POLICE clash with BLACKPOOL FANS at EXIT CORDON

LeeCharlesTV

LeeCharlesTV

Well-known member
If the police try to blame good natured Blackpool for the trouble that they caused at the exit gates then I hope the football club see this as evidence. The POLICE were bang out of order and I captured it all for you to see.

After the game Police formed a Cordon across the exit gate and kept us in for about 10 minutes and if you watch this you will see that Blackpool fans were mostly well behaved even having a little fun CONGA line behind a line of policemen as they pushed their way through to bolster numbers at the front.

It was freezing cold and with new strains of COVID being reported this was not a great time to be doing this and as the numbers grew behind the pressure at the front was building up. This was a situation created by the police which was just going on too long and literally 15 seconds before they eventually started letting people filter out the police started lashing out at the fans at the front.

It was very unpleasant and for me totally unnecessary and if Blackpool fans get once again tarred with this brush of being hooligans and/or troublemakers then the club are welcome to use this footage as proof we are NOT!


WATCH this and judge for yourselves

 
It’s how they handled it, if they had announced that supporters were to stay in their seats and the gates will be closed for 10. Invites then you wouldn’t of had the confrontation at the open gates. Don’t forget the Birmingham fans were throwing bottles at the leaving pool fans over the fence. it all could of been avoided. Oh and it was absolutely Baltic.
 
Scaramanga said:
It’s how they handled it, if they had announced that supporters were to stay in their seats and the gates will be closed for 10. Invites then you wouldn’t of had the confrontation at the open gates. Don’t forget the Birmingham fans were throwing bottles at the leaving pool fans over the fence. it all could of been avoided. Oh and it was absolutely Baltic.
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I agree announcements would have helped but I’m pretty sure we were also held back before we left the stands.

Wasn’t aware of any bottle throwing but that would explain why the police suddenly decided to hold us back at the gate as well.

And yes it was cold.

But my point was that lots of posters on here have been calling for away fans to be held back as a matter of course. Maybe they’ll have a different view now that we’ve experienced it ourselves?

And by the way - knowing you’re going to be held back doesn’t make it any warmer.
 
Scaramanga said:
It’s how they handled it, if they had announced that supporters were to stay in their seats and the gates will be closed for 10. Invites then you wouldn’t of had the confrontation at the open gates. Don’t forget the Birmingham fans were throwing bottles at the leaving pool fans over the fence. it all could of been avoided. Oh and it was absolutely Baltic.
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Totally agree, opening the gates and then holding back fans at the exit with a Police line was pretty pathetic planning the officer in charge has a lot to answer for.
 
Mexboroseasider said:
I agree announcements would have helped but I’m pretty sure we were also held back before we left the stands.

Wasn’t aware of any bottle throwing but that would explain why the police suddenly decided to hold us back at the gate as well.

And yes it was cold.

But my point was that lots of posters on here have been calling for away fans to be held back as a matter of course. Maybe they’ll have a different view now that we’ve experienced it ourselves?

And by the way - knowing you’re going to be held back doesn’t make it any warmer.
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IMO keeping the away fans back for 10 minutes is still the best solution, just manage it better was my point. Oh and I wasnt using the point of the cold as reference to being held back, merely pointing out it was freezing.
 
From the looks of that it was one copper who got a bit trigger happy, caused a response which meant the rest had to join in.

More importantly, I'm glad we didn't start anything.
 
Hmmmmmm!!!!!
Not much there really a bit of unnecessary “pushing back” by the police at good spirited Pool Fans,
I personally think if there a “chance” of a confrontation away fans should be asked to stay in their seats for 10 mins.
As a home fan I should be allowed to walk the fastest route back to my car (iE through the North gate)
As an away fan I am prepared to be asked to stay in my seat for 10 mins. (In the interest of my own safety)
Police have a “good idea” if opposing fans are likely to be in a “hostile” clash in advance.
Unfortunately, both Blackpool’s away and home support has recently attracted an “unsavoury minority” who are currently causing unnecessary problems for the well behaved majority.
But fans safety whoever you support is paramount, irrespective of what any “left-wing Woke might try and lecture me to the contary about “human-rights” 🙄…….🧡.🚌🚢👍
 
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The police were a disgrace all day

Moving fans in the away end seats to stand in the gang ways was ridiculous

Were i was with my kids there were 2 people to each seat

Not a problem for me as my kids stood on their seats but why move people to stand in the gang ways causing over crowding

Then after the game as per video a line of police stopping fans from leaving.I pushed to the front to get out as i had freezing kids with me and at first they wouldn't let us out with raised battens

I actually had a police arm across my chest stopping me ...

