There has been a lot of, justifiable IMHO, anger and frustration at the way the Millwall game was policed and how the Club communicated decisions over road closures etc.
So what collectively are you going to do about it? If nothing else I would like to hear the police and Clubs side of things but more importantly how do we improve it for next time?
We can all moan on here and many frequently do but what co-ordinated approach should be taken.
As I see it we have three "official" avenues to the club.
1. The Safety Advisory Group. This is run by Greenwich council and is a requirement for the Club's licence to hold football matches. As well as the Council, the police, club staff, ambulance service, etc sit on the group as do two supporters. One of these, Addickted, is a member of CL.
2. The Fans' Forum. Made up of COO Steve Bradshaw and reps from supporters groups as well as the Supporters' Trust. Many of the members of the FF are also members on here. Ashfordaddick, Fanny Fanackapan, possibly others.
3. The Supporters' Trust itself. Razil, the interim Chair is also a member of CL as are many of the other active members.
There are not going to change the result of the game, improve the football or re-turf the pitch. But maybe they can prevent what some see as mismanagement of the event happening again.
So I'm not asking for more complaints or moans on this thread. That has been done.
I am asking the members of those three groups to use the channels of communication they have, however limited, to press for a review of Saturday and for a plan to be drawn up for next season for all four South London derbies, assuming we are all in the same division.
I am asking for the Police to explain their rational for the methods they used and to answer question from fans. If that means a public meeting at the Valley (which the Croydon police did after the game there) then so be it.
I would like those people to push for answers and for improvements.
Some of the above people I know personally and I'll speak to them. Others I don't but we can all inbox them or ask them to take some action here.
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I have already been contactd by 2 NWKA members , copying me in to a letter they are sending to MS . I have responded that I too am angry about Saturday's fiasco and the implications thereof. I do intend to email Mick Everett as suggested by Ketman both on a personal basis and on behalf of our members.
In this instance I should be grateful if one or more of my FF colleagues would be prepared to take this forward before I arrive home - ie strike whilst the iron is hot. Ian Wallis and myself are the organisers of POTY as you are aware but there are several others who attend meetings when they are called. Hopefully, they might be able to get involved in this issue.
Sorry if this sounds like a cop out but I am unable to give sufficient of my time on this one occasion.
I do hope that others on the FF step up and the Trust in particular see this as an issue they can lead on. Isn't this one of the things a Trust is for? It is in my eyes at least.
Exactly,.... there has to be better communication, not a website posting that reaches some of the fans.
I have requested that the reasons these decisions were made is raised as an agenda item at the next SAG meeting on 8th May. Although it may be a little late to do anything about it, certainly there will be lessons learned and what the Club can do better in the future.
To be honest, although annoyed about the late decision, I'm more down about the reports of racist chanting from some home fans.
Good to hear its moving and not surprised you are both already taking steps.
Dear Andrew
I am writing in response to your email regarding the post match arrangements that were put in place for last Saturday’s game versus Millwall.
I am sorry of your dissatisfaction with these arrangements, but I am also sure that you were unaware of the circumstances that led to the decision to close Floyd Road post match. I should also add at this point that we did advise supporters of these post match arrangements 24 hours ahead of the game via the club website, and again via the match day programme.
Whilst I cannot go into all of the details behind this decision, what I can say is that it was the club’s decision to ask the Police to close Floyd Road, on the grounds of safety, as we did not want both sets of supporters meeting in this area after the game. We came to this decision because at an earlier local derby game this season against Crystal Palace, a number of spectators were assaulted in Floyd Road, resulting in three supporters suffering head injuries, all of which required hospital treatment. Obviously, we did not wish to see any repeat of this, particularly as Floyd Road can be a flashpoint. Indeed both the club and the Police received a number of complaints from spectators saying that at high risk fixtures, home and away fans should not be allowed to exit together.
You may also be unaware that due to the poor behaviour of a minority of Charlton fans at the corresponding fixture at the Den before Christmas, when seats were broken, and a couple of them thrown towards the pitch, smoke bombs were ignited, and a marine flare thrown onto the pitch. There was also serious disorder post match between rival supporters. These actions resulted in what should have been a normal derby match, posing a much greater risk, as the Police intelligence confirmed to us that an element of the Millwall support were looking for retribution, and our overriding concern was the safety of all of our supporters.
As I am sure you are aware, as a club, we have no jurisdiction in relation to matters outside of the stadium, and once we were aware that the Police tactics were not to hold back the away supporters, our first concern was the potential ‘flashpoint’ in Floyd Road.
Whilst the Police advised us that they would have plenty of officers, and horses in that area to keep the fans apart, the safety team at the Club were not as confident, particularly once supporters reached the station and mingled together.
It was because of the above factors that we agreed to assist Police with the road closures. At no time were spectators held back or 'penned in'. the stadium. Ransom Walk was available for exit from 14.42, just twelve minutes after the final whistle went.
Once the Police confirmed that they had put a number of away ‘risk’ supporters on a train and this had left Charlton station, the Police were able to re-open Floyd Road to those supporters that remained behind at the stadium in the bars and concourses having a drink. At this stage, the Police had already re-opened Ransom Walk ten minutes or so earlier, so that supporters could access the lower Woolwich Road.
As regards Charlton Lane, the British Transport Police had concerns about the number of persons who might use the crossing and stressed the fact that any incident or near miss on the crossing would result in the closure of the line. This is why the Police closed off access to the rail crossing in Charlton Lane, although we were unaware that they were going to reinforce this area. We were under the impression that supporters would be filtered through here as opposed to it being completely closed off. It seems that the Police in this area did not use their discretion, something their colleagues in Ransom Walk did, as they allowed elderly supporters and those with walking difficulties to use Ransom Walk as and when they arrived in that area.
I am aware that some of our supporters were upset with these post match arrangements, but I accept full responsibility for these, and from a safety perspective, everybody managed to exit the area in a safe manner without incident.
Please accept my sincere apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused you, but also be assured that this course of action was taken with the safety of our supporters paramount in our thoughts.
Sure, it was not ideal that Millwall had priority at the station but would rather that a few had to walk a little further than usual than there was violence or vandalism.
I am sure aspects could be dealt with better and there are always issues but if it went smoothly, then hey, it worked in my book.
Club is in a bloody poor state as far as I am concerned. We have had many games with high risk fans before & we have never been treated like this so why now.
Seriously thinking about not renewing season ticket, may change my mind but the way I feel now doubt it.
Does Mr Everett really believe that a number of high risk millwall fans were put on a train whereby Floyd Road reopened ?
Both the club and the Met need serious lessons in communication.
As things stand, they can poke next year's season ticket.
Might as well have Kenny Everett in charge, seeing as we're now a joke club.
The next stage I believe is to try and get a meeting with the local constabulary, and also try and make representations to the club that on these sort of occasions fans should be involved, at the very least it makes better PR that they are listening, but more importantly gives fans some ownership of the issue, and an independent direct exposure to the issue for those then directly affected.
The Trust as we see it has several roles giving fans a voice, on these kinds of issues in the match day bracket, but also on a strategic long term future for the club such as finance, so it is well within remit.
That can take the form of fans forum or if we don't have access to the club for whatever reason we will write to them and make representations, or indeed ask members of the fans forum. We are currently if you read our website asking for submissions that we can take to the club. I don't know what else we can other than all of this.
After the communication was so poor beforehand I think they would be wise in taking their turn in making any more announcements.
It was one game and prob wont happen again. Move on