Davie Weir Loyal
Well-Known Member
These articles surface every few years but this one is particularly full of nonsense.
Seriously? "Worst night of violence? That is an absolute slap on the face to all the victims of the manchester bombings. People actually died. Fucking horrifc
That hadn't happened yet.Or the Arienne Grande concert?
That hadn't happened yet.
aye, that's the one I'm meaning mr boots. Proper braindead article.Or the Arienne Grande concert?
It's a quote from the judge they're referencing.aye, that's the one I'm meaning mr boots. Proper braindead article.
I see what you're saying however the article was posted today with that title. It obviously isn't the worst night of violence in Manchester and we shouldn't pretend it is.That hadn't happened yet.
I see that, however it's simply not true and to caption that post as that it plainly and simply wrong.It's a quote from the judge they're referencing.
They were happy enough to take the moneyManchester Police didn't want Rangers fans to travel.
Manchester was not prepared for the numbers that traveled.
I've said since that day that turning the screens off and the resultant skirmishes were the best option.First off, there are a number of throbbers in our support. HOWEVER, stepping off the train on the day of the game it was obvious that there was going to be an issue. They clearly planned for 30k, hoped 50 would turn up and had to put up with 200k plus. Toilets? About 15 in the square. Food, drink and basic facilities running out by early afternoon and the turning off of the screens. Mental. They should have had 4 or 5 events in parks on the outskirts. They are lucky nobody was killed.
Manchester police were woefully prepared for the numbers we would bring. Complete naivety on there part and a big reason why there was trouble. Funny how 150K went to Spain two years ago and had not trouble whatsoever with the Guardia Civil who aren't exactly shy about getting stuck in to travelling supports.
Absolute bonkers too that Old Trafford Cricket Ground was used for coach parking, but sat empty for the game.I actually wrote to the chief of police weeks BEFORE I headed down for the final warning then that every single Rangers fan I knew was heading to Manchester and the numbers would be astronomical.
I suggested opening up Old Trafford with big screens to take 75,000 off the streets as a starts to deal with the numbers.
Totally ignored. No response. The council and police were 95% to blame for the shambles. Some of our fans let us down, though. Would be stupid to ignore that simple fact.
Funny how the BBC in Newcastle headquarters, blasted Manchester for being ill prepared, and couldn’t organise a piss up in a brewery at the time. This was when CSC Pacific Quay was well and truly putting the boot in. Our Board have never learned to just Ban them totally, and Turn the Presbyterian Cheek!
These articles surface every few years but this one is particularly full of nonsense.
Worse night? Manchester, the city that was bombed by the IRA and they also had the Manchester Arena terrorist bombing for christ sake! What a OTT dramatic load of bullshit.
These articles surface every few years but this one is particularly full of nonsense.
Totally agree. I’ve never attended an event that was as badly organised. A complete failure on the part of the authorities. The pavements couldn’t take the volume of people, the train station was a death trap. My Train stopped at Piccadilly and folk were not able to get off due to the platform being completely rammed, no toilets, food and drink from early afternoon, Police officers completely overwhelmed with no contingency plan. I said before the final - put events on at parks/stadiums across the city. They came out and said they were expecting ‘up to 50k’ to visit the city. I honestly don’t know how there wasn’t multiple fatalities.I've said since that day that turning the screens off and the resultant skirmishes were the best option.
If we'd scored that night, we would have seen fatalities in Piccadilly.
It was seriously overcrowded 8 hours before kick off.
Yeah it was pretty obvious early doors it was going to end the way it did.A lot of hyperbole in that article (comparing it to the Blitz!!) but the judge got this bit right ;"It had nothing to do with football rivalry", he added, "and everything to do with drink."
i knew as soon as I got there mid morning and guys were already absolutely wrecked that it was going to be carnage.
Headline should read, 99.99% of football fans enjoy final without incident.39 arrests says otherwise out of 250k in attendance absolute bollocks.
Piccadilly was unsafe and if we scored there would have been injuries all over the place.Manchester was brilliant until their council and organisers made a total james hunt of it with the screen failure.
Had the screen worked properly in Piccadilly, I doubt there would have been any violence or trouble on the scale of which happened later.
People were antsy, annoyed and irritated because they’ve travelled a couple of hundred miles to watch the game, bevvyed up and ready to watch their team, and then all hell breaks loose.
It was a brilliant day out until the police started to get heavy handed and very very uncooperative.
They shut the train station down completely until about 50 guys bust open the shutters to get in, they blocked off every street towards the station and batoned any person who went near them. I got chased up a lane with around 30 folk with them chasing us and swinging as hard as they could, the bastards. I nearly got smashed in the leg with one and it missed me by millimetres as a ran.
The police were a shambles that night. There were zenit fans throwing street bins and fighting with whoever they wanted but the police wouldn’t go near them.
The whole thing after the game had finished was a shambles.
Rangers fans defended themselves rightly, and the Manchester council should have been ashamed of themselves for their handling of it.
Headline should read, 99.99% of football fans enjoy final without incident.
A few dozen fans fighting riot police and some litter. It was hardly the Rodney King riots.
Apparently the police wanted a fanzone in Heaton Park, but shopkeepers association ( or whatever you call it) wanted us in the city centreManchester Police didn't want Rangers fans to travel.
Manchester was not prepared for the numbers that traveled.
Piccadilly was where the free buses dropped you off. It’s no wonder it was the scene of the trouble.A lot of hyperbole in that article (comparing it to the Blitz!!) but the judge got this bit right ;"It had nothing to do with football rivalry", he added, "and everything to do with drink."
i knew as soon as I got there mid morning and guys were already absolutely wrecked that it was going to be carnage.
It wasn't just him apologising though, The fat junkie and former council leader Purcell had the brass neck to apologise on behalf of Glasgow!As was pointed out in post #13. The Grande concert hadn't taken place at that point.
Just glancing through the article in the OP, I thought this was some look back in anger scribble from the present day.
What I'll never forget is that fat slug Salmond and his party apologising to the people and city of Manchester for the behaviour of Rangers fans the previous night.
Not bad for a party who have fought to keep RC paedophiles out of jail.
In a nutshell.Manchester Police didn't want Rangers fans to travel.
Manchester was not prepared for the numbers that traveled.
Did they not say at the time they were worried about injuries if Rangers scored? Cos it was so crowded?Any mention of the reasons the cops gave when they finally admitted it was them who turned the screens off?