Bubble trip: Plan of action

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Metallicali said:
Dear Louise.
As head of Media and Communications at the club, my estimation is that the best chance of having my opinion heard within the club is via communication with you.
Now, I write today in horror at what the club recently announced in terms of the travel arrangements for the aforementioned fixture. I was planning on attending the match with a couple of lifelong friends as a football supporter, a supporter of Sunderland AFC. The fact that I am a football fan does not mean that I should instantaneously be brandished a threat to the general public, which seems to be the case here. I am fully confident that my friends and I are respected members of the community, all without criminal records, so why should we be treated like criminals for simply wanting to go and support our team.
We travel from North Yorkshire most weeks to the vast majority of games, both home and away, and the friends in question have been season ticket holders for some time, one for around 15 years and the other for 40 plus years. This means that the travel arrangements set in place are not practical for us. We were planning on using the train to travel to the match as a small group (3, perhaps 4 of us), so the fact that we cannot be trusted to do so by our own club is extremely disappointing.
I myself am not a season ticket holder as it is not currently viable for me to do so, however I was considering doing so when the prospect becomes more viable. However, if us as fans continue to be punished for other people’s crimes, then I shall perhaps be forced to reconsider my position on a future purchase of a season card. At the end of the day we are adults, and deserve to be treated as such. May I remind you that it is always a minority of support that cause problems in the stands and after the games, not the majority, however now the majority are being punished. Also the fact that the Newcastle supporters did not have to endure this treatment, even though after the last game in Newcastle it was the Newcastle ‘supporters’ that were the ones to cause trouble and bring negative publicity to our region on a global scale (friends I have in America, Germany and Azerbaijan all contacted me to say they had seen what occurred after that fixture).
I am extremely disappointed that the club has chosen to treat their own fans in this manner, and I am afraid that us fans may have to start voting with our feet in order for the club to sit up and take notice.
Thankyou for your time, any correspondence will be greatly appreciated.

Long as fuck, I know, but hopefully more of the same from our own fans will encourage the club to sit up and take note.
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Good stuff mate.
 


Episode 5 of that Sky programme about east coast trains shows what happened in April - and how well segregated the Sunderland fans were from the train station up to SJP.
 
Metallicali said:
It's f***ing outrageous. Now, I have a pop at some on this board on occasion for being outraged to easily, but I think we have a huge case here.
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I agree, wasn't going to game so doesn't affect me directly but its a disgraceful decision by the club

happy to help if i can with petitions etc
 
Metallicali said:
It's f***ing outrageous. Now, I have a pop at some on this board on occasion for being outraged to easily, but I think we have a huge case here.
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Totally agree mate, I'm still livid about our "Head of Safety" officers comments yesterday..............Sunderland AFC’s head of safety, Paul Weir, said: "We also recognise the need by all parties to consider the safety of people going about their day to day business in Newcastle."


People like him should be fighting tooth and nail to stop this happening but as he is ex Northumbria Police he will be behind this I'm certain. His comments are basically saying SAFC fans can't be trusted to get a metro to Newcastle because we are a threat to shoppers. Its disgusting.
 
TradingPlaces said:
Totally agree mate, I'm still livid about our "Head of Safety" officers comments yesterday..............Sunderland AFC’s head of safety, Paul Weir, said: "We also recognise the need by all parties to consider the safety of people going about their day to day business in Newcastle."


People like him should be fighting tooth and nail to stop this happening but as he is ex Northumbria Police he will be behind this I'm certain. His comments are basically saying SAFC fans can't be trusted to get a metro to Newcastle because we are a threat to shoppers. Its disgusting.
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Yep. Wasn't he the one who decided FTM wasn't allowed to be displayed at the sol?
 
Weir's comments are certainly very questionable. The @faircop character is talking to the FSF now and will advise on best approach. Will keep you all posted.
 
Agree with the posts that this is bigger than Sunderland fans seeming to be whinging. It needs joint action across the football community. This is not just a NP initiative, it will continue to spread across other areas affecting other supporters.

Hunter - you must have contacts or advice on how to get this raised higher in the national media - whether you support the bubble or not.

Somebody eloquent (Fishpaste based on the article?) needs to get on the sports programme on BBC Newcastle - Marco and Benno need to be forced to have an opinion on this, and also Talk Sport - although the choice of objective journalists is limited.

Unfortunately the only action I can see getting a response is for nobody to go to the game but that won't happen.
 
thewand73 said:
Weir's comments are certainly very questionable. The @faircop character is talking to the FSF now and will advise on best approach. Will keep you all posted.
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Emailed Amanda Jacks from the FSF last night along with Chris Waters from SAFC. Haven't received replies but FSF are clearly on the case. This was the email I sent to Chris Waters (very long but I don't care - takes 2 minutes to read):

Hi,

I'm writing to express my absolute disgust at the decision to force our loyal supporters of "our" club into using a bubble trip for this year's visit to St James' Park. It would appear that Northumbria Police and "our" football club see myself as nothing short of a hooligan. Having read the club statement uploaded onto "our" club's website this evening, it is clear that "our" football club believe that I am a risk to the general public within Newcastle City Centre. Why? Because I'm a football fan. I'm a teacher with a perfectly clean criminal record. I work in Newcastle, I live just outside of Newcastle, I've never been arrested nor have I never been ejected from a football stadium yet for this one day in February my presence within my own city of Newcastle means I'm a danger to the general public. This attitude is rotten!

I'm not stupid. I'm well aware that football attracts the odd idiot. They'll be the same idiots that, in the main, didn't attend last year's Derby. They'll be the same idiots that exited the pubs & clubs of Newcastle to start chaos with Northumbria Police whilst we, Sunderland fans, were safely locked away in level 7. So why are Sunderland fans punished? Our freedom, for that day, removed as we're put into the caring, knowledgable superior hands of Northumbria Police.

It is apparently for my own good to treat me like a criminal on the off-chance that there'll be criminals supporting the same team as me or even criminals in the same city on that same day. I am not a criminal and I refuse to be treat like one on this day or any other day.

I have no doubt that Sunderland AFC won't care if myself or 20 others opt to boycott. Some other "customer" will be along to take our seats so why would they care? I also have no doubt that someone within the club will be tracking comments posted on social media and our main messageboard (readytogo.net/smb). It is here that the club will see the true feeling amongst our support for this disgusting decision.

Alienate some of our most valuable and longest serving supporters and the club will live to regret it. It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if the outrage this has caused has taken the club by shock because Sunderland AFC is so detached from reality & from its own fan base it's laughable. If you really have sought the opinion of "fan groups" on this issue, you've clearly asked the wrong fans because it's clear that a vast majority are not happy.

I will not be attending this year's Derby and I will be encouraging others to follow my example. I have contacted the Football Supporters Federation and will encourage them to chase it up with whoever, at my club, will listen to my concerns.

Regards,

An extremely annoyed Sunderland season ticket holder.
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From people I know that have has run ins with Mr Weir there is zero who think he is trustworthy. A couple of lads who have very respectable and professional jobs got caught up in the central station incident and through no fault of their own got banning orders. They had no one on their sides even though CCTV proved they done the square root of fuck all.
 
Doberman said:
Emailed Amanda Jacks from the FSF last night along with Chris Waters from SAFC. Haven't received replies but FSF are clearly on the case. This was the email I sent to Chris Waters (very long but I don't care - takes 2 minutes to read):
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Threatening and mocking.
Do you expect a decent reply? The constant use of 'our' suggests an angry teenager.
 
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