Manchester

[leezyverpunk]

Singing the song about Nacho saying no to the Provos is much tamer than We bombed your city and we'll do it again that the Celtic fans were singing.

 

I'll be there tomorrow kicking off at 12.

I am in til 5 - wil be spiking me hair up and meeting the Gers boys and having a party!!

[Frankly Mr Shankly]

Ahhh, the heartwarming sight of gangs of píssheads dressed like clowns staggering about off the pavement. At 7.45 in the morning.

 

Roll on Thursday.

[Guernica]

I can't recall Celtic fans ever singing that. And I've been there pretty much every time they have been to Manchester. Roll on Thursday indeed.

 

I think Leeslover should post his description that still rings true today.

Edited May 14, 2008 by Guernica

[jimsleftfoot]

Ahhh, the heartwarming sight of gangs of píssheads dressed like clowns staggering about off the pavement. At 7.45 in the morning.

 

Roll on Thursday.

 

Anyone would have thought you had never been to a football game before.

[jimsleftfoot]

Just been through Piccadilly and it is crawling with Sweaties.

 

I'm glad my council tax won't be spent on the clean up operation.

 

I’m glad my council tax is paying for it all. More investment into Manchester, more business, better local economy, keeps the council tax cheap. Whereas in Oldham…..

[Frankly Mr Shankly]

Anyone would have thought you had never been to a football game before.

 

Aye, so because they're 'football fans' justifies why they can act like complete bell ends and lose control of themselves even before most people go to work.

 

Ain't being a killjoy, but when we got to Wembley both times there weren't marauding gangs of Latics fans acting like tramps staggering about all over North London just after dawn.

[Davros]

Aye, so because they're 'football fans' justifies why they can act like complete bell ends and lose control of themselves even before most people go to work.

 

Ain't being a killjoy, but when we got to Wembley both times there weren't marauding gangs of Latics fans acting like tramps staggering about all over North London just after dawn.

 

The majority ive seen have cans in hand but all seem in good spirits & friendly... not too sure how long that will last tho!

[24hoursfromtulsehill]

Aye, so because they're 'football fans' justifies why they can act like complete bell ends and lose control of themselves even before most people go to work.

 

Ain't being a killjoy, but when we got to Wembley both times there weren't marauding gangs of Latics fans acting like tramps staggering about all over North London just after dawn.

 

I heard on the Today programme today that the sweaties are having to camp out because the wealthy Ruskis have bought up all the hotel rooms. There's a camp site somewhere on some playing fields in south Manchester. Any community-minded individuals in the area should get down there and offer to look after the tents while they're at the match.

[leeslover]

From the rarely-impartial Glasgow Observer in 1924.

 

On the Dalmarnock end on Saturday there was congregated a gang, thousands strong, including the dregs and scourings of filthy slumdom, unwashed yahoos, jailbirds, night-hawks, won’t-works, ‘burroo’ barnacles, and pavement pirates, all, or nearly all, in the scarecrow stage of verminous trampdom. This ragged army of insanitary pests was lavishly provided with orange and blue remnants, and these were flaunted in challenge as the football tide flowed this way and that. Practically without cessation for ninety minutes or more, the vagabond scum kept up a strident howl of the ‘Boyne Water’ chorus. Nothing so designedly provoking, so maliciously insulting, or so bestially ignorant has ever been witnessed even in the wildest exhibitions of Glasgow Orange bigotry.

 

Shame they've gone downhill since this was written in 1924

[jimsleftfoot]

Aye, so because they're 'football fans' justifies why they can act like complete bell ends and lose control of themselves even before most people go to work.

 

Ain't being a killjoy, but when we got to Wembley both times there weren't marauding gangs of Latics fans acting like tramps staggering about all over North London just after dawn.

 

I would expect that given half a chance many Latics fans would. Though Wembley doesn’t lend itself to hanging about anyway being that its an industrial estate. I’ve seen plenty of drunk Oldham fans acting like idiots over the years and up to now the Rangers fans have been pretty good natured from what I have seen. Though admittedly some did look like they need to spend the afternoon in a dark room.

[DerekWilson_1968]

Has the sky turned red yet over Piccadilly Gardens?

 

Also I would bet it is getting hard to breathe down there, what with all the sulphurous fuming bile from the fans of the secretion of the devils anus.

 

KtF,

 

Derek.

[Diego_Sideburns]

I can't bring myself to support a team whose fans spout sectarianism or one whose fans will not allow the club to sign black players.

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish...86908-20403685/

 

No doubt UEFA will launch yet another investigation into racist abuse after the game.

