On Wednesday night, as our team was fumbling the ball on the pitch, the pyromaniacs were back doing what it is that they do, only this time someone filmed an incident which has quickly gone viral; one of their devices setting the hair of a fellow fan on fire. That’s prompted outrage in the commentariat and questions in the Scottish Parliament.
At last, at long last, this matter is finally coming to the boil, and that’s not a pun. Because it’s not before time. The away match experience is hard enough with the limited number of tickets, and heavy security at most grounds. The security is going to get a hell of a lot tighter and heavier as time goes by. That this has gotten such headlines and that it’s been noted by the politicos makes it virtually certain that there will be further legislative movement.
When are these morons going to get this? Pyro adds nothing positive to the football experience. Nothing. It is dangerous. It is illegal. It is a matter of time before someone is seriously injured, and that guy the other night could very easily have been.
People are, quite literally, playing with fire here and Scottish football should not wait until someone ends up in the ICU or the morgue before it does something about this stuff.
In the end, it is ordinary fans who will bear the brunt of this.
As the politicians lean on the clubs and the authorities what are their options? A grand total of one; to search everyone, at the point of entry, no matter how rigorous they have to get, no matter how long that has to take.
For those who keep on telling the rest of us that this will never be eradicated from grounds, they should remember that violence on the terraces was supposed to be there to stay and then successive governments passed laws handing out heavy duty prison terms for it and it almost vanished completely. So much for never.
It won’t even take heavy prison terms. Once the vast majority of the fans are sick and tired of being inconvenienced and herded like cattle because of a handful of yahoos the yahoos will be quietly or not so quietly be “encouraged” to leave it at home.
When fans are being advised to turn up two hours before games there will be a lot of grumbling and moaning at the police and the stewards, but the blame will lie with the small band of selfish idiots who want to bring this stuff to games and their numerous apologists who say the most ridiculous stuff like “the club has to work with these guys …” as though this simply required a little creative thinking and not a parliamentary vote and a change in the law.
This is not complicated. Those who are trying to make it complicated can be safely ignored as they contribute nothing to the debate, which we have to engage with realistically. As long as pyro in grounds is illegal the clubs couldn’t “work with the fans” on this issue even if they wanted to, and none of them do, none of them is daft enough. It is the responsibility of the clubs to obey the law and the job of the authorities to enforce it … the heavy hand does not cause problems; it is the problems which necessitate the heavy hand.
Once people stop breaking the law, the authorities will stop clamping down on those who do. That’s it, that’s the debate, and everything else is white noise. If you think pyro should be allowed in stadiums do not waste your time lobbying your club because there’s nothing your club can do about it. Lobby your elected reps instead but don’t be surprised if they fall back on the health and safety advice they’ve had on this matter which is that it’s unsafe and that nothing will make it safe. So don’t hold out any hope at all of a positive outcome because as I’ve said before, in terms of changing that law you could not get one vote for it. Not one.
Nobody in any position of elected responsibility will stick their neck out on behalf of football fans who want to play with fireworks inside stadiums. Without a change in the law, you are asking clubs to violate their own health and safety codes and open themselves up to serious legal liability if something bad happens on their watch.
And the only response people who point this out ever get is the moronic refrain “no pyro no party” which is their way of saying they don’t give a shit if it is dangerous and illegal, they’ll do as they please and if there are adverse consequences then it’s the world that is wrong and not them. Stupider people you’d be hard pressed to find.
That guy from the other night, he’s very lucky and I suspect he knows it. I suspect that those responsible for it got a momentary surprise but don’t consider that they were almost responsible for something very serious. They will never be able to grasp how serious. The events at Bradford changed ground regulations for ever. The events at Hillsborough changed stadiums forever. They just don’t understand what a bad injury or a death will result in here; some of the most draconian measures taken against fans anywhere in Europe. For keeps.
And what will make that certain is that every single one of us knows, and has known from the first, that just such a very bad outcome is just a matter of time and that makes it preventable and we’re still pissing about as though we’re waiting for it to happen.
That means that when it does the blame will fly hither, thither and yon and in an effort to divert it somewhere else every one of the bodies who could have stepped in will propose ever more extreme measures to make sure it never does again on their watch.
We’re sleepwalking into this with our eyes wide open.
