I said this before the Leeds game & i want to defend us because i truly believe it is ott. Especially when the Manchester derby biggest game in english football doesnt need it. But i also have to be realistic & unfortunately as in everything in life a small minority always spoils it for the majority. Few days after the sheffield derby i came across a picture from social media. when we needed for fans to be on there best behaviour & prove a point. a small minority couldnt control themselves. To be realistic the picture below was like Christmas came at once. Because when the police bosses want justification for why do you need them extra funds/coppers/stewards/metal barriers. Policemen show them that & bosses give them a blank cheque. & we have to pay the price. Horrible but true
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A picture speaks a thousand words... and raises a thousand more questions, which i think is the point you're making.
When was this, this season, last? What incident sparked the need for the policeman to raise his baton?
I said on another thread that the segregation pre and post match often adds to the drama. Not saying there wouldn't be any trouble, we've had so few games against our neighbours over the years, that our minority wannabe hooligan groups look forward to having a face off with the police in between.
I think its very hard to compare ourselves to the Premier League derbies. Manchester, Liverpool and North London derbies all seem to pass off with very little trouble. Thanks to many factors like football tourism, European football, playing each other at least twice per season (sometimes much more when they play each other in domestic and European cup games) that the animosity seems reduced and sanitised.
Even the Birmingham v Villa Derby is hard to compare as i don't think the fans are the same anymore.
Back to your point though, SYP and SAG seem to justify their presence in large numbers by citing the high potential for trouble. However, i see no proactive measures from them or the clubs to try and reduce this. All we ever see is restrictive measures:
- Previous purchasing history (500 loyalty points)
- Pubs closing early or not even being allowed to open
- Night games or lunchtime kick off
- Road closures, Wall of steel
- Additional segregation inside the ground
Forget TV money, there are larger issues for the clubs. Playing a Sheffield Derby on a Friday night is not conducive to encouraging families to attend, its not proactive. Why not have the game at 12 or 3pm on a Saturday and have fan zones for kids before the game. Beam back the game to the away team.
Allow fans to mix before the game, at least on the way to the ground and don't corral them.
I go back to MK Dons away when we got promoted from League one. A huge police presence after the game and i spoke to one copper (he'd been seconded in from another force) and he couldn't believe that we were so well behaved. I said "what did you expect? We've just won promotion after 6 years and we're here to drink, celebrate and enjoy ourselves" His pre match briefing had pointed out that we were a trouble causing set of fans and I'm sure photos like the above will have been circulated, perhaps with some pyro in them to show how badly behaved we are.
Fact remains that ourselves, Leeds and Pigs all travel in big numbers and we have a reputation. Whether that reputation is justified or if its enhanced based on over zealous policing as a result of our reputation is unclear.
There needs to be a rethink on Policing our big games as well as how we behave as fans, otherwise the segregation will continue