 

So Mark Walters was a white fella in fancy dress?

 

methinks he's talking about Zenit.

 

That's right - I even included a link, for the avoidance of doubt.

[beag_teeets]

I’m glad my council tax is paying for it all. More investment into Manchester, more business, better local economy, keeps the council tax cheap. Whereas in Oldham…..

 

The only investment I can see is going in to hotels betting shops, pubs, offies and food outlets which are mostly owned by large corporations who will be taking the money out of Manchester. The expenditure will come from police costs, the "fan areas", the screens, the litter clear up and emergency services.

[Diego_Sideburns]

The expenditure will come from police costs, the "fan areas", the screens, the litter clear up and emergency services.

 

It will also cost the Council, as owner of the Stadium, in relaying the pitch, replacing broken goalposts and fixtures/fittings, after the Blue Army has taken its souvenirs back for display in the Ibrox museum.

[Ketsbaia]

Isn't arguing over who are the worst fans out of Rangers and Celtic the equivalent of arguing over who is the least funny out of Cannon & Ball?

[Frankly Mr Shankly]

Isn't arguing over who are the worst fans out of Rangers and Celtic the equivalent of arguing over who is the least funny out of Cannon & Ball?

 

Heh!

 

Actually, all this has got me thinking. It was nothing like this when the Champions League Final between Juventus and Milan was held at Old Trafford. I didn't have to swerve to avoid a semi-drunk Scotsman losing his fight for balance on the pavement.

[beag_teeets]

Isn't arguing over who are the worst fans out of Rangers and Celtic the equivalent of arguing over who is the least funny out of Cannon & Ball?

 

Clearly Ball is the least funny.

[Inspiral_Carpet]

Clearly Ball is the least funny.

 

Rubbish. Cannon was the straight man and so wasn't meant to be funny.

 

Then again, it's still a might close call.

[beag_teeets]

Rubbish. Cannon was the straight man and so wasn't meant to be funny.

 

Then again, it's still a might close call.

 

That was why I went for Cannon being the funniest.

[Mrs Turbo]

I was driving my car to work this morning in Blackburn and had to go past a lovely barrage of abuse from some already sloshed 'Gers fans because my car is roughly the same green colour as Celtic . Never before have I prayed so hard to any deity going that the lights wouldn't change.

 

Did have a laugh when one of them fell backwards off the wall they were sitting on

[Guest oa_exile]

I didn't have to swerve to avoid a semi-drunk Scotsman losing his fight for balance on the pavement.

 

Sounds a bit like Yorkshire St int th'owd days before it was pedestrianised

[Diego_Sideburns]

Heh!

 

Actually, all this has got me thinking. It was nothing like this when the Champions League Final between Juventus and Milan was held at Old Trafford. I didn't have to swerve to avoid a semi-drunk Scotsman losing his fight for balance on the pavement.

 

Was Taggart speeding along the hard shoulder near Carrington 'cos he had the trots? That excuse didn't hold up in Court yesterday for Steve Clarridge.

[leeslover]

I was driving my car to work this morning in Blackburn and had to go past a lovely barrage of abuse from some already sloshed 'Gers fans because my car is roughly the same green colour as Celtic . Never before have I prayed so hard to any deity going that the lights wouldn't change.

 

Did have a laugh when one of them fell backwards off the wall they were sitting on

You couldn't make it up... This was reported last year.

 

Green light spells danger for traffic signals as bigots hit out at their least favourite colour

MARTYN MCLAUGHLIN

(mmclaughlin@scotsman.com)

SCOTLAND'S sectarian shame is normally played out with chants on the football terraces or marches through the streets.

 

But in one Scottish town, the traffic lights appear to have become the focus of community hatred, with youths repeatedly smashing or stealing the green lenses.

 

So rife is the problem in the South Lanarkshire town of Larkhall that the council has been forced to erect grilles in front of the lights to ward off vandals.

 

Anti-bigotry campaigners last night condemned the "petty manifestations" of sectarianism, perpetrated by a small minority of people in the town.

 

Since January 2004, there have been 205 incidents of vandalism to traffic signals in Larkhall, with the majority involving green lights. The repair costs to the council in that came to £16,880. Some lights have had to be replaced around 15 times a year.

 

One police officer, who refused to be named, said his colleagues believed sectarianism was behind the smashing of the green lights, attacked, it would seem, as symbols of Celtic football club or Catholicism.

