Stewarding At The Bridge

[James 5,313]

One, a young 21-year-old visitor to Britain was making his first visit.

The young man – together with his friend – were thrown out of the ground for alleged ‘persistent standing’ despite the fact that the game was only ten minutes old. According to their report, the pair were subject to disgraceful and intimidating behaviour from a gang of ‘security men’ who have loosely been described as stewards.

After being led out of the ground, they were taken to the security suite in the Shed entrance car-park where they were treated like common criminals and were forced to give their names, addresses and their club membership details.

When they tried to plead their case, they were told to “shut up” and were denied the right to speak to a senior steward from Chelsea. Unfortunately, the bully boys who ejected were backed up by members of the Metropolitan Police who, as many Chelsea supporters know, do not have the best of reputations when it comes to dealing with football crowds.

One of the two Chelsea supporters mentioned above wrote that he hoped his friend “would have nothing but fond and fun memories of his first trip to Stamford Bridge. Instead, he will have the memory of being ejected, intimidated and treated like a criminal.”

The Chelsea Supporters Group’s Fans’ Forum representative has forwarded a letter from the two mentioned above to the Club and other members of the Fans’ Forum but so far – and totally in character – those in the hierarchy who might have responded, have (gloriously) failed to do so.

Somewhat amazingly, in a recent meeting involving supporters on the Atmosphere Committee and the Club, officials admitted that it was policy to randomly eject supporters in the hope that others in the vicinity will take notice and comply with the apparent policy of persuading those attending Stamford Bridge to remain seated for the whole game.

In what appears to be a related incident, a season-ticket holder reported that a fellow supporter whose view was obscured by a steward was nearly ejected for asking him to stand aside in order that he could watch the match.”

The questions that the above begs to ask are;

1; How is that, after just 10 minutes, people can be ejected for persistent standing and with no prior warning?

2; What message does the above send out to members who may attend matches for the first time and are not familiar with the stadium ‘protocol’?

3; Do the people running Chelsea on behalf of Mr Abramovich and the supporters want a passionate crowd or, judging by the above, do they prefer a ‘sterile’ atmosphere with 40,000 impassionate supporters who will add nothing to the game whatsoever?

You can email [email protected] if you’ve had any similar experiences as those mentioned above.

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