Then the pushing and shoving then the aggressive police tactics

Apparently it was done to round up the young Blackpool fans who were on the train so they could get an escort back (not sure if the escort even happened in the end)

All the brain child of the Blackpool police according to a Birmingham copper who i spoke to at the secondary police cordon by the roundabout

** disgrace
 
Don’t count myself young but was on the train. No escort at all. The copper in the middle of the video was baton waving and loving it. A number of police had covered their numbers too so difficult to report them.
 
LeeCharlesTV said:
If the police try to blame good natured Blackpool for the trouble that they caused at the exit gates then I hope the football club see this as evidence. The POLICE were bang out of order and I captured it all for you to see.

After the game Police formed a Cordon across the exit gate and kept us in for about 10 minutes and if you watch this you will see that Blackpool fans were mostly well behaved even having a little fun CONGA line behind a line of policemen as they pushed their way through to bolster numbers at the front.

It was freezing cold and with new strains of COVID being reported this was not a great time to be doing this and as the numbers grew behind the pressure at the front was building up. This was a situation created by the police which was just going on too long and literally 15 seconds before they eventually started letting people filter out the police started lashing out at the fans at the front.

It was very unpleasant and for me totally unnecessary and if Blackpool fans get once again tarred with this brush of being hooligans and/or troublemakers then the club are welcome to use this footage as proof we are NOT!


WATCH this and judge for yourselves

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I got straight out at final whistle and what you didn’t see was a mysterious fight going on between Brum and Blackpool fans between the white 6 foot fencing which the police got involved in too

So by the time you were filming I was at MacDonalds - I am afraid to say that’s what caused the police to stop the mass exodus though why the were freely punching people seemed totally ott as there wasn’t any pushing going on in your video

This wasn’t our best day out - the whole day seemed cold and the fight taking place outside was a) a farce and b) caused a huge inconvenience for the majority - I hope all the idiots who left early to start the fight enjoy theircourt appearances and please never come back - we don’t need you
 
I wasn’t there so cannot comment but the video is a bit inconclusive as it doesn’t show exactly what went on at the front to cause the officer to start using his stick (maybe trigger happy as someone mentioned )
Always difficult to get the right balance and why they didn’t just keep the gates locked I don’t know. A few shouts of “get into ‘em” from Blackpool fans but that was no doubt a bit of false bravado when you have a line of police between you.
Seeing all the brum fans walking away from the ground is no different than away fans being let out at BR and if our fans had been let out at the same time then there is the risk of our regulation numpties having a go
The answer is to hold supporters back for 10 minutes but it has to be done properly.
.
 
The batons were drawn way before this incident and some of the police seemed to want a confrontation...at one point they knocked two innocent Blackpool fans to the floor and were totally hostile hitting out indiscriminately...in the old days that would have escalated into something very nasty as six police were isolated and totally surrounded because they were behaving like pricks. Please do not blame Blackpool fans in this instance as it was police incompetency.
 
I'm known as one of the old fuddy duddies no doubt, but I feel that the whole exit plan was flawed.
w
There was no warning that this would take place, as has already been said I would gladly stay behind for ten or fifteen minutes, so long as I'm informed beforehand. I felt that by putting a police cordon across the exit was extremely intimidating.

I was hoping to get to New Street Station for an earlier train, but missed it by about five minutes.

I personally didn't see any need for the heavy handed treatment meted out to one or two younguns at the front.

I hope they caught and arrested the bottle throwers, but won't hold my breath.

All in all it was a badly planned and badly executed way of preventing away fans from exiting. Probably organised by a Police inspector off Trumpton.
 