 

The problem is well known among campaigners against sectarianism. Richard Benjamin, campaign director of Nil By Mouth, said when he first heard stories of the traffic lights, he dismissed them as "urban myths," but soon realised they were true.

 

He added: "These are petty manifestations of sectarianism, although there's a strong feeling these incidents are not reflective of the community as a whole. There is only a minority of people with sectarian attitudes.

 

"We have carried out a lot of education work in Larkhall. It is one of the most common areas for sectarian behaviour, and it can be very visible. The behaviour of a few brings a stigma which affects decent-minded people in the town.

 

"In March, we held an education project involving every Primary 7 pupil in the town, and they got the chance to mix with children of different faiths. It's had a huge positive impact, and they are the generation who will become the educators. There's already reports of young people wearing 'Say No To Sectarianism' T-shirts in the town."

 

Though it is the green lights which are being predominantly targeted, the local authority has refused to countenance suggestions the incidents are sectarian. Instead, South Lanarkshire Council says the green lights are being singled out because they are closest to the ground.

 

A spokesman for South Lanarkshire Council said: "The council's traffic signal contractor [siemens] has experienced problems with vandalism throughout the county and, as the green light is the lowest, this tends to be targeted the most.

 

"The contractor offered to carry out a trial of a new product that protects the light with a wire grille. The council agreed to this and the trial product will be tested on new traffic signals in Hamilton, Larkhall and Lanark. If the trial proves a success we would consider using the grilles at all new installations.

 

"At all the junctions which form part of the Larkhall streetscape works, the new traffic signals will have the wire grille in place."

 

Sandy Todd, head teacher at the town's Machanhill primary school, said of sectarianism: "It is not something that'll be changed in Larkhall tomorrow. It'll probably take at least a generation. But there's more of a will to change than there's ever been. We're a learning community, and there's a lot of negative publicity to contend with.

 

"Despite that, by educating the children, we can put a positive attitude forward."

 

One academic told The Scotsman: "There's literally hundreds of pubs in the west central belt - as well as other parts of Scotland - where you'll still be greeted with hostility if you're wearing certain colours.

 

"These colours are cultural codes, and there's definite associations with them. In my experience, most of the hostility is shown towards the colour green.

 

"Larkhall is well known as a place for Rangers fans, but also for loyalist, unionist, and masonic pockets. There's under 2,000 Catholics in the town, and their church, St Mary's, is on the outskirts."

 

A spokeswoman for Strathclyde Police said the local authority does not report the sectarian-related incidents to the force.

 

She added that the issue was raised at a meeting of the local community council on Monday evening, where other possible solutions to the vandalism problem, including the possibility of raising traffic lights a few feet off the ground, were discussed.

 

SUBWAY CHAIN 'PLANNING CHANGE OF COLOUR FOR LARKHALL'

IT IS not just the traffic lights which have fallen victim to sectarianism in Larkhall, shops too have had to change their colours.

 

Five years ago, Moss Pharmacy changed the corporate livery of its Larkhall shops from green and white to red, white and blue, for fear of customers staying away, or even vandalism attacks.

 

Now, there is speculation that a multinational sandwich chain is considering changing the colours of the livery of its new store in the town for a similar reason.

 

Subway, famous for its green and yellow livery, are rumoured to be considering changing colours to appease consumers.

 

Councillor Jackie Burns, the member for Larkhall on South Lanarkshire Council, told The Scotsmanthat he would be seeking assurances from Subway that their store would not change colours.

 

A spokeswoman for the chain would not confirm or deny the reports but added that in some cases, its stores had changed liveries to fit in with planning regulations.

[jimsleftfoot]

The only investment I can see is going in to hotels betting shops, pubs, offies and food outlets which are mostly owned by large corporations who will be taking the money out of Manchester. The expenditure will come from police costs, the "fan areas", the screens, the litter clear up and emergency services.

 

Well to put it simply, Manchester council tax is one of the lowest in the country whereas Oldham’s is one of the highest. These large corporation owning bars (who invest in new premises, facilities and employ local people) pay business rates to the local council. As there is currently quite a thriving economy in Manchester caused in some part by greater visitor numbers, more businesses can prosper and therefore the council receives more income through business rates keeping my council tax low.

[rudemedic]

Was Taggart speeding along the hard shoulder near Carrington 'cos he had the trots? That excuse didn't hold up in Court yesterday for Steve Clarridge.

 

Aye Diego that was the excuse he gave. Admittedly despite there being a legal precedent Claridge didn't escape his fine maybe this is because he only had to go to the toilet for the other main bodily function and Mr. Loophole was busy with Freddie.