Gers wrote:
Early Sunday morning hangover post.
While not condoning violence, I genuinely didn't see any trouble, either inside or outside the ground.
I'll be 56 this year. Which means that I've been to footy in the 60's, 70's, 80's etc, etc, etc... There was bound to be some idiots around yesterday. It's the law of averages. But did any of ours get hurt? No!
Believe me. We really don't have a bad element within our support. And also believe me when I say I know what I'm talking about. I've been to Parkhead, as a Rangers supporting child. My father used to take me and my sister to footy on the 60's as he had a theory that he'd be alright if he had kids with him. And he was.
So to summarise...
Some 14yr olds visited Asda before kickoff. Bought some cider. Drunk it. Which transported them into a Danny Dyer fantasy, and I dare say at least one of them uttered the phrase "You mug". It's the following morning. They'll be nursing hangovers worse than mine, and probably feel a tad foolish.
Storm in a tea cup. You should've tried talking to them.
Amusing anecdotes, but I disagree about us not having a "bad" element.. Every club's support has an element of support that enjoy confronting away supporters, stewards, police, getting pissed and intimidating other fans and passers by (whether intentionally or unintentionally), and we are no different.
Comparing us to Rangers or football in the 70s/80s isn't a fair comparison to make as football as a whole is very different to then, and even the worst elements of other clubs in the UK nowadays are not as bad as their counterparts from 30/40 years ago. Certainly abroad is different (Russia, eastern europe in particular). I too know what I'm talking about, but from a different perspective to you.
It's all relative. For those that experienced problems at football in the 80's, they have probably witnessed a lot worse and on a larger scale. But that doesn't mean for the average football fan going to football with his family that witnessing behavior like that to a lesser degree isn't intimidating or wrong.