Well if Phil is right above then it's just another example of Blackpool Police not knowing their arse from their elbow.
 
Curryman said:
I'm known as one of the old fuddy duddies no doubt, but I feel that the whole exit plan was flawed.
w
There was no warning that this would take place, as has already been said I would gladly stay behind for ten or fifteen minutes, so long as I'm informed beforehand. I felt that by putting a police cordon across the exit was extremely intimidating.

I was hoping to get to New Street Station for an earlier train, but missed it by about five minutes.

I personally didn't see any need for the heavy handed treatment meted out to one or two younguns at the front.

I hope they caught and arrested the bottle throwers, but won't hold my breath.

All in all it was a badly planned and badly executed way of preventing away fans from exiting. Probably organised by a Police inspector off Trumpton.
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Pushing small children around will never win the hearts and minds of the group as a whole. Especially when everyone is cold and fed up.
 
Curryman said:
I'm known as one of the old fuddy duddies no doubt, but I feel that the whole exit plan was flawed.
w
There was no warning that this would take place, as has already been said I would gladly stay behind for ten or fifteen minutes, so long as I'm informed beforehand. I felt that by putting a police cordon across the exit was extremely intimidating.

I was hoping to get to New Street Station for an earlier train, but missed it by about five minutes.

I personally didn't see any need for the heavy handed treatment meted out to one or two younguns at the front.

I hope they caught and arrested the bottle throwers, but won't hold my breath.

All in all it was a badly planned and badly executed way of preventing away fans from exiting. Probably organised by a Police inspector off Trumpton.
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What if the cordon wasn’t part of the initial plan?

What if it was thrown up in a hurry as a result of the fight Camberwell witnessed and the bottle throwing?

In other words if it was adopted in an emergency to prevent further trouble.

Are the police not supposed to react and adapt their plan if there’s a change in circumstances?
 
Lytham_fy8 said:
Well if Phil is right above then it's just another example of Blackpool Police not knowing their arse from their elbow.
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There is no doubt the Blackpool police were involved somewhere along the way, they were body searching the away fans as they went into the ground which l get given our reputation for lobbing smoke bombs etc, but Fr Bayern got a small bottle of hair product taken off her when they searched her bag so can you imagine the drama that ** caused!
 
Mexboroseasider said:
What if the cordon wasn’t part of the initial plan?

What if it was thrown up in a hurry as a result of the fight Camberwell witnessed and the bottle throwing?

In other words if it was adopted in an emergency to prevent further trouble.

Are the police not supposed to react and adapt their plan if there’s a change in circumstances?
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I spoke to a female officer and I said to her that it didn’t seem to be a sensible or well thought out plan. She completely agreed.


Even if it was an ‘adapted’ plan, why did the over zealous copper in the middle draw his baton and start hitting people for no reason? He was bloody loving it. I’d be the first to call out idiots but as Lee’s video showed, the crowd was good natured.

The antagonism was from the police who need to remember that they are citizens in uniform. No more, no less.
 
Hockaday’s Quiff said:
I spoke to a female officer and I said to her that it didn’t seem to be a sensible or well thought out plan. She completely agreed.


Even if it was an ‘adapted’ plan, why did the over zealous copper in the middle draw his baton and start hitting people for no reason? He was bloody loving it. I’d be the first to call out idiots but as Lee’s video showed, the crowd was good natured.

The antagonism was from the police who need to remember that they are citizens in uniform. No more, no less.
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I wasn’t defending the police especially and certainly wasn’t defending a copper who may have been baton happy. Nor was I criticising Blackpool fans who were indeed well behaved and good humoured where I was stood.

I was simply asking another poster how he knew the cordon was part of the original plan and not a reaction to developments on the ground? The fight and the bottle throwing that other people witnessed. If circumstances change then you adapt your plan.

From where I was it was mildly irritating but I’d forgotten all about it five minutes after leaving the ground. It was only the op that reminded me about it.
 
Mexboroseasider said:
What if the cordon wasn’t part of the initial plan?

What if it was thrown up in a hurry as a result of the fight Camberwell witnessed and the bottle throwing?

