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Post by scooter on Dec 18, 2003 14:49:01 GMT 1
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Post by wiganshrew2 on Dec 18, 2003 14:59:02 GMT 1
Oh, No- that's all we need, isn't it? We need to do something to counteract this kind of attitude. It stirs up trouble with that certain element who would be quite happy to loseSTFC altogether and consign Shrewsbury to being simply a cultured backwater- and let Telford have it all. Has TBH's letter been published, do you know? I might write sometime to point out that, being an "exile"- I only go to Shrewsbury, these days, to watch Town play- then, of course, I do shopping, too- and other "exiles" probably do. (So we bring money into the Town!) If we don't fight for it- this lot are going to block any New Meadow plans there are. (Am I being a conspiracy theorist or what!)
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Post by Deleted on Dec 18, 2003 15:01:16 GMT 1
It's always a very good point wigan shrew. Undoubtadly the football club brings an awful amount of money into our Town.
Unfortunatley councillors like Mr Lord are efficient at pointing out problems but do little to make suggestions for improvements. Neither do they check facts - or have any problem with using hearsay and conjecture.
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Post by stuttgartershrew on Dec 18, 2003 15:22:28 GMT 1
But I thought there wasn't any problems on the day of the Telford game...there was even a piece in the Star that congratulated both sets of supporters for their behavior. Was there trouble?
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Post by Deleted on Dec 18, 2003 15:29:56 GMT 1
The letter refers to the Hereford United game.
I've sent Cllr Lord an e-mail - hopefully he will see it as constructive and well mannered.
It does frustrate me that he asked for action to be made and yet
a) Suggests no rememedies b) Like Stutty says - ignores the fact that the Telford game, a game with a higher attendance than the Hereford match, went off without incident. c) Calls the trouble makers 'fans' - when the vast majority of incident on the day of the HUFC game were instigated by people who weren't at the game.
In no shape or form do I defend the parasitic minority that associate themselves with our club but I do feel Cllr Lord has not been accurate or helpful with his letter to the Star.
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Post by JLShrews on Dec 18, 2003 15:41:47 GMT 1
I have sent a E-mail asking the club to make a statement, will they? I don't know, what I do know is that STFC are not responible for every crime commited in this town, the trouble that does happen happens on other occasions as well like every Friday/Saturday night do we have to take that as our problem as well, no !just shut all the pubs and clubs, ruin the genuine pub/clubbers nights out. I Hope that the star and chronicle are enjoying this, they started the mess with some very bad reporting, its they who should apologise.
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Post by True_Shrew on Dec 18, 2003 15:57:22 GMT 1
"It's bad, but it will probably get worse, unless something is done now"
Two reasons why this ****wit is wrong:
1. All the local derby games have been at home so far this season so it's unlikley trouble will plague the Town again.
2. There will be no local Derby's next year as our neighbouring football club's arn't in Division 3. Problem sorted ;D
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Post by stuttgartershrew on Dec 18, 2003 16:26:44 GMT 1
Ah...my mistake...sorry, thought he were on about the Telford game...
Sad that people are always looking to pick fault when small incidents do occur but say nothing about the vast majority of games that pass without a problem...
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Post by petetheloon on Dec 18, 2003 17:00:41 GMT 1
Right so let me get this straight. We now have a councillor moaning that the football ground is too close to the town centre and is therefore causing problems.
You'd think the logical solution was to move the stadium away from the town centre where the problems would be contained?
But no, another councillor has already been moaning on about that for the past few years.
Just can't win. and its funny how these councillors never heard the people of the town moaning when they decided to build their offices on a major town car park thus reducing parking spaces.
Half the problems in this town comes from this stuffy councils reluctance to sport and actually finding something decent for young people to do. They would all rather moan than find a solution. When I was a kid me and my friends had to go to Telford on the train for something to do, as they had a multi screen cinema, a bowling alley and an Ice rink because we were just bored in shrewsbury at the lack of things to do.
The council have always been the same. they are reluctant to move forward in any way shape or form, and if they had their way we would still be in the dark ages throwing buckets of s**te out of our windows.
