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On Saturday we left the New Forest at 10am and arrived at Yeovil Junction just on 12.40am after a good journey joining the train from London at Salisbury. As expected the train was full of Rangers the majority of which had drunk their fill by the time we got on but all in good spirits.
Our prearranged taxi at YJ was waiting and off to the Airfield Tavern we went. Never knew so many of our fans are called Mark, more than six taxi drivers all looking for Mark!! The pub was disappointing , not very busy but still a long wait to get served and the atmosphere subdued which only livened up when some guy walked through the bar in a Chelsea shirt and got what he deserved!
We walked up to the stadium arriving around 2.30pm and found nowhere to have a beer, no kiosk etc so tried our luck at the Yeovil beer tent just behind the main stand. Queued for two to three mins as by then it was one in, one out. Had to show our tickets only to be asked if we were local lads to which I replied ‘yes’ in my broadest Somerset accent. In we went and sank a few more pints before kick off, at £2.50 a pint, it would have been rude not to!
It was my lad’s first experience of terracing and he loved it, although I remember things were a lot more crowded back in the day, plenty of room yesterday.
The game as everyone by now will know was pretty dire from a Rangers point of view so I won’t go into that. I have a great video of the penalty from behind the goal that I’ll try to load up later.
After the game we made our way to The Arrow and found it to be welcoming with fans from both teams mixing and talking well and not too long a wait to get served. Good atmosphere with the odd chant and rendition of ‘we’re top of the league’ etc
Again our pre-arranged taxi picked us up dead on time at 6pm to take us back to YJ. Traffic was horrendous and we only just made it in time only for me to realise I’d left my phone in the cab. I ran back down the stairs and out of the station to find the taxi long gone. Phoned Radio cabs, on my son’s phone, and whilst waiting on the line their controller contacted the driver who confirmed he had it and would return to the station. We missed the train but got the phone back, so thanks to Radio Cabs.
By this time we had 35 mins to wait for the 7.30pm train and sat down and reflected on what a great time we’d had despite the footy being shi+te. Good craic in the pubs, especially after the game, and during the match. Where we stood the atmosphere was pretty good, we sang and had great friendly banter with the stewards and ourselves, a few ‘old school’ chants and of course plenty of ‘Dunne, Dunne, Dunne, Dunne, Richard Dunne, etc’
But this is when things turned a bit sour.
Whilst waiting on the platform we witnessed what I can only describe as my lowest point ever as a Rangers fan. I can put up with bad performances and results but not the kind of behaviour we saw yesterday by some of our so called loyal fans.
A female member of the station staff was abused to such an extent that she walked away from the situation only for one ‘fan’ to run after her to ‘have it out with her’ as he put it. Shouting abuse and swearing at a woman is bad enough but to publically verbally assault her sexually was outrageous and something I have never come across in all my 48 years. It made me ashamed to be associated with such people or should I say ‘fans’. Others in his party just watched, laughing at his antics and the situation.
My son, for what it’s worth, had the balls to confront him, only to be barraged with yet more abusive language, he stayed so calm and spoke so well without swearing, that this guy was left humiliated and deflated wandering off back to his mates with his tail between his legs. I didn’t need to step in before any of you ask, as I had faith in my son and his ability to handle the situation.
We seem to have a culture at QPR that when fans travel away it is of the utmost importance to get as pissed as possible to the extent that fans do not know what they are doing or how they are behaving. Travelling fans represent the clubs reputation and yesterday I was ashamed to be a QPR fan.
I am not a prude, I enjoy a drink with the best of them, but I know what my limit is and how far I can go before things could get out of hand. Sadly many of our travelling faithful do not. I witnessed Men who are old enough to know better, urinating in the street on the way to the ground, abusing staff and stewards at the stadium. With the fan at the station there were two or three youngsters in his party, what kind of example are we setting them? Not just as football fans but as people?
This kind of incident is not new to QPR, over my many years of following our team I had witnessed terrible behaviour not just directed to opposing fans but to our own supporters. Fighting before games between QPR fans is not new, I witnessed two fans getting stabbed inside Wembley at the Milk Cup final when Rangers fans turned on themselves. I thought I’d seen it all until yesterday
Sooner or later we may find ourselves with reduced away allocations and you wouldn’t blame clubs for doing so
To add to it all, whilst waiting on the platform just having got off the London bound train at Salisbury station, I heard a young lad say to his dad ‘why has that man on the train got a straw up his nose?’ That same man then went on to rub white powder across his upper teeth and gums in full view of everyone.
Is it a Rangers thing or do all clubs have fans like this?
