolutely appalling and I would expect somebody from the high level roles involved to be a bit more intelligent

Even the Senator isn't really handling it well (and why the heck does this warrant Senate attention anyway??)

And the FFA for not doing a thing to keep them in check (although the FFA have never been consistent in their dealings with club behaviour)

What's well overdue is for the FFA to play Wanderers games behind closed doors. Any trouble caused by fans outside in 'protest'? Add another game on. Rinse and repeat.

It's a shame the march has been banned, but I suppose there may be reasons for that - does the march cause problems? There was a report of an assault in the SFC derby. I think the march has been peaceful in Gosford, as far as I know, but I don't know how else it goes.

Credit for the crowds they bring and the large numbers who are there to do the right thing, but I'm having a hard time working out if their overall impact to the game is positive or negative, given the bad publicity they seem to be generating (yes, generating - they can whinge about the media all they like, but they make it so easy for the media to find something to write about I'm amazed they haven't done an 'expose' on the wannabe gang culture and inciting law-breaking that can be seen on their fb page).
The easiest way to stop being treated like a criminal is to stop being a f****** criminal.

 

[sydmariner]

[/QUOTE]I think the march has been peaceful in Gosford, as far as I know, but I don't know how else it goes.[/QUOTE]

 

[Rowdy]

But siding with David Leyjonhelm is just weird. Leyjonhelm is a nutbar

Scott Webber thinks so too.

Wanderers fans are "grubs" - Police Association of NSW President:


Police Association of NSW (PANSW) President, Scott Weber, has labelled Western Sydney Wanderers fans as "grubs" as he calls for the sacking of Senator David Leyonhjelm.

Senator Leyonhjelm went into bat for Wanderers fans at Tuesday's "Nanny State" inquiry that was held to tackle the ongoing problems of policing at WSW games.

Leyonhjelm used the term 'ACAB' at the enquiry, with Weber describing the comments and their repetition as “appalling, and an outrage to police".

“The Senator by repeating those comments and backing them up is not acting how any elected official should behave. Such attitudes and vitriol are, and always will be, an affront to community decency and values," Weber said in a PANSW press release.

“Fringe dwellers should have no platform to promote and extend their extremist views, especially at a time when police officers are themselves under the most serious threat levels in our history.”

Weber went on to call for Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull to reverse the decision by his predecessor to appoint Senator Leyonhjelm.

"As we heard on the Ray Hadley show, the Senator is even recommending a dedicated area at soccer games where people can let off flares! If you think flares and crowd violence are not dangerous, you just need to look at what’s occurred around the world, including the death of a South American child in 2013 by a flare," the release continued.

“This is an elected official who wants to arm school teachers for safer schools, but wants police to stand by and let a group of grubs intimidate families, chant filthy sexual slurs at opposing fans in front of children and take over the streets every game day.

“He wants police to fall-back and allow thugs to ruin the beloved game for everyone in the State. The safety and security of the Australian public should be more valuable to the Turnbull government than the Senate support of irrelevant outsiders.”

Weber added: “Anyone who thinks what has been happening at Western Sydney Wanderers games, and in the hours before them, is not dangerous needs to take a long hard look at themselves. Police are there to protect everyone – even these grubs.

“If Senator David Leyonhjelm is representative of the thinking of a majority of Senators then maybe it's time to re-think if the people of Australia need a Senate at all.

“Regrettably the comments made by the Senator can’t be responded to by the NSW Police Commanders at this time. Again, it seems that safety of the community and fans is not paramount in this Senator’s mind.”

 

[dibo]

Scott Weber on how to make friends and influence people.

 

[dibo]

FAO @kevrenor - you've given ratings on various posts indicating disagreement - I'm genuinely curious as to your view.

You've been around longer than I have, and you've always been anti-dickhead and anti-flare; just curious on your thinking on the standoff between the cops and RBB?

 

[kevrenor]

FAO @kevrenor - you've given ratings on various posts indicating disagreement - I'm genuinely curious as to your view.

You've been around longer than I have, and you've always been anti-dickhead and anti-flare; just curious on your thinking on the standoff between the cops and RBB?

1. Definitely anti-dickhead.
2. Definitely anti-flare

Except for now, alleged comments that link Leyonhjelm to an area for flares at games (which I would oppose, but not clear to me that he said it).

So let us get back to dickheads. Leyonhjelm is a dickhead in almost all he says, but let's restrict ourselves.

Who are the dickheads in this ' Nanny State ' Senate enquiry?

To the extent that I have been able to glean the events (until Hansard publishes)

Perhaps start with who hasn't been -
Not the thousands of Wanderers fans
Not many of the RBB
Not the two representatives of the RBB at the enquiry, who appear to have rationally argued their case (not all of which I may agree with).
Not the Western Sydney Wanderers representative.
Not the Parramatta Councillor giving evidence

Who has been a dickhead?
FFA for allegedly stating that they don't need to observe or follow 'natural justice'
The NSW Police North West Region Superintendent for his evidence at the enquiry, and for apparently not having any meaningful dialogue with the club or fans before laying down restrictive guidelines
The NSW Police Association head honco for his statements
Some RBB who have mouthed off on social media, undermining their case

 

[dibo]

I don't disagree with any of that.

 

[true believer]

"the Senator is even recommending a dedicated area at soccer games where people can let off flares!"

what a cock head.

umm should have read that first .
Except for now, alleged comments that link Leyonhjelm to an area for flares at games (which I would oppose, but not clear to me that he said it).

 

[Rowdy]

"the Senator is even recommending a dedicated area ........where people can let off flares!"