In other words if it was adopted in an emergency to prevent further trouble.

Are the police not supposed to react and adapt their plan if there’s a change in circumstances?
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They are in my book that’s what we pay them for.
However, I do believe police “proactive front line planning” leaves an awful lot to desire 🧡🚌🚢
 
Torycorner said:
They are in my book that’s what we pay them for.
However, I do believe police “proactive front line planning” leaves an awful lot to desire 🧡🚌🚢
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You’re probably right about the forward planning. Certainly plenty of people seem to think so.

That said I’ve never had any trouble leaving BR: just head west and then up Seasiders Way to the town centre. And last night was inconvenient but it was only for a few minutes so I wasn’t too bothered. I was at Twickenham the two previous Saturdays and had to queue for much longer. Obviously the crowds were much bigger, but if you attend large events you’ve got to expect to be delayed at some point. As you said - safety comes first.

I’m more annoyed at the prospect of having to wear a mask again whenever I travel by train to a
match than I am about these issues 😂
 
Hockaday’s Quiff said:
I spoke to a female officer and I said to her that it didn’t seem to be a sensible or well thought out plan. She completely agreed.


Even if it was an ‘adapted’ plan, why did the over zealous copper in the middle draw his baton and start hitting people for no reason? He was bloody loving it. I’d be the first to call out idiots but as Lee’s video showed, the crowd was good natured.

The antagonism was from the police who need to remember that they are citizens in uniform. No more, no less.
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I agree
I was at the front of the crowd held back
It was largely good natured at first with most fans seeing a stream of blues fans passing and the logic of not allowing both fans to meet was plain for all to see , but when that cleared, there was no explanation from the police as to why we were still being held
Then a push started from the back and people at the front were shoved towards the police line which unless you were careful ( and big and heavy like me ) meant you inevitably barged into the cordon
The tall copper everyone is referring to seemed to be in charge and was just looking for an excuse and initiated an aggressive push into fans who had no where to go
Total farce
 
The more i think about this the more i believe it was the Blackpool police who instigated this

Last time we played at St Andrews there was trouble up and down Coventry road ..

Was this in response to what happened 3 years ago ..

Probably
 
Lytham_fy8 said:
Well if Phil is right above then it's just another example of Blackpool Police not knowing their arse from their elbow.
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Phil wont be right. West Mids policing will be instigated by West Mids Police, nobody else,. There might have been input from Lancs Police by 'spotters' and intelligence regarding certain individuals, but that would be as far as it goes.

WMP has constantly been on the cusp of 'heavy handed' policing
 
If there was an announcement about being kept behind for a few minutes after the game then it wasn’t loud enough to be heard. Also home fans were throwing coins over the balcony from what I heard.
 
I was there, I just walked to the front of the crowd and asked a policeman if I could go through the cordon as I had a train to catch and they let me and my son through. They also let a few other fans through which is why I asked as my train wasn't til after 7 but like everyone else I didn't want to wait in the freezing cold with things getting a little bit heated at times. Nothing much to see here IMO but as some have said not very well thought out by the police, they could have kept us in the stadium for five minutes instead and avoided this.
 
Bend it like Suddick said:
Phil wont be right. West Mids policing will be instigated by West Mids Police, nobody else,. There might have been input from Lancs Police by 'spotters' and intelligence regarding certain individuals, but that would be as far as it goes.

WMP has constantly been on the cusp of 'heavy handed' policing
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Sorry ex old bill .

But you are indeed wrong

There is footage that clearly shows a sargent from Lancs Police in the thick of it barking instructions
 
Phil_bfc deux said:
Sorry ex old bill .