It wasn’t really a problem at Parkhead when I was going and it seems to these days be more of a problem at Away games but as someone with asthma I wouldn’t welcome pyro smoke one little bit…
I would never lecture anyone for smoking marrow anna (I used to buy it for an ex girlfriend) or lecture about under age drinking (something I did myself) but I wouldn’t like to be smoked out even if it is our beloved colours of Green, White n’ Gold –
Speedy recovery to the injured fan(s) !
Get the idiots banned from all stadiums.We know who ours are.Free reign to do what they want,its been going on too long now.Get it sorted Celtic.
Absolutely ! This dangerous nonsense must end !
Light one in the main stand near where the directors sit and the problem will soon be solved
It may take the football authorities SFA SPFL and UEFA to step up with total fan bans or stand closures before certain people accept the consequences of their actions on their fellow supporters. Stewarding searches alone hasn’t and won’t be enough to prevent repeat offenders from their 5 minutes of fun. Sadly we all know the SFA won’t take the severe measures required.
I’m pretty sure this guys hair incident won’t stop the fool that set the pyro off from doing it again.
I just don’t get what the perpetrators are trying to achieve with their so called displays. The flares last but for a few minutes and who is impressed by it? It really is nuisance value only and only creates a temporary smokescreen that annoys the majority of the fans. Who are these daft wee laddies who are forking out a lot of money for basically nothing? It achieves nothing but I’m sure it costs plenty, it’s wasted money and I’m sure a bottle of Buckie would give them a buzz that far outlasts their pyros.
Dickheads, every last one of them, grow up FFS!
It is a problem at home games i sit next to them in area 112
Take them aside, batter the fuck out of them one by one.
Not complicated at all. Am near 70 now trust me it works.
Always has, always will. Most of the wee w@nk$t@ins couldn’t fight sleep either.
Lack of tickets and other issues mean away games are a bit of a rarity for me these days but the stewarding at home games especially is as bad as I’ve ever seen it and I expect it is every bit as bad elsewhere. Most of the young dafties around me are swigging Buckie and snorting coke with total impunity. The stewards, on the rare occasions we see them, often barely speak English and look utterly clueless and/or terrified so employ a “see no evil” approach. They are then hardly going to get proactive on the ‘porno for pyros’ muppets for £10 an hour just to receive little more than a sare face for their trouble. Like everything else, this can be dealt with if those in charge have the stomach for it…. they rarely do though.
So would you agree that everyone entering a football stadium be breathalysed before being allowed in, James?
Please note it is an offence punishable by law for any person to enter or attempt to enter the Stadium:
(a)Whilst in possession of a prohibited container which is capable of containing liquid and which if thrown would be capable of causing injury to another person;
(b)Whilst in possession of alcohol;
(c)Whilst drunk;
(d)Whilst in possession of any article or substance whose main purpose is the emission of a flare for purposes of illuminating or signalling or the emission of smoke or a visible gas; or
(e)Whilst in possession of any article which is a firework, and all persons entering the Stadium may be searched by the Club and/or Police Scotland.
In your words, James:
“This is not complicated. Those who are trying to make it complicated can be safely ignored as they contribute nothing to the debate, which we have to engage with realistically. As long as pyro in grounds is illegal the clubs couldn’t “work with the fans” on this issue even if they wanted to, and none of them do, none of them is daft enough. It is the responsibility of the clubs to obey the law and the job of the authorities to enforce it … the heavy hand does not cause problems; it is the problems which necessitate the heavy hand.”
Swap the word “pyro” for “being drunk” in your statement would you still say the same, what about people breaking the law by smoking in the stadium, snorting lines in the toilets etc, it’s all illegal James so let’s use the same argument as you do with pyro.
Your comment is illogical nonsense. I shouldn’t even have to argue this.
Drunk people aren’t generally that high a fire risk, except when they try to make chips. In my 40+ years of attending football matches all over the country I’ve seen some odd things brought to football matches, from inflatable bananas and beach balls, effigies and Scooby Doo outfits all the way through to mediaeval weapons and butcher knives, but I’ve yet to see anyone being in a chip pan…. not even at Millwall.
Hahahaha! Yeah, Milwall is where you’re most likely to see that 🙂
I don’t agree. Get the cameras on those using them and get them arrested at the time AND given life bans by the club. Would true fans want to risk that.