Shame it was a bad end to a great day out, it won’t put me off following my team across the country, but I think it’s time some fans take a good hard look at themselves.
Our prearranged taxi at YJ was waiting and off to the Airfield Tavern we went. Never knew so many of our fans are called Mark, more than six taxi drivers all looking for Mark!! The pub was disappointing , not very busy but still a long wait to get served and the atmosphere subdued which only livened up when some guy walked through the bar in a Chelsea shirt and got what he deserved!
We walked up to the stadium arriving around 2.30pm and found nowhere to have a beer, no kiosk etc so tried our luck at the Yeovil beer tent just behind the main stand. Queued for two to three mins as by then it was one in, one out. Had to show our tickets only to be asked if we were local lads to which I replied ‘yes’ in my broadest Somerset accent. In we went and sank a few more pints before kick off, at £2.50 a pint, it would have been rude not to!
It was my lad’s first experience of terracing and he loved it, although I remember things were a lot more crowded back in the day, plenty of room yesterday.
The game as everyone by now will know was pretty dire from a Rangers point of view so I won’t go into that. I have a great video of the penalty from behind the goal that I’ll try to load up later.
After the game we made our way to The Arrow and found it to be welcoming with fans from both teams mixing and talking well and not too long a wait to get served. Good atmosphere with the odd chant and rendition of ‘we’re top of the league’ etc
Again our pre-arranged taxi picked us up dead on time at 6pm to take us back to YJ. Traffic was horrendous and we only just made it in time only for me to realise I’d left my phone in the cab. I ran back down the stairs and out of the station to find the taxi long gone. Phoned Radio cabs, on my son’s phone, and whilst waiting on the line their controller contacted the driver who confirmed he had it and would return to the station. We missed the train but got the phone back, so thanks to Radio Cabs.
By this time we had 35 mins to wait for the 7.30pm train and sat down and reflected on what a great time we’d had despite the footy being shi+te. Good craic in the pubs, especially after the game, and during the match. Where we stood the atmosphere was pretty good, we sang and had great friendly banter with the stewards and ourselves, a few ‘old school’ chants and of course plenty of ‘Dunne, Dunne, Dunne, Dunne, Richard Dunne, etc’
But this is when things turned a bit sour.
Whilst waiting on the platform we witnessed what I can only describe as my lowest point ever as a Rangers fan. I can put up with bad performances and results but not the kind of behaviour we saw yesterday by some of our so called loyal fans.
A female member of the station staff was abused to such an extent that she walked away from the situation only for one ‘fan’ to run after her to ‘have it out with her’ as he put it. Shouting abuse and swearing at a woman is bad enough but to publically verbally assault her sexually was outrageous and something I have never come across in all my 48 years. It made me ashamed to be associated with such people or should I say ‘fans’. Others in his party just watched, laughing at his antics and the situation.
My son, for what it’s worth, had the balls to confront him, only to be barraged with yet more abusive language, he stayed so calm and spoke so well without swearing, that this guy was left humiliated and deflated wandering off back to his mates with his tail between his legs. I didn’t need to step in before any of you ask, as I had faith in my son and his ability to handle the situation.
We seem to have a culture at QPR that when fans travel away it is of the utmost importance to get as pissed as possible to the extent that fans do not know what they are doing or how they are behaving. Travelling fans represent the clubs reputation and yesterday I was ashamed to be a QPR fan.
I am not a prude, I enjoy a drink with the best of them, but I know what my limit is and how far I can go before things could get out of hand. Sadly many of our travelling faithful do not. I witnessed Men who are old enough to know better, urinating in the street on the way to the ground, abusing staff and stewards at the stadium. With the fan at the station there were two or three youngsters in his party, what kind of example are we setting them? Not just as football fans but as people?
This kind of incident is not new to QPR, over my many years of following our team I had witnessed terrible behaviour not just directed to opposing fans but to our own supporters. Fighting before games between QPR fans is not new, I witnessed two fans getting stabbed inside Wembley at the Milk Cup final when Rangers fans turned on themselves. I thought I’d seen it all until yesterday
Sooner or later we may find ourselves with reduced away allocations and you wouldn’t blame clubs for doing so
To add to it all, whilst waiting on the platform just having got off the London bound train at Salisbury station, I heard a young lad say to his dad ‘why has that man on the train got a straw up his nose?’ That same man then went on to rub white powder across his upper teeth and gums in full view of everyone.
Is it a Rangers thing or do all clubs have fans like this?
Shame it was a bad end to a great day out, it won’t put me off following my team across the country, but I think it’s time some fans take a good hard look at themselves.
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