Fans on pitch against Palace

[GregS]

Ridiculous how much of a deal is being made of a few fans running onto the pitch.

'Away from the footballing side, a few mindless City 'fans' decided to replicate events at Upton Park this week and run onto the pitch to celebrate. To many cheers, they were swiftly escorted from the stadium.'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/606/A56425232

How can you compare that to what happened at Upton Park??! I was front row and had 1 leg over the barrier ready to run on but thankfully my brother pulled me back. Its such an amazing experience when the players run towards you, it was an uncontrollable action lol. But there was only a few fans anyway - definately did not warrant the level of security they decided to put out after that incident (which blocked my view of the 2nd goal)

Also, interesting to note, the ref had a word with Tevez warning him not to go over to the fans when he scored. Why was this not the case with that stupid dick Stanislas who did his best to stir up trouble.

[john68]

Greg,
Years ago mate, it was not uncommon to invade the pitch in order to celebrate something special. In fact it seemed to be the rule at the end of the last game of the season. It was a great feeling to get onto the grass in order to allow the joy to be expressed. At Leicester in the FA CUP 1967, we were allowed to sit round the running track, even after we had charged onto the turf to join in the team's goal celebrations.
Sadly, those days have gone. That sort of freedom of behaviour was stopped due to the many incidents of violence at and around grounds and the need for the clubs to stamp their authority on crowd behaviour.

The situation is much different now and the playing area is considered sacrosanct. Following the incidents at Upton Park, considering that Palace use the same Police force and the fact that the authorities and media are even more sensitive than usual to pitch invasions this week, It would seem an act of gross stupidity to invade a pitch and for your sake, I'm glad your Bro dragged you back.

[Kippax]

Not sure that too much is being made of this Greg, it's the first time that I have seen this mentioned apart from in one of the Broadsheets, although I haven't done too much report reading since the game.

I agree that the circumstances are different to that of the West Ham/ Millwall game but the fact remains that we all know that we shouldn't run onto the pitch and yet some people still seem to be unable to control themselves, I could of understood it if it had been in the Semis or Final lol.

With regard to the beefed up security following the goal, well that remains the fault of the few unthinking fans (note I didn't say mindless) who ran onto the pitch and not that of the Stadium Security officer. unfortunately if you give some people an inch (as in relaxed security) then they will often take a mile.

As you were near the front Greg, I would be interested to know if any of those who encroached onto the pitch actually got ejected. I was further back and couldn't really see, but it looked as if there were so few stewards there, and those that were there didn't really know what to do, and most who ran onto the pitch got back into the crowd.

Kippax.

[Slim]

and it's a very poorly written 606 article.

[Twobob]

Greg,
Years ago mate, it was not uncommon to invade the pitch in order to celebrate something special. In fact it seemed to be the rule at the end of the last game of the season. It was a great feeling to get onto the grass in order to allow the joy to be expressed. At Leicester in the FA CUP 1967, we were allowed to sit round the running track, even after we had charged onto the turf to join in the team's goal celebrations.
Sadly, those days have gone. That sort of freedom of behaviour was stopped due to the many incidents of violence at and around grounds and the need for the clubs to stamp their authority on crowd behaviour.

The situation is much different now and the playing area is considered sacrosanct. Following the incidents at Upton Park, considering that Palace use the same Police force and the fact that the authorities and media are even more sensitive than usual to pitch invasions this week, It would seem an act of gross stupidity to invade a pitch and for your sake, I'm glad your Bro dragged you back.

Agree with John on this one, actually wasnt aware that anyone had done this, and hadnt seen it reported nywere until now.

Cant compare it to Upton Park, but as John said it wouldnt have been the best timing!

I think there's a fair amount of leniency given to pitch invasions for Special results (i.e. getting to the final stages of the comp etc). Getting through to the 3rd round of the Carling cup doesnt fall into that FFS

[GregS]

The majority of the fans that run onto the pitch managed to get back into the crowd. However, the stewards caught a 15 year old I think and ejected him from the ground. This caused a very big argument with the stewards and the boys Dad who claimed the boy was pushed over.

The stewards were pretty clueless. At the end, I heard one of them call a city fan a "w*****" which I thought was very unprofessional. However, I don't know what caused his reaction. Either way, the steward should have adopted a more professional approach.

Also, it was in a couple of the papers mentioned about our fans - that we "spoiled SWP's celebration" so I'd have to disagree with you a little there about it not being reported.

[Niall Quinns Discopants]

I think they are making a meal out of it. It looked on the telly like some people actually had run a long distance to get there to celebrate with SWP but the way Selhurst is built, the stands are basically right by the touchline so they were probably yard away from their seats I'd assume. No harm done.

What does that have to do with it kicking off in Upron Park.... I don't know.

[King Kev]

It's all very well saying that you can't compare this incident to what happened at West Ham but what if some Palace fans had got pissed off by the actions of the City fans (imagine how pissed off we'd be if away fans invaded the pitch at Eastlands after scoring) and reacted by running on to the pitch to confront the City fans!

In the end it all seemed to pass off without much incident but let's not ignore what could have happened!