SL grand final - fans behaviour = reputation

[the-Bowtun-Warrior]

had an interesting conversation with a lady at work this monring.
she works as a steward at Old Trafford.
i'd asked her how the England v Argentina (rah rah's) game was last week and if she had a 'peaceful afternoon' as it was only a friendly.
'Oh it was fantastic' she said, 'much better than when your lot come in September ever year'. (our lot being RL fans at the SL Grand Final).

she went on to explain that even in the family enlosure at Old Trafford on SLGF night the RL fans are often a disgrace. most are highly fueled up on pop. often vomiting, spitting and even fighting (more fighting than you'd ever expect from none-football fans she says)
she explained that us RL fans have developed a reputation for ourselves especially at Old Trafford that we shouldn't be proud of.

i was quite embarrassed to listen actually.

i've not been to many SL Grand Finals (none other than those Wigan have been involved in) but for those who have, would you agree with the account the lady gives?

if so, i've learnt something today that i'm quite ashamed of. i often defend RL fans and RL as a sport when people refer to drinking and crowd trouble.
am i to quick to defend RL as a whole?

[MrDave]

I think in an England v Argentina match at Old Trafford you are never going to get the same sort of atmosphere as you would at the Grand Final. The crowd was smaller and I guess only a few Argentinian fans there so a much more relaxed atmosphere.

The Grand final on the other hand you have two large sets of supporters in the season decider. Everyone is fired up for the match and more than likely the two teams have meat in the play-offs already. In the Grand Final you can get both sets of fans in the same area without any problems. Most of the problems I have encountered at rugby league games are due to people drinking and those people are generally ejected from the stadium quickly.

I can image at the Grand Final there a few scuffles and some people might have been enjoying a few pints early in the afternoon but I don't think it does any serious harm to rugby leagues reputation.

What did the steward expect from a the final of a predominately northern sport which is aggressive (on the pitch)...everyone with prawn sandwiches and a cup of tea

[Sutty]

I've been to quite a few Grand Finals and I've always seen trouble at them. I think it's probably drink fuelled but it's really embarrassing.
I've been to Grand Finals that Wigan have been playing in and also to Grand Finals that we have not been involved in and there is always a fair amount of trouble. People being ejected for fighting and drunken behaviour, often fans from the same clubs fighting amongst themselves. I don't know what starts these pathetic outbursts, whether it's a difference of opinion on how the team is playing or what, but it's certainly disgraceful behaviour.
A couple of years ago when Leeds where beating Stains, there was a lot of trouble with Leeds fans, I can't imagine why people would want to fight when it's quite clear that their team is going to win the Grand Final.
Luckily this sort of behaviour seems to be confined, largely, to the Grand Final. Maybe it's because there are so many fans from different clubs at the same venue and the usual friendly banter just gets out of hand and things spiral out of control.

In response to what your colleague said, there is definately quite a lot of trouble at Grand Finals, certainly at the 8 that I've been to. And what's more, it seems to get worse and more widespread each year.

[the-Bowtun-Warrior]

I think in an England v Argentina match at Old Trafford you are never going to get the same sort of atmosphere as you would at the Grand Final. The crowd was smaller and I guess only a few Argentinian fans there so a much more relaxed atmosphere.

The Grand final on the other hand you have two large sets of supporters in the season decider. Everyone is fired up for the match and more than likely the two teams have meat in the play-offs already. In the Grand Final you can get both sets of fans in the same area without any problems. Most of the problems I have encountered at rugby league games are due to people drinking and those people are generally ejected from the stadium quickly.

I can image at the Grand Final there a few scuffles and some people might have been enjoying a few pints early in the afternoon but I don't think it does any serious harm to rugby leagues reputation.

What did the steward expect from a the final of a predominately northern sport which is aggressive (on the pitch)...everyone with prawn sandwiches and a cup of tea

we cannto blame the ethic of the sport for the problem.
and to almost excuse it because of that is half the problem surely.
same with Ale. its cannot be excused.

when we play the likes of Wire and STAINS i am one for having a good shout and calling the opposition team, fans and club as a whole. we all can do that.
but to be 'spitting and fighting' is just a joke.

