Its says in this article that
"This year, as in 2003 and 2004 when Manchester United
visited, we had to reduce the capacity in the away end
by some 400 seats. This is because their fans insist
on standing, and as a person who stands takes up more
room"
So a person who stands suddenly puts weight on and is
bigger? What a load of rubbish. As for united fans
being bad can the Charlton explain the heavy handed
stewards? I didn't see any united fans misbehaving
just the stewards.
[48] Charlton site slating our visit www.rednews.co.uk
Monday, November 21, 2005
but nowt about heavy handed stewards
'Charlton are to attempt to ban Manchester United fans
from The Valley after a female member of staff was
sexually assaulted and a steward was injured when
trouble erupted for the third time in four seasons
during Saturday's
3-1 defeat.
A male United fan was arrested and charged with sexual
assault on Saturday afternoon, and spent the weekend
in police custody - one of six away fans arrested.
The female member of staff had been helping disabled
fans in the away end and was in the area to the rear
of the stand when the assault occurred.
"It is utterly despicable that anyone should be
subjected to this sort of
attack," said Charlton chief executive Peter Varney.
"I have never heard of anything like this at a
football match before, and we would like to thank
those Manchester United fans who witnessed it, and
came forward to make statements to the police."
Three of the six arrested were fans who encroached on
to the field of play immediately after United's second
goal, when scorer Ruud Van Nistelrooy headed a group
of United players towards the visiting fans to
celebrate.
This led to a large number of United supporters
surging forward, causing a metal gate to break and
crush a steward, a man in his mid 30s from Essex.
What happened on Saturday is extremely disturbing, and
something we are not used to at Charlton.
"The steward was merely trying to do his job and
prevent people from entering the field of play, but
such was the pressure from the surging fans he
sustained bruising to the ribs and had to be treated
by our club doctor," said Charlton's operations
director Mick Everett.
"As further stewards and security staff went to the
scene to restore order, they were pelted with broken
seats and spat upon. This continued throughout the
remainder of the match and eventually we took the
decision to withdraw stewards from the stand for their
own safety.
"After the game, our safety officer and the police's
match commander made an
official report to referee Mike Riley, who although he
had booked Van
Nistelrooy, was not aware someone had been injured. He
said he would be
including this in his match report."
Ironically, in 2002, another Van Nistelrooy goal
celebration led to a crowd
surge at the away end which saw three fans injured and
one steward
assaulted.
And when United visited The Valley in 2003, both a
male and female steward
were the subject of physical assaults.
Even before Saturday's match had kicked off, Charlton
had been forced to
reduce the capacity at the away end, as they have done
for the previous two
seasons, in line with restrictions imposed by the
Safety Advisory Group
(SAG).
"The SAG works with the club on all fixtures at The
Valley, and includes the
likes of the Metropolitan Police, Greenwich Council,
the London Ambulance
Service and the London Fire Brigade," said Everett.
"This year, as in 2003 and 2004 when Manchester United
visited, we had to
reduce the capacity in the away end by some 400 seats.
This is because their
fans insist on standing, and as a person who stands
takes up more room in a
row than someone sitting down, the safety advice is
that we don't sell any
of the seats directly next to an aisle to leave more
room.
"This is the only Premiership game we have to take
these measures for, and
it is also the fixture where we have the highest
number of security staff
and stewards on duty."
It is the third time in four seasons we have had
trouble like this, and when
you consider the extra safety and security measures we
take for games with
Manchester United, you begin to wonder whether it's
all worth it.
Now the Addicks are to propose banning United fans for
future games at The
Valley.
"What happened on Saturday is extremely disturbing,
and something we are not
used to at Charlton," added Varney.
"David Gill and Sir Bobby Charlton were representing
Manchester United on
Saturday, and they are both decent men who I am sure
will be as horrified as
we are to learn what happened.
"It is the third time in four seasons we have had
trouble like this, and
when you consider the extra safety and security
measures we take for games
with Manchester United, you begin to wonder whether
it's all worth it.
"By reducing the capacity at the away end, we also
estimate we lost in the
region of £30,000 on Saturday, and similar figures in
the previous two
seasons. However, it is more the principles involved,
rather than the sums
of money.
"I think, when we see the reports from the police and
the local authority,
it will leave us with little alternative but to refuse
to sell tickets to
Manchester United fans for future games at The Valley.
I'd rather have the
away end empty than to run the risk of further
incidents like those we saw
on Saturday."
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