Zero Tolerance

The Worthington Cup 4th Round provided another trip for Evertonians to St James Park — but tell me what saint would treat away travellers like they do, even though we are close enough to the Gods when we try to watch from the incredible heights of the away section way up in those stands.  St Christopher needs to have a word with St James, me thinks!

During and after the Worthington Cup game I had a lot of fans telling me about unacceptable police conduct in the Northeast, yet again.  Sadly, I saw it for myself.  There were five arrests that night and a few ejections.  Now I know not all of our fans are saints but if we had the same amount of arrests at every away ground we would be worse than Millwall or Cardiff in reputation; thankfully, we are not.  Why do we not have that reputation?  Well our fans don't get arrested or ejected in numbers at other away grounds like we do at Newcastle with frightening regularity.  Now, why is that?  Well, all I can say from my experience is that Newcastle police have a zero tolerance towards away fans, an attitude that is unlike any other Premiership ground.

In the past, Sheffield has been nearly as bad and, to a lesser degree, Villa — thankfully, a lot better now.  Those of you who were at St James Park in the FA Cup game in 1999 will remember the shocking treatment of our fans young and old rather than the game or scoreline.  Then, Inspector Peacock of Northumbria Police admitted there was a policing /stewarding problem and apologized via the Liverpool  Echo and me.

He said at the time he was not present at the game but ,due to the amount of letters he received of complaint, he knew something not quite right had happened.  He said when you receive one or two phone calls or letters then it goes with the territory of football games but, when it went into the hundreds and the amount of bad publicity it received, then there was a problem.  Ken Rogers of the Liverpool Echo was present at that game with his son and was horrified by what he witnessed.

After that infamous FA Cup tie, we had a game at the same venue a few weeks later in the league and the change was dramatic.  The police were opening doors, serving you tea and showing you family holiday snaps.... well, nearly.

Now, don't get me wrong: not all the police or stewards are bad.  But, like any walk of life, you remember the bad more than the good — especially when it affects you like the Newcastle police /stewards can.  I've had a laugh and joke with some of the Newcastle police in the past, some showing their Sunderland tops on underneath their uniforms and telling you they hope Everton stuff the skunks!

Anyway I had a phone call over the weekend from radio Newcastle telling me they had a lot of phone calls once again from irate Evertonians about the bad police treatment yet again.  They asked me to go the Mike Parr morning program on Radio Merseyside along with Inspector Dave Jackson of the Northumbria police, to discuss the claims of Evertonians.

Before the radio interview, I did a straw poll of fans around the country from other Premiership teams.  Not surprisingly our treatment is echoed by them all.  So it was not a persecution of just Scoucers in the Northeast then.  In fact, just for the record, police treatment of football fans is not great at the other two Northeast Premiership venues.  So why is this?  Is there a rogue band of police allocated to Northeast games?

The morning of the interview, I started by saying that I was not just another moaning scouser, I just wanted to resolve this situation as best we can — especially as we would be returning in a few weeks time.  I said there was a definite problem of policing at Newcastle.   It was the only place in the country were we experience this zero tolerance type of policing.  It is a football match after all were tensions run high — especially in a cup game as exciting and fluctuating as the last one.  It's not as if you are policing an opera.  I said, to be fair that if the police surrounded the Newcastle crowd in sections like the away fans I suppose their treatment would be the same.  Geordies are like Scousers, they are passionate and love their football but they would not tolerate the same treatment, I'm sure.

We don't reciprocate this type policing at Goodison.  We don't stop away fans' coaches, search them and delay them.  We don't stop fans jumping up or down during the game or having banter with the home fans, to a degree anyway.  If this kind of policing works on Merseyside, why can't you treat us the same, Inspector Jackson?  If you treat fans like animals, some will react like animals.

Inspector Jackson defended their policy saying that the arrests were justified and fans ejected / arrested warned first.  "We have video footage if you cared to view it?  There was also some seats broken." he added
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I asked about the excessive arrest procedure were I have seen for myself fans dragged down stairways arm locked and head locked.  I told Inspector Jackson the cruelest thing that happens to the arrested fans is them being kept behind — sometimes hours, until there is no possible way of getting home other than a very expensive taxi ride.  One member of our coach was kept locked up until one in the morning last week and had to get a hotel room for the night, followed by a train journey home next day.  His crime was drinking excess alcohol at a football match.  Now the lad was not that drunk but how many times have we seen Geordies at Goodison who had had a few?  Some of the other Everton fans arrested were luckier and got out about midnight to be greeted by waiting friends in cars.  Our coach could not stop that long — we were in a convoy.

A local Newcastle fan came into the radio discussion and endorsed everything I had said saying that when they travel the length and breadth of the country they do not suffer the same kind of zero tolerance treatment.  He added that Newcastle policing was given a bad reputation amongst football fans.  He was almost apologetic to us.  I wished them luck against Feyenoord.

Mike Parr the radio presenter asked would I carry out my threat of having neutral observer's at the next game between Everton and Newcastle.

I replied that I hope through this discussion we would not have to go to that extreme.
I have liased with Sharpy through all this; Graeme is aware of the Evertonians' experiences at this venue and is genuinely concerned.

Maybe we are wrong and play up to the waiting police audience now at St James, but I think we as football fans are not that bad.  I know of many Evertonians who will no longer travel to St James Park because its not worth the hassle they experience.  We all have a drink, sometimes too much on the long drive to a distant away game, I don't consider it a major crime though unless violent or a nuisance with it.  But why do they sell any alcohol at the game if they don't want you drinking ?

There is a fine line in all this policing at football games; it's not always easy.   But disturbingly I find that some of the Newcastle police enjoy all the confrontation, conjured up by themselves sometimes.

Of course Inspector Jackson will stand by his men and women officers but I hope deep down that he adjusts that fine line of policing more towards the football fan mentality and not of the marauding opera fan.  Some arrests may well be justified but others I fear not.  The football arena can be a cauldron of emotions at times, that's why we love it.  A place to enjoy each-other's company, get behind your team, will them to win and be entertained.  Part of that entertainment is the banter from away fans.  Would we rather have no away fans?  I for one would not.  Do the Newcastle police not want away fans there ?

If you have experienced the Newcastle policing policy at it's worse, then you will know its worth doing something about all this.  Even the reds who travel to the North East will agree with us on this subject.!

I'd like to thank all those who posted / rang about their experiences last week at Newcastle.

Ian Macdonald
Everton Independent Supporters Association

EVERTON ARE RISING

14 November 2002