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Post by petetheloon on Dec 18, 2003 17:02:36 GMT 1
sorry kind of lost track mid rant there Only just noticed after reading it back!!!
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Post by Pilch on Dec 18, 2003 17:19:16 GMT 1
dear lord
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Post by Deleted on Dec 18, 2003 17:34:59 GMT 1
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Post by wiganshrew2 on Dec 18, 2003 18:05:36 GMT 1
Just e-mailed this to The Shropshire Star-
Dear Sir,
I am a Shropshire-born "exile" now living in the Wigan area, and a Shrewsbury Town supporter. I was dismayed to read the Councillor Paul Lord's letter in The Shropshire Star today, December 18th. Why does Councillor Lord assume that the yob activity to which he refers was caused by Football fans? Only a little more than week ago, the Shropshire Star was congratulating the behaviour of both STFC fans and Telford fans at the local derby match day.(Star- Wednesday December 10th.) There is "yob" activity in most towns; I read about vandals and yobs disturbing the peace of small Shropshire towns like Market Drayton, the town in which I grew up; but that is not caused by football fans. Councillor Lord is displaying flawed logic: Some people who call themselves football fans indulge in anti-social behaviour; there has been vandalism in Shrewsbury, therefore it must be caused by Football fans. I would suggest that the kind of people who indulge in this kind of behaviour are not football fans at all, they are mindless vandals. Shrewsbury Town F.C. is indeed addressing this problem; since the vast majority of true Shrewsbury Town supporters are appalled by violence and destructive behaviour, they have signed The Fans' Charter, an initiative originating with the fans themselves. I have relatives living in Shropshire, but visit Shrewsbury almost exclusively to watch matches at the Gay Meadow. When I am there, I also do some shopping. I have also brought a friend from Scotland with me, since I was proud to show her around this lovely county town.I have also brought my grand-daughter to a match with me. Every time I have attended a match at Gay Meadow, I have been impressed with the behaviour and the friendliness of my fellow fans. I am certainly not a football hooligan, I am a teacher by profession and also a grandmother; I would hardly wish to go to matches if I felt threatened in any way. If there has been an occasion on which some trouble has arisen, I would suggest that it was not local STFC supporters- or Telford supporters, for that matter. I would advise Councillor Lord to make a hundred per cent sure of his facts before blaming Shrewsbury Town Football Club. Shrewsbury would be very much poorer without its Football Club. There have been occasions when Shrewsbury was brought to the attention of the whole nation because of the team's famed performance against Everton last year. Also, I happen to know that there are Shrewsbury Town F.C. fans countrywide- and even world-wide. This can only be good for the town, when people from far and wide are coming in, spending money in the town; many stay in local hotels when they visit. Shrewsbury Town needs its new stadium and, instead of carping and complaining about Gay Meadow being too near to the town centre, why do councillors such as Mr Lord take a realistic, long-term view and do all they can to secure, for Shrewsbury, what Telford has in terms of a new stadium, leisure complex and hotel. The beautiful centre of the town would remain unspoilt but visitors would then be well-catered for with out-of-town state of the art facilities. You can have the best of both worlds, and Shrewsbury will flourish as a result. Please stop adopting a narrow-minded bigotted attitude and let's all work together to ensure that this beautiful town and its noble football club flourish. From a Proud Salopian, Pauline Griffiths
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Post by Nick on Dec 18, 2003 18:15:59 GMT 1
Well done, excellent. Being an ex-exile, I have an empathy with you. The amount of people who know Shrewsbury through our football club is endless.
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Post by ShrewsAde on Dec 18, 2003 18:43:27 GMT 1
Nice one Wig.
It turned me into that cross-eyed monkey reading it though after a full day on the pc.
Funny cos I penned a reply which referred to the said person as a 'narrow-minded bigot, plus other things' but failed to post it as I didn't want to post whilst riled! / In anger
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Post by wiganshrew2 on Dec 18, 2003 20:42:29 GMT 1
You should have posted it- then he'd know it wasn't only me that thought he was one (a narrow-minded bigot, I mean) I was a teeny-weeny bit cautious- I accused him of a "narrow minded bigotted ATTITUDE!" (He can change that, can't he?) Sometimes, the things we write in anger can be effective, don't you think?
