about (Stone Island and Ralph Loren all over the place so you knew it was a
local derby!) The train filled up with more designer clad lads and by
Haywards Heath was packed.
The train pulled into East Croydon which was swarming with Riot Police. Nobody got off and we all headed on to Clapham Junction. Once at Clapham we waited for the 'lads' to go ahead and waited for the Police escort to pass us by.
We left the station and headed to the Windsor Castle. We met up with Jon and Lulu, Anthony, Gary, plus quite a few others. It was all nice and peaceful and beer was flowing.
As people came in they mentioned the Falcon was surrounded by Police Vans and Riot Police. We left the pub at 1.45 to catch the 2.02 to Thornton Heath.
The platform was packed with Albion and also Riot Police, many with balaclavas on (in case people spat at them when I complained about the aggressive stance they were taking). They delayed the train and cancelled a few and then herded us all onto one train, then wouldn't let it leave as too full! T
hey made a few get off as it was dangerous and then promptly about 20 riot Police squeezed on themselves. The first of a great deal of lying and incompetence shown by the met police on Saturday.
We arrived at Thornton Heath to be met by the biggest Police escort I have
ever seen. There were probably about 5/600 of us and there were probably
20+ vans, Police on Horses and hundreds of riot Police.
They delayed us moving for about 10 minutes and then escorted us to the ground. We arrived at about 2.55 and they announced the game was delayed by 15 minutes.
We were searched and got in about 3.05. We were herded into the end 2 blocks and had riot Police blocking the walkway next to us and at the far end of
the next block.
I don't have much to say about the game, other than Kuipers had a nightmare
first 20 minutes, but then made some magnificent saves to keep the score
down. Mayo, Watson and Brooker were all simply embarrassing.
Zamora missed a golden chance at 1-0 as the Palace keeper and defender collided (and then nearly had a fight!). We also had a good penalty appeal turned down, they went straight up the other end and got one!
The only highlight was when they had a goal disallowed, but they still played the music to celebrate it, the announcer gave the goal scorer and even the electronic scoreboard showed 2-0 for a while!
We stayed to the end and that was when more chaos was created by the Met.
At half time one copper blocked us leaving our row to go to the nearest exit
for the toilets and food, whilst others didn't.
I complained to him and he said I am doing what I have been told to do. When I pointed out he was the only one doing it, he got the right hump and then saw sense and moved away from blocking the end of the row.
As the whistle approached they told us once again we couldn't go to the nearest exit, but then all the riot police left and we could! They finally let us out, only to hold us back by many vans, horses and riot Police for about another 15 minutes.
One Police van nearly got turned over, but they eventually led us to Norwood Junction. A station 100% unsuitable to get 2,500+ Albion fans on football specials. It was complete chaos and there were several scuffles with the riot Police and the mounted Police just causing more and more problems.
It was a farce and very dangerous. The comedy copper on Horseback said if our team got to Wembley more often we would be use to crowds and also queuing for trains!
To**er!
To get to the station you had to go through a narrow under pass and this created a dangerous bottleneck not helped by it being lined with Police with batons and riot shields.
Most people I know went for a few more beers back in Clapham, I couldn't be
bothered. We got back into Brighton to catch the 7.23 back to Durrington -
got a take away curry - waited 25 minutes for a bl**dy taxi to arrive, went
home watched Channel 4 100 top adrenaline films and didn't mention football
until we got up Sunday morning, and then it was just the odd word, before
changing the subject to how windy the weather was.
People say it is only football, but when it hurts you know its more than that.
The players on Saturday were a disgrace, and our team is once again a
laughing stock. If we don't invest in players then we will be back in Division Two with a weaker squad and who knows what.
If there are people willing to invest they must be invited to, but on Knights terms.
I have been going since 1975 and seen just over a 1,000 Albion games. As it
stands that goes down as one of the most gutless and embarrassing Albion
displays I have ever seen!
SORT IT OUT! We have too many Division 2/3 quality players on Division 1 salaries!
My player ratings
Kuipers - 5 (zero for the first twenty minutes!)
Mayo - 2 (was outclassed for 90 minutes)
Watson - 2 (was outclassed for 90 minutes)
Cullip - 3 (defence was all over the place, no leadership)
Blackwell - 4 (hard to judge playing with such a weak team!)
Brooker - 2 (was outclassed for 90 minutes)
Hart - 4 (looked gutted as the team crumbled)
Oatway - 3 (was he playing?)
Carpenter - 4 (well off form)
Zamora - 4 (off form and missed a great chance)
Barrett - 6 (gave 100%)
BTW - everyone laughed at Stockport last season. They finished up as
follows
P 46 W 6 D 8 L 32 for 42 against 102 Points 26
At the moment our record is
P 14 W 1 D 1 L 12 for 11 against 30 Points 4
It looks like Falmer is the be all and end all for Brighton. In February
who knows what will happen.
We will know if the extended tenancy at Withdean has been approved, if extra seats have been approved, if Falmer has been approved. How many people will pay #500+ for a season ticket to see Division 2 football again?
Probably most as they know how loyal we are, are they exploiting that fact? Withdean is sold out every week so it looks impressive, if we had a stadium that held 10,000 for Saturdays match against Bradford, what crowd would we get? Not much above 6,000 I bet you!
Mark 'Pi**ed off' R
My starting XI for the Bradford match would be
Kuipers
Virgo
Hinshelwood
Jones
Blackwell
Melton
Carpenter
Rodgers
Hart
Zamora
Barrett
Bench
Cullip
Rogers
Brooker
Hammond
Marney