Stoke Fans

[Benwell Lad]

Can I also add that I stopped over in Newcastle on Saturday. We had drinks in Shearers bar before and after the game and went around town at night and experienced no trouble at all. Shearers Bar is a great place, I wish we had something similar at Stoke. The Geordie people were great, excellent night out.

 

You sound like a true fan Delilah and as such you'd always be welcome around Newcastle.

 

However to say Stoke City's hooligan element is no worse than any other in the league is continuing to turn a blind eye to the problems.

Stoke's backward hooligan element is one of the worst in the UK and fans around the country know that even if you prefer not to.

Police only work on statistical facts and their operation and numbers around certain bars on Saturday (Black Bull etc) was unprecedented this season (tactical support units, mobile video surveillance etc) and will not be seen again apart from our derby match.

They weren't out there for fun, they were out there because they know like most people in football do, that Stoke City have notorious, cowardly and violent element who follow them.

[Guest whydelilah]

Marko, if I’m being 100% honest with you, you risk the chance of being targeted by some piss-head/lout in Stoke City centre as they are about. If you stick to the pubs near the ground (The Harvester, Power League) you will have no trouble, that I am sure of (well as sure as I can be anyway).  

 

Whenever I travel away there are certain guidelines I go by as I fear you run the chance of being targeted by any teams’ louts if you don’t. Take Saturday for example, I knew I would be around town and stopping over in Newcastle so I didn’t wear colours and I didn’t go around gloating or singing Stoke songs after the match. Me and my mates just kept ourselves to ourselves and we had a great night. The few Geordies we did speak too were top-draw and we had a great night with no problems. If you stick to those types of “rules” or “guidelines” I have no doubt you will have no trouble when coming to Stoke. It’s a shame you can’t wear your colours with pride and mingle with other fans but if you want to be 100% sure of not getting into mither I fear you have to drop the colours, that’s just a personal opinion.

 

On a personal note, I chose not to drink in Stoke centre purely because it’s a bit of a sh*t hole and in need of huge revamp/redevelopment.

 

[marko1892]

me? drop my colours? meh do i have to? Looks like im drinking in Birmingham again before the match then

[Guest whydelilah]

Benwell Lad, I beg to differ but it’s all about opinions.

 

We are targeted by police unfairly IMO, the greater Manchester police is a prime example. When we played Man Utd a few weeks ago around 60 or 70 Stoke fans from one pub in Manchester were served with Section 27 notices and returned to Stoke from Manchester in coaches they put on. There were fans in the pub who had driven up and weren’t allowed back to their vehicles, they were deported back to Stoke and had to travel back to Manchester to collect vehicles. All of those fans missed the game and lost out on a lot of money.

 

I don’t know if you are familiar with section 27 (look it up if you don’t, it’s unbelievable) but basically the basis for the police taking this action was that “they thought their might be trouble there later on”. All the fans were given 2 options, sign the section 27 form and sent back to Stoke or be arrested. All the witness statements taken from the pub said there was absolutely no trouble whatsoever and there was no “leery” type of behaviour (football songs being sung etc). The owner of the pub even gave a statement saying there were no problems whatsoever and would welcome the Stoke fans back in a second.

 

This is the kind of action that is out-of-order and completely wrong IMO (action is currently being taken by Stoke against the Police).

 

[Guest whydelilah]

Marko, you don’t have to, I’m just saying when I go out drinking in other towns for away games I drop the colours just to be on the safe side. 

[marko1892]

ive never had any trouble with any game ive been to really. were not trouble makers as you and your mates aren't we just like a good session before the game and on the train on the way back

[Guest whydelilah]

Same here Marko, I’ve never gone looking for trouble and I’ve never (ever) been involved in any trouble in all my years supporting Stoke.

[Benwell Lad]

Benwell Lad, I beg to differ but its all about opinions.

 

We are targeted by police unfairly IMO, the greater Manchester police is a prime example. When we played Man Utd a few weeks ago around 60 or 70 Stoke fans from one pub in Manchester were served with Section 27 notices and returned to Stoke from Manchester in coaches they put on. There were fans in the pub who had driven up and werent allowed back to their vehicles, they were deported back to Stoke and had to travel back to Manchester to collect vehicles. All of those fans missed the game and lost out on a lot of money.

 

I dont know if you are familiar with section 27 (look it up if you dont, its unbelievable) but basically the basis for the police taking this action was that they thought their might be trouble there later on. All the fans were given 2 options, sign the section 27 form and sent back to Stoke or be arrested. All the witness statements taken from the pub said there was absolutely no trouble whatsoever and there was no leery type of behaviour (football songs being sung etc). The owner of the pub even gave a statement saying there were no problems whatsoever and would welcome the Stoke fans back in a second.

 

This is the kind of action that is out-of-order and completely wrong IMO (action is currently being taken by Stoke against the Police).

 

 

The fans who suffered that day have my sympathy, many have suffered from over zealous policing around greater Manchester and West Midlands in the past.

I believe what you say and wish all SCFC fans had similar attitudes to watching their team play and have a good day out.

 

All I know is that only once have I seen innocent supporters being randomly punched and kicked (and I go back to the 70s) around SJP and that was when Stoke City visited last season, it may happen when other clubs come but I don't think it does.

On Saturday I saw a group of SCFC fans who appeared to be wanting a fight with anyone for no particular reason. It was only the heavy police presence that held them back.

