Alby39 wrote:
Over the years I've developed not quite a soft spot but a affection to that club because one of my old friends (who I've lost contact with but nonetheless) was a fan. She came to the very first AFC game in fact, I got her a ticket because she found the thing so interesting. Through her I got to know a load of their lot on Twitter and other forums etc, and they've always carried themselves very well and self aware.
I'm speculating, but being from an area of neglect through government etc (different conversation depending on your political viewpoint but not withstanding) for decades, away from football it's had a stigma that a lot of people from Merseyside and Birkenhead etc really dont like, and I've often seen a lot of them say how for such a proud and together region there is a violent angry core that let themselves down. Same for a lot of things I suppose. Nobody wants to be associated with knife crime and murders and even less so how it affects how others look at you.
Myself, Dippy and a few others were in a really friendly pub after the game where a couple of their fans came over and were very kind and welcoming. Everything you saw on VFTOS was about football and about how good we were. The same as the people in that pub. Nobody made us feel like we had to keep our heads down because of the stuff outside the ground, in fact it was barely mentioned.
My only guess is that the scallies that were front and centre of it aren't proper Tranmere fans. They're local yobs who can't afford to go and support Liverpool or Everton, don't really care if they get banned or pinched.
I'm not here to properly defend them because the idiots who came around and kicked people and hit them because a footballer squirted an absorbant liquid in their direction are not to be defended - far from it. I just don't know if they're the face of the club that their true fans really want associated with them. I don't know how often they have occurrences like this but it isn't the first time it's happened - I was only saying to a fan at half time about a few incidents down the years from our visits there. Policing was poor, there was little to no protection afforded to those who wanted to avoid it, they were outside the away end throwing themselves at anyone they fancied. To be in a pub half a mile away with loads of Tranmere fans who were friendly and welcoming less than 20 minutes after and for a good hour and a half or so and have no issues whatsoever speaks volumes to me on what "that" group of people really are, and what the "other" group really are.
The irony being it was probably Liverpool fans fighting other Liverpool fans then. Mind you, most of ours are London, so probably a bit of Liverpool vs West Ham/Chelsea in there too.
Login
Register
FAQ
Search