[the_cow]

Doesn't surprise me at all- I went as a neutral in 2007 (i think. Sat in Leeds end and didn't enjoy the whole experience. Bad atmosphere with loads of drunks around us. Highlights include:

- drunk lad falling down 3 rows in front when getting up to celebrate a try
- man fast asleep during the second half cos he was hammered (least he wasn't aggressive)
- a fat saints chav bird sticking her heels in my mates back for no reason
- getting aggresively challenged by some random for asking someone to move out of our reserved seats (granted he was quite old and had moved to get away from some p1ss heads who were sat behind him) but there were no other seats around us to move to

Also, it doesn't help that Leeds have been there for the last 2 years- I find there 'fans' pretty awful and trouble seems to follow clubs from the Leeds area e.g. queens at Doncaster in CC this year, Hunslet fans abusing me and 'markill' at a blackpool panthers game.

An additional problem is that all the part-time fans come out of the woodwork when a team get to a final. They don't have experience of rugby league games and fall into the football mentality. Throw in a few drinks and it's hardly surprising trouble ensues.

[botica]

Doesn't surprise me in the least. When i first started watching Wigan , it was a compromise my dad made because he was scared to take me to football anymore. Rugby was great, never any trouble, (except when Warrington came to town) sorry PnB but ist true. Now when i take my Children i feel scared for our safety, more and more are drunk and shouting abuse, fighting and general agression... The Saints game at home for one example i came out of the SS and next to SS bar two lads were giving it some, whilst others stood and watched. I broke that up!! When we got to the car park, some big lad with no shirt on was pushing a lad around and getting quite aggresive, this lad was with an elder man who was clearly distressed and just trying to get him in to the car... That was just on my route back to the car park. Imagine on the bigger scale... its a shame but it is a fact, hooliganism is creeping into our sport. Is it because it is cheeper to watch SL than Prem footy?? it makes me ashamed too. :eh:

[gpartin]

Our last GF v Bradford was my sister in laws first ever game of rugby. We left at half time because Wigan fans were fighting amongst themselves in huge numbers around us. I cheered myself up on the fact that most of them had scouse accents.

[gw]

Bloody hell where do you lot sit, i've never seen any trouble at any Grand Finals, although I have only been to the ones wigan have got to!!

I think if you use the Magic Weekends as a marker it puts our sport in a better light than most, not many sports could put there whole top division in 1 city over 1 weekend.

The first weekend in Cardiff there was 1 rugby league related arrest according to the police!!

[MrDave]

we cannto blame the ethic of the sport for the problem.
and to almost excuse it because of that is half the problem surely.
same with Ale. its cannot be excused.

I think the fact that Rugby League is a predominately northern sport is one of the major causes of violence at rugby games. Rugby League and football in the north have a similar problem in that a lot of the fans especially younger fans come from 'rough areas' of the town/city. Just think of place in Wigan you wouldn't like to walk through at night or the trouble you get at Salford because of the location of the ground.

I would say that at the majority of games the fans there, even from the 'rough areas', are there to watch the match. The problems come a long when you get the part time supports especially at finals. They come a long more not really interested in the sport probably just coming a long to drink.

In an ideal world you wouldn't want any fights at rugby match but in an ideal world you wouldn't like fights in general but it is going to keep happening. I would not say there is a major problem in rugby league not to the point were rugby needs football style stewarding/policing or ban on alcohol in the stands.

What is needed is more awareness by the fans and stewards to identify problems before they escalate. If someone turns up drunk then make sure they are ejected before any trouble starts, if there are groups of fans likely to clash get the steward to keep an eye on them. The last thing rugby league needs is football style policing were fans are being turned away from grounds just for singing too load. Those trouble making 'part time' supporters are not going to go away but what you don't want to is to make the problem worse with over aggressive policing.

[sheepdip]

Bloody hell where do you lot sit, i've never seen any trouble at any Grand Finals, although I have only been to the ones wigan have got to!!

I think if you use the Magic Weekends as a marker it puts our sport in a better light than most, not many sports could put there whole top division in 1 city over 1 weekend.

The first weekend in Cardiff there was 1 rugby league related arrest according to the police!!

Totally agree. I have seen many people drunk at finals over the years and the only minor trouble I have ever seen is when Wigan have played Warrington. I watched football in the early eighties, now that was crowd trouble. Perhaps this lot are mistaken and were perhaps watching Millwall v Cardiff City instead.