by STAR Voice »
01 Mar 2007 03:06
RoyalBlue Harps stay sharp I saw that steward in Y21 he was up and down so much I thought he was trying to start a Mexican Wave.
I can see how you'd make that mistake. He was waving his arms up and down each time he jumped up!
However, even he gave up after Lita's goal when the whole East Stand continued standing and urging the team forward.
Would be really funny but for the disgusting and inexcusable double standards adopted by RFC on this matter and STAR's abject failure to make a stand (no pun intended) on it.
Please tell me exactly what arguments you'd like me to make "in a stand" on this. I'll be happy to put them forward if I think that they'd have any chance of success.
But as far as I can tell from the arguments so far, you want me to say "Because there are too many away supporters breaching ground regulations for you to be able to stop them, you ought to let home supporters do exactly the same."
I know damn well that if I suggested that I'd get laughed at - and if by some miracle the club agreed to that, then Reading Borough Council would take their safety licence away as soon as they heard about it.
So, please, tell me exactly what arguments you'd like me to use "in this stand"?
As to the "not representing our members" stuff - whilst there are a significant number who want to see standing back at football matches (including me - see numerous posts passim), that number is still a minority. We are not a single-issue organisational, and whilst this is obviously of critical importance to some people, to the majority of our members it's hardly on the radar.
As I've said lots of times, RFC has no option under current regulations - vast effort is going in to get those regulations changed, but RFC is unable to do what you want.
An important part of my role, as I see it, is to tell the club what the fans are thinking and the fans what the club are thinking, and trying to influence opinion on both sides as much as I can.
I can't change the law or the opinions of people who see things their own way, and I'm afraid it's tough luck if sometimes the reality of life doesn't match what they want it to be. That’s not going to stop me communicating that reality of life, and I'm not going to try and fight a battle that I know is unwinnable - because the "enemy" in this battle is the FLA and DCMA, not Reading FC!