I speak to fans of other clubs (Wigan springs to mind) who say they always have trouble when Stoke visit.

 

You sound like a good lad, but unfortunately Stoke City are followed by some of the worst people in football.

They may not be true fans of the club and they may be detested by decent fans like yourself, but they DO exist and they ARE far worse than most other clubs followers.

[BlueStar]

Like I say, I lived in Stoke from 98-2002 and I found some of the fans to be a pretty nasty bunch (they seem to be big on the national team as well, never seen so many No Surrender tattoos across bare backs when England were playing).  I remember walking into Hanley one Saturday afternoon and pretty much everything being shut because Stoke were playing away and their "Naughty Forty" lot started trashing their own pubs when they went a goal down.  According to the Stoke Sentinel, when they were playing Port Vale away while I was there the violence started at 10am when the Stoke fans went down some street putting the windows in of shops and take aways owned by ethnic minorities...

 

Wasn't there a link on here to a thread on a Stoke forum about how much they were looking forward to playing us in the cup because they wanted to setlle a score from some match in the 90s when it kicked off?  And then follow up threads telling people which pubs geordies were near and swapping storied of how many they'd decked?

 

Saying that, obviously during my time there I met plenty of Stoke fans I became mates with who were sound as owt, but there was certainly a nasty element in there, more so than most sets of fans I've encountered.  Not that some of our lot are any better, was pretty ashamed by some of the behaviour I saw at West Ham away this year.

[Guest whydelilah]

All fair comments lads but I’m bound to defend my club to the hilt. I’m not biased enough to say we don’t have a problem, we do. However I do believe the club has taken steps forward over recent years yet we still suffer the stigma of years gone by. I will not (and never have) defended mindless violence and I wish my beloved club didn’t have these idiots. They are a stain on my team and they are not football fans, they are mindless morons.

 

I don’t wish to get into a slanging match over this though so it’s best to leave it there.

 

All the best for the rest of the season.

 

WD

 

[Scoreboard82]

We are a direct team and we play long balls, so what? It's up to other teams to beat us, you weren't good enough and that's why you're struggling. You won't go down, but until big changes are made at your club you won't win anything for many years to come.

 

If Owen has any sense he will jump ship as soon as he gets chance, he is too good for you.

As far as not winning anything for "many years to come", I'm sure we can wait a bit longer after all the barron years gone by.

[Guest tonycunningham]

15 Taxis full of stoke fans in Gateshead just got out in low fell about 30 minutes ago. One police officer is in hospital after being stabbed twice by 2 of the stoke lot.

 

According to a bar owner from low fell..;

 

Anyone else heard anything?

 

Stoke City thugs 'went to the wrong street'

Dec 9 2008 by Brenda Hickman, Evening Chronicle

 

FOOTBALL hooligans were rounded up by police – because the louts arrived at the wrong street.

 

As the Chronicle revealed yesterday, thugs brought fear to streets after a fight pre-arranged on internet websites.

 

Wrekenton High Street in Gateshead was the scene for some of the trouble as the so-called Stoke City Firm were on the lookout for the Newcastle Gremlins.

 

But the majority of the Stoke City Firm ended up in Old Durham Road, instead of a pub in Durham Road in Gateshead.

 

The Chronicle understands Gateshead officers were alerted to groups of aggressive men gathering in Wrekenton by a concerned member of the public.

 

The violence had been planned after a history of animosity between the hooligan element The Gremlins and the equivalent from Stoke City.

 

But as the majority of the Stoke contingent didn’t find the right street, police were able to head off the Newcastle mob and arrest the majority of Stoke troublemakers.

 

Some disorder started in Stormont Main workingmen’s club and then the Seven Stars pub on the High Street. Initially four officers and a police dog were able to contain the thugs.

 

Twenty-five Northumbria Police vehicles were then sent, with dozens of officers drafted in to contain any fracas at around 4pm on Saturday. A police helicopter also hovered above the High Street in surveillance.

 

The trouble was planned while genuine Newcastle and Stoke fans were watching the 2-2 draw at St James’s Park.

 

Wrekenton High Street residents adjacent to the Seven Stars were terrified as several arrests were made.

 

Det Chief Insp Nigel Wilkinson said: “There were 28 arrests as a result of violent disorder on Saturday. Of those, the majority were affiliated to Stoke City, and two from Newcastle. Due to the complex nature of the inquiry, a dedicated team of officers has been set up to investigate the circumstances. All those arrested have been bailed until February.”

 

Det Chief Insp Wilkinson added: “We believe a number of a Newcastle element escaped before the police arrived. We are confident they have been identified and arrests will follow.”

 

Jean Cuthbertson, 55, of Victoria Terrace said: “I stayed well away. It looked organised. There were about 20 of them.”

 

Margaret Regan, who was working behind the bar at the Seven Stars at the time, said staff and customers were frightened but managed to lock the yobs out.

 

She said: “A group of them came in and said they were here for a bachelor do, which we obviously didn’t believe.

 

“They were a bit rowdy at the bar but they weren’t violent or anything – we had our suspicions about who they were, though.

 

“The police had obviously got word they were here and turned up soon after. All the Stoke fans then just ran off. All the violence was outside and we locked the doors and shut the curtains.”

 

:: Witnesses are asked to call Gateshead CID on 03456 043 043 ext 69191.