But you are indeed wrong

There is footage that clearly shows a sargent from Lancs Police in the thick of it barking instructions
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I refer to my previous post m'lud, spotting duties. My eyesight is not brilliant but it would be most unlikely a Lancs PS giving 'direction' to West Mids unless it was an individual they were after
 
I can only share my opinion of what I saw as we were only a couple of bodies away from the front of that, IMO there appeared absolutely no unrest before (we walked to the ground), during the game, or after the game. Granted I didn’t see the apparent scuffle between fans. If there was a scuffle wouldn’t there by much more going on at the start of that video though? As in wouldn’t the police be getting stuck in at the start rather than towards the end when there was nothing going on by the look of it. I never understood it at the time and certainly don’t see the need for attacking fans after watching all the relevant videos. I don’t condone some of our fans poor behaviour on certain occasions and on this occasion I certainly would lay the blame at the police and something needs to be done about it. They can’t have it both ways.
 
Bend it like Suddick said:
I refer to my previous post m'lud, spotting duties. My eyesight is not brilliant but it would be most unlikely a Lancs PS giving 'direction' to West Mids unless it was an individual they were after
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I'm guessing your evidence gathering days are over but there is enough footage about to back up my point
 
Phil_bfc deux said:
I'm guessing your evidence gathering days are over but there is enough footage about to back up my point
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Im not disputing what you say, more the ID. A West Mids Police Badge/helmet is virtually the same (except for the obvious inscription). Was you within a couple of feet to decipher it, or was they wearing a Lancs Police jacket.

If the latter, then I can only think that involvement has changed in recent times. There is no way my colleagues would have reacted to a Sergeant from another Force.
 
Bend it like Suddick said:
Im not disputing what you say, more the ID. A West Mids Police Badge/helmet is virtually the same (except for the obvious inscription). Was you within a couple of feet to decipher it, or was they wearing a Lancs Police jacket.

If the latter, then I can only think that involvement has changed in recent times. There is no way my colleagues would have reacted to a Sergeant from another Force.
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Its quite clear who the Blackpool copper is

He's known my several Blackpool fans on this site
 
I managed to sneak out past the police as they were busy arguing with a fellow fan who was using his mobile. I walked amongst the Blues fans and they were no bother at all.
I thought the majority of home fans were well behaved with some funny banter going on with the few lads in the stands above us throughout the game. I’m sure the police presence just makes things worse as they like to start trouble.
 
ForeverTangerine said:
I managed to sneak out past the police as they were busy arguing with a fellow fan who was using his mobile. I walked amongst the Blues fans and they were no bother at all.
I thought the majority of home fans were well behaved with some funny banter going on with the few lads in the stands above us throughout the game. I’m sure the police presence just makes things worse as they like to start trouble.
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Same here, walked straight through and joined the Blues fans, even had a convivial chat with a couple who agreed they didn’t really deserve to win. The police definitely over reacted.
 
Bend it like Suddick said:
Phil wont be right. West Mids policing will be instigated by West Mids Police, nobody else,. There might have been input from Lancs Police by 'spotters' and intelligence regarding certain individuals, but that would be as far as it goes.

WMP has constantly been on the cusp of 'heavy handed' policing
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Fair enough 👍
 
I believe some on here would love to blame this on our fans but that was not the case at all and the police were way too fast to draw batons and hit out and ask questions later. If the coppers at the front had been more friendly with banter and cracked a few jokes about how cold it was then there would have been no issues...instead they thought it would be better to smack a few fans for effect.
 
Hankey2009 said:
I can only share my opinion of what I saw as we were only a couple of bodies away from the front of that, IMO there appeared absolutely no unrest before (we walked to the ground), during the game, or after the game. Granted I didn’t see the apparent scuffle between fans. If there was a scuffle wouldn’t there by much more going on at the start of that video though? As in wouldn’t the police be getting stuck in at the start rather than towards the end when there was nothing going on by the look of it. I never understood it at the time and certainly don’t see the need for attacking fans after watching all the relevant videos. I don’t condone some of our fans poor behaviour on certain occasions and on this occasion I certainly would lay the blame at the police and something needs to be done about it. They can’t have it both ways.
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Completely agree it was actually quite surreal, yes it was cold, yes we just wanted to get back to our car ASAP, the Blackpool fans were having a bit of fun, sure there was a chant of Birminghams s sh1te hole but I'm sure the police have heard worse? But the lashing out at fans at the front resulting in a crush as fans backed off seemed totally unprovoked and ultimately unnecessary as they started letting people filter through within seconds.
 
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