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Post by Deleted on Dec 19, 2003 1:31:52 GMT 1
Dear Councillor Lord, I read with some interest your letter posted in the Shropshire Star today (18th December 2003). However I must reveal that some of the content of it frustrates me. While I do appreciate there is a problem connected with the football club in terms of a minority of ‘bad-eggs’ who associate them with football I believe you have missed out some vital content to create a potential discussion on the subject. Firstly you describe the troublemakers as ‘fans’. The problems faced in town on November 22nd when STFC played Hereford were largely caused during the game. If these people were ‘fans’ then they would have been inside Gay Meadow at the time watching the game. Please do not misinterpret my argument at this point; I am in no way, shape or form defending this parasitic minority. However your comment that the problems will ‘probably get worse’ is potentially misguided. STFC and the local police constabulary do work together and have been doing so to eradicate such problems. Dozens of arrests and subsequent banning orders have been placed on those to be found guilty. The police have also recently held a meeting with STFC supporters’ groups to discuss their policies on the subject. It is worth noting here also that while STFC can suggest policy but ultimately it is the local force that tells the football club of what tactics it will employ. Also, there is no mention in your letter of the recent derby clash with Telford United which passed virtually entirely without incident. Hopefully this is an indication that the police and football club are learning all the time of how to battle this minority. I do find it frustrating that STFC gets such a bad press when it undoubtedly creates tens of thousands of pounds each year for our wonderful town, as well as providing much positive national press coverage for the town. You only have to look at the recent press coverage (and more subsequent additions to the letter pages) regarding the ‘Tree of Light’. The Shropshire Star ran a front-page story after the event slating football hooligans. However when the CCTV was looked at it was seen that the event place hours after the football crowds had dispersed; even the rotary club who are responsible for the tree have acknowledge it was local ‘yobs’ who were responsible. Yet there was no such sensationalism from the Shropshire Star in admitting its mistake. Neither has there been such a story revealing the donation made to the tree of light by one of the STFC supporters’ groups. Thanks for your time in reading my e-mail. I hope if you do have any further ideas as to how the police and football club can rid the problem of this nasty minority you do take them to the club and respective force. Public announcements, while alerting attention, do little in terms of acting as a remedy for the problem. I hope you also realise that 99% of people associated with the football club are good, loyal members of society. Yours Anthony Thomas www.blue-and-amber.co.uk
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Post by ThrobsBlackHat on Dec 19, 2003 2:03:54 GMT 1
Dear Councillor Lord, In September the Shrewsbury Town Supporters Umbrella Group launched our "Fans Charter", which has already been signed up to by over 400 regular fans It reads: STFC FANS CHARTER
As fan of Shrewsbury Town Football Club home or away I will NOT: ľ
v Commit any act of violence
v Incite violence of any sort
v Use any type of racist abuse
v Consistently use foul or abusive language
v Enter the field of play at any time
v Do anything unlawful
I request that the club takes necessary action in consultation with supporters groups to prevent the above activities.
This has been on the front page of the Chronicle, I have done four radio shropshire interviews and the Star have covered the story too.
The fans of Shrewsbury Town utterly disassociate ourselves from anything relating to anti-social behaviour.
I went to see Shrewsbury versus Telford. I work for a Church run Community Centre in Longden Coleham. I went with my father, John Matthias, a respected Family Doctor who has worked for twenty years in the middle of Sundorne. My father was a governor of Holy Cross Junior School for over ten years. My mother also came, she is a former english teacher who helps run a Fair Trade shop on St John's Hill, and also has is a governor of the Sixth Form College, having previously been a Governor at Meole Brace Senior School and SCAT, as well as being a former president of Sutton Farm Women's Institute. I also my girlfriend, she is from Shrewsbury although is now at Cambridge University studying Theology at New Hall College. Her father came with me too, he is a local Church minister. These are all people who regularly watch Shrewsbury Town, with some seeing up to 40 matches a season.
