Stewards in the Bench - giving us a bad rep?

[Rach]

Well the very first time i went to Plainmoor which was for the Vale game at the back end of last season a steward told a bloke near me to stop taking photos inside the ground! I had NEVER heard anyone told off for taking photos in all my years attending games and thought it was bizarre. Prick.

I had this at Barnet last season! Ridiculous!

[Dave]

Sorry come in a bit late on this thread, in answer to Nick's question, yes the stewards are giving us a bad name.Simply because they are not using their common sense, clearly saw them gesturing to the Stanley fans last Saturday to sit down, why ? There was only 83 of them in the bench.

My message is simple, as long as fans are not jumping on the seats or causing a problem let them stand up, just apply simple common sense its not hard.

[ferrarilover]

How many more times guys?

The FA insist that clubs take measures to ensure that seats are used for sitting. If clubs are found to allow standing in seating areas, the club concerned will face sanctions.

By way of proof, under a slightly different section of the same codes of practice, Manchester United have, for a number of years, had their away allocation much reduced.

Equally, it's both a civil and criminal offence to record the action, either in motion picture and/or still images. Once again, the club is liable to sanctions from the appropriate authorities if we make no effort to stop it.

It's not the fault of the stewards, they are there to enforce the rules laid down by the club which in turn are dictated by the FA, Football League, police, H&SE and others. The stewards don't give a shit what you do, they turn up, do as they're told and go home again. The same with "The Club", which is, after all, just a group of people. Do you think Andy Candy or Club Shop Julia really care about me or you taking photos?

Aim at the right targets and your words will become effective.

Matt.

[AustrianAndyGull]

Matt, you're so 'matter of fact' about some things mate and despite your clinical assessment of stewarding procedures at Plainmoor which i cannot fail to agree with, i think the crux of the problem that many fans have regarding the stewards is their blatant lack of initiative, guidance, ability to exercise discretion where deemed appropriate, general demeanour and most important of all, common sense. Sure they go to work, do what they are told and then go home again but with massively high unemployment in the area i'm sure the club could replace the 'offending' employees with candidates who are able to display better social skills, better communication skills which helps diffuse situations where they may be forced to give fans a ticking off, and have a greater understanding of peoples feelings overall.

Excellent post though and like you say, anyone with any real complaints should be directing them at the relevant people.

[stevegull]

From the club's point of view it's better to have people who follow orders rather than people who go about with their own rule book.

I assume the club would basically want to avoid any embarrassing stewarding incidents and so it's easier to employ people who stick to the rule book.

[ferrarilover]

That would be lovely Andy, but the sorts of people who want to have a bit of a chat about sitting down, over a nice cup of tea and a biscuit generally tend to be Vicars, and Vicars make terrible stewards. What you want in a steward is what you want in a Royal Marine, a robot built to follow orders and generally be a deterrent and, if necessary, be a blunt instrument of physical aggression to force those who will not comply.

Let us not forget, it is the stewards who are there to do violence on our behalf if things get ugly. God forbid it should happen, but if it all kicks off at Plainmoor one day, and you are in attendance with your Sainted mother, you'll be bloody glad of the meatheads (the stewards, not Dave and Paul).

Steve is also correct in his assessment that it is far easier and much less likely to go wrong (and ultimately, perhaps, cost the club a huge amount if something serious were to happen) if the stewards work to rule rather than try to judge each event on it's merits. With the best will in the world, we are not dealing with PhD candidates here, the less thinking they have to do, the better.

Matt.

[AustrianAndyGull]

Yeah i do get that Steve but sometimes stewards are so rigid in their refusal to help that they are often unprepared and unwilling to even find out answers to peoples questions, they have a role as customer service assistants at the end of the day representing TUFC as a club. Maybe you've hit the nail on the head there anyway by saying it's better to have people following orders. That is indicative in itself that many stewards are indeed too thick to comprehend anything other than simplistic instructions and that is why they have the job. I can fully appreciate that if you have a horde of meathead Grimsby fans kicking off then you want to see a line of Arnold Schwarznegger lookalikes in high vis jackets to make you feel better; however, on many occasions i have seen stewards interacting with fans and having a bit banter and helping them out and not being total fannies which has a positive response from away fans and curbs any aggression that may be festering. It's swings and roundabouts i guess but ideally we want someone who looks like Dave SG but who also has social skills, humility and common sense ( sorry Dave! :slap: )

NOTE: I used Grimsby fans as an example as they really are a bunch of fish filleting anii. Plus Schwarznegger was Austrian didn't you know?

[Gullscorer]

Rules are made for the obedience of fools and for the guidance of the wise...

[AustrianAndyGull]

Rules are made for the obedience of fools and for the guidance of the wise...

I like that

[Dave]

Joachim von Ribbentrop went to work every day, did excatly what he was told, and shouted but I was only following orders as they hung him.

Don't get me started on health and safety officers, and their very best friend "the magical fairy" The thing most of them use to justify their very large pay packets for doing ridiclous risk assesments, you know the one, if that 15 stone bloke stands up, the magical fairy could swoop down and lift him up and throw him down 3 rows of seats, and oh the injurys.

Stewards don't come much worse than the ones down at Plymouth, best part of 4 rows of us stood the whole game down their, they never told us to sit down once.

As stated just use your common sense, for pitty sake its not difficult, and can produce amazing results.

[ferrarilover]

You either didn't read, or didn't understand my post, Dave (I don't blame you ). They CAN'T use their common sense, because the FA/UEFA/FIFA/police/H&SE rules don't allow them to. But that they could.

Matt.

[Gullscorer]

The same elf'n safety people who flattened all the gravestones, crosses and memorials, which had stood solid for generations in the cemeteries..?

[Dave]

You either didn't read, or didn't understand my post, Dave (I don't blame you ). They CAN'T use their common sense, because the FA/UEFA/FIFA/police/H&SE rules don't allow them to. But that they could.

Matt.

Read it and understood it, thats the thing stewards can use their common sense, as said stood up all the way through Plymouth away, stood up all the way through Hereford away, stood up all the way through Cheltenham away, stood all up all the way through the Cambridge play-off final at Wembley no less, not once told to sit down by anyone.

See real evidence of stewards using the good old grey matter, 109 shots fans 83 stanley fans, in an area that can hold 450 just let them stand, turn the good old blind eye, just be ready to step in if needed, it happens at other grounds, it can happen at ours aswell.

[Plymouth Gull]

Or just put them back in the terrace! I wouldn't have thought we'd need to lay on any more stewards than the amount we have in the Bench already!

[Glostergull]

Hi Guys
For those who haven't seen it. There was a reply from Mr Candy which I put in my post at the end of the post about the Yeovil match incident.