City Stand Nutcase

[Swindon NCFC 0]

I wonder if any other supporters in the City Stand heard the various shouts of "you black etc. etc." directed at Marlon Harewood during the first half of the West Ham match.

At the time I really should have mentioned it to the stewards but a lack of them , coupled with an element of concern over how some nutcase might react towards myself & family for pointing the finger ensured that I didn''t raise it at the game.

However from the safety of home I contacted the club just to highlight the issues & to back up any comments my fellow supporters might have left with the stewards. I was advised that because I hadn''t raised it at that time, after the match was no use. They mentioned they would monitor it in the future but that''s all they could do. Bearing in mind I didn''t recognize him as a regular I assume he could be appearing in a seat near you soon.

I was assuming that as they had information on the seat of the individual they might be able to react but it appears they can only react if a steward hear''s it.
Presumably once something like that is heard you get out of your seat, locate a steward, point out the offender & ask the steward to keep a beady one on the culprit until he lets fly again.

Now I realise myself or others along the row should have taken this action immediately but I''m afraid being short in stature & built more for comfort than a scrap the last thing I wanted was for some idiot shouting who knows what to know that the guy in front of him had contacted the stewards & possibly have had him removed from the ground. I also had my 9 year old nephew & 80+ grandfather to watch out for too. I''ve also experienced some nutter being thrown out & the threats levelled at the poor guy that fingered him (so to speak) made Phil Mitchell look like Mother Teresa.

Obviously the club view this seriously but how do we highlight something during a game if the stewards only appear when somethings kicking off on the pitch?

Anyone else encountered something like this.

[Mook 0]

I would imagine if you have children then your priorities are different, but I think you should have told someone immediately. These people should be banned from society, let alone a football ground, and the fact that he will get one more week at worst to pollute peoples (including childrens) minds with unfounded, meaningless, racist claptrap is a travesty. I don''t expect everyone at a football match to be reading philosophy at Cambridge, but simple basic decency isn''t too much to ask, even for the most prehistoric knuckle-draggers in the crowd.

[Flyin High 0]

Being a steward myself, I can assure you that we all do the best we can to keep situations like this to a minimum. Unfortunately, there was a crowd of over 24,000 on Saturday and only 250 or so stewards. With this being the case, it does help when supporters come and have a quiet word to point out potential troublemakers! If this situation arises again, contact the nearest steward and just mention the fact that something is going on.

Regarding your comment about stewards only appearing when something kicks off on the pitch, there are obviously different stewards for different areas, and although everyone is important, the stewards in the tunnel have to be much more alert, because things can get pretty heated down there! Just take a look at the back page of tonight’s evening news.

[Chunky 0]

I too am a steward based in the City Stand. There are at least 2 stewards in every exit tunnel along the front of the city stand. It would not be obvious if you came down into the nearest exit and had a word and rest assured the situation would be addressed. People like this guy are not welcome at Carrow Road

[Swindon NCFC 0]

Apologies if I''ve caused offence to any of the stewards. I''m sure if there were more at every part of the ground I''d complain of a stewarding overkill.

It was built up from an annoyance at not acting sooner myself & also at the club for not being able to do anything about it (I realise now after the event is not good enough).

To be fair to myself on this, this individual shut up at half time (which was when I''d have seen a steward anyway) so nothing could have been done regardless or so it seems.
I wonder why it needs a steward to witness this & not a supporter?
Also it would be interesting to know what happens when a complaint like this is raised at the game & who has to hear what.

Apologies to anyone who has to sit by Neanderthal at the next game but maybe if they know action can & will be taken then they''ll step up & notify the correct person.

[Chunky 0]

No offence taken. The reason a Steward has to hear is probably down to the fact that you could end up with a ''he said / no I didnt'' type scenario. If we hear it we can take steps to address the situation.