Shrewsbury Town Football Club represents a huge cross section of our town and our county. It is the largest sporting institution in the county, a source of national publicity and also a great leisure activity for many thousands of people every week (current average of 4200)
If any small group of mindless idiots wants to cause trouble anywhere for any reason then that is awful. If those same idiots choose in some bizarre way to try and associate themselves with football then I find that disgusting and they are not welcome.
Please do feel free to contact me. I would love the oppotunity to discuss this further with you. I would love to find out ways the Council would support fans initiatives to maintain our excellent behaviour record, which is a source of pride to us and to our town.
Please also try and make sure if you do refer to this small group of people who don't wear club colours and don't go to matches please please please do not refer to them as football fans, or associate them with Shrewsbury Town for one second. Many of them can't go to games at any football ground in the country because they are banned anyway.
The club has worked very hard with the local police to ensure safety of everyone. The fans groups are working very hard to keep our house in order and maintain our excellent record and reputation. 6700 watched the Telford match and the police rightly praised the fans behaviour.
A letter like the one you sent to the Shropshire Star does nothing to improve the situation, and serves only to discourage the upright members of our local society who are working so hard to keep football in the town trouble free.
Please bear these issues in mind the next time you feel there is a problem, and feel free to contact me and maybe we can discuss it and think of ways we can work out a solution.
Also, please be fully aware that the potential new Stadium site would have far better potential for access of security and emergency vehicles, have a much clearer catchment area of open fields and would not have many local pubs or be within walking distance of the town centre. The New Meadow site is ideal for a modern, well controlled and well policed venue, with far fewer people going via the town centre.
Kind regards,'
Dave Matthias
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Post by RuytonShrew on Dec 19, 2003 9:36:49 GMT 1
Both good letters but just thought I would make two points:
1. Ant, that's great but the point about no story on the fans donation to the tree of light is a little unfair as you haven't even made the donation yet and have not contacted the Star in Shrewsbury to tell them as far as I am aware (I was actually planning to mention it to the Shrews reporters today for you). From what I glean on another thread, you have contacted the Chronicle. Their deadlines at this time of year by the way means it won't be in until after Christmas probably. We could get it in Monday's paper.
2. Dave, another good letter but if you are sending it to the paper then it is almost certainly too long to be printed in full. It would be cut quite a bit so it might be better to try and make the points yourself in less space then you are in charge at least of which bits are cut.
Neither point is meant as criticism so please don't take offence!
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Post by TBH on Dec 19, 2003 10:48:44 GMT 1
It's not for the Star, i have emailed it to him privately I am still waiting for the star to publish my original letter
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Post by wiganshrew2 on Dec 19, 2003 11:46:37 GMT 1
Would it be worthwhile sending my letter directly to this person? (I'm not sure where to send it, though.) Mine is also a long letter, but I'm trying to make the point that (a) STFC is an asset to the town, bringing visitors, who spend money in the town...etc... (b) These visitors need facilities (equal to or surpassing the facilities that Telford already has.) (c) On the occasions when I (as a visitor) have attended matches, the behaviour of supporters has been exemplary. (Unfortunately, in my haste, I made a grammatical error- it should have read " why DON'T councillors...etc..) If I sent a letter directly, I would slightly re-vamp it- and leave out the " narrow minded and bigotted attitude" bit. Anyway, I will abide by the majority decision. I will take your most valued advice, everybody!!
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Post by The Shropshire Tenor on Dec 19, 2003 15:49:20 GMT 1
ChrisH, do I take it that you are connected with the Star? In which case I would be interested to know the editorial policy on the content of letters published in the paper.
It appears to me that anything will be printed regardless of whether it contains untruths and inaccuracies (so long as it does not contain anything that may expose the paper to legal action).
Also, why is a slander on thousands of decent people allowed to be published annonymously?
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Post by scooter on Dec 19, 2003 17:58:34 GMT 1
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Post by wiganshrew2 on Dec 19, 2003 18:55:06 GMT 1
Have revised my letter- and sent it via e-mail direct to Cllr Lord.
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Post by Gallon on Dec 20, 2003 1:57:43 GMT 1
email to Cllr Lord:
Dear Mr Lord, you are Tory knob who looks like a overweight hamster.
Thanks for reading this.
Yours whatever
Gallon
Dont worry i didnt send it ;D
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