therams69 Posted December 22, 2012 Share Posted December 22, 2012 All, I feel the need to explain, not justify, what happened with the flag at the game v Hull on Friday 21 December 2012. As always I sought permission for the flag to go South Stand Upper as again the away fans would all be positioned in the lower tier. So as per usual I went down in the afternoon to tie the flag up over seats in the South Stand. Ten minutes into the game the stewards as we all know had the order to take down the flag in front of 24000 Derby supporters. For a start I feel very bad for the guys that had to do this, what an awkward position to be in. I checked my phone and nobody had called or texted me to advise what was going on so I go down to speak to the chief stewards to see what was happening. I was told that the reason the flag had been removed was because the directors had wished for it to be taken down. Basically ticket sales on the day had resulted in around 10 or so Hull fans being positioned in the South Stand Upper in the same particular block that the flag was in. Simple solution hey? Move these supporters to the other 2000 empty South Stand seats that were to the left of the flag. No, this didnt happen. At this point another Derby fan had come to the stewards to vent his anger, I calmed him down but he wasnt happy. During this conversation the directors I am told were relaying information to me via the stewards. They had requested that I put the flag back over seats for the 2nd half. My response was B*****t. The reason being that we have just been humiliated at our own stadium by them and I will not agree to there demands. This is a fans owned flag, not a club owned flag and we as fans will decide what we do. My arguement all the time was that these Hull fans, around 10, should have been moved to the 2000 empty seats to the left. It was an absolute joke. So at half time in the concourses things were getting nasty between fans and stewards and the police attended as well. All this because the decision was made to remove the flag. I had to calm alot of fans down and again felt very sorry for the stewards who were getting abused due to this crazy decision. I was then told that these 10 Hull fans had threatened to burn the flag and also physically attack a steward hence the reason the decision was made. So the flag cannot burn, it has a fire certificate, the safety officer at our club knows this. If these were Derby County fans away from home saying this we would have been removed or ejected from the stadium. That is a fact. Derby County made the wrong decision last night and something needs to be done about it. I have listed my reasons above on what should have been the action. One thing you do not do is remove the flag of its size in front of 24000 Derby fans to accomodate 10 Hull City AWAY fans. Yet again decisions made by non football people. I feel the club has shown disrespect in what they did. The flag goes every game and for it just to be hauled down at Pride Park during a game for such a poor reason is shocking. Am I surprised? Probably not. Didnt want to publically do this but had no choice as all 24000 fans saw what happened. Great support from other fans on twitter over it all and I appreciate. Even Niall from 1D who is over in America took time to tweet his 8,000,000 followers. "Heard the DCFC flag got taken down by the board today! Well we're not known for our football in the league, we're known for the flag" Maybe disagree on his football comment but his point is true. This flag relates to us fans. As ever thank you for your support. Our Flag. Our Stadium. Our Club. Nick @dcfc_flagman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrivateDerby Posted December 22, 2012 Share Posted December 22, 2012 I didn't see it being taken down as I was queuing in the ticket office but wondered where it was when I walked up the stairs. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mozza Posted December 22, 2012 Share Posted December 22, 2012 I noticed the Stewards tried to move it to the left, then gave up, if they'd have informed you, i'll bet it could have been moved fairly discreetly, well as discreetly as is possible in front of 25000.. then to just 'screw it up' into a ball, was disgraceful.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
North_Stand_Ram Posted December 22, 2012 Share Posted December 22, 2012 What a joke Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RamNut Posted December 22, 2012 Share Posted December 22, 2012 Great chanting though. " we're supposed to be at home " etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-JW- Posted December 22, 2012 Share Posted December 22, 2012 Sorry if this sounds bad, but i don't think many Derby fans lost sleep about it being taken down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RampantRam Posted December 22, 2012 Share Posted December 22, 2012 All, I feel the need to explain, not justify, what happened with the flag at the game v Hull on Friday 21 December 2012. As always I sought permission for the flag to go South Stand Upper as again the away fans would all be positioned in the lower tier. So as per usual I went down in the afternoon to tie the flag up over seats in the South Stand. Ten minutes into the game the stewards as we all know had the order to take down the flag in front of 24000 Derby supporters. For a start I feel very bad for the guys that had to do this, what an awkward position to be in. I checked my phone and nobody had called or texted me to advise what was going on so I go down to speak to the chief stewards to see what was happening. I was told that the reason the flag had been removed was because the directors had wished for it to be taken down. Basically ticket sales on the day had resulted in around 10 or so Hull fans being positioned in the South Stand Upper in the same particular block that the flag was in. Simple solution hey? Move these supporters to the other 2000 empty South Stand seats that were to the left of the flag. No, this didnt happen. At this point another Derby fan had come to the stewards to vent his anger, I calmed him down but he wasnt happy. During this conversation the directors I am told were relaying information to me via the stewards. They had requested that I put the flag back over seats for the 2nd half. My response was B*****t. The reason being that we have just been humiliated at our own stadium by them and I will not agree to there demands. This is a fans owned flag, not a club owned flag and we as fans will decide what we do. My arguement all the time was that these Hull fans, around 10, should have been moved to the 2000 empty seats to the left. It was an absolute joke. So at half time in the concourses things were getting nasty between fans and stewards and the police attended as well. All this because the decision was made to remove the flag. I had to calm alot of fans down and again felt very sorry for the stewards who were getting abused due to this crazy decision. ..... Our Flag. Our Stadium. Our Club. Nick @dcfc_flagman I applaud your cool-head in this situation Nick, I was among the fans who were confused and angry about the stewards decision to remove the flag. I could understand such action away from home, it was just frustrating that the only flag on show was a Hull flag to the right of ours. You're right, the flag is fan-owned and stewards and directors have no authority in this situation apart from if it is causing an immediate security threat - which ironically they did by taking it down through the anger of some fans in the concourse at half time. The steward next to me tried to stop the removal of the flag at one point - and just to restore my faith in humanity also appealed when in the buildup to Hull's first goal when the ball went out of play. What an absolute boy. It just goes to show that a large ammount of anger was displaced on the stewards when the majority are DCFC fans and obviously care about the club. Besides, the game was a hard fought battle, I felt we should have got something out of it but we were lacking a real end product again - que the various flag chants at Burnley on Boxing Day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinman Posted December 22, 2012 Share Posted December 22, 2012 http://www.tim-pearce.com/paintings/5/storm-in-a-teacup-full Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shake n Bake Posted December 22, 2012 Share Posted December 22, 2012 To be honest I've always thought the club pussyfooted around away fans far too much. Does seem a step to far though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jcb1967 Posted December 22, 2012 Share Posted December 22, 2012 Hi nick, Just had an e-mail from Andy Appleby.he apologised for the treatment of the flag last night and agreed it should have been the hull fans removed and not the flag. He also stated that Nigel would be giving you a phone call and agreed you did a lot of good work to try and improve the "match day experience" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dabber Posted December 22, 2012 Share Posted December 22, 2012 That is outrageous: Niall from 1D is a Derby fan!!?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Day Posted December 22, 2012 Share Posted December 22, 2012 Am I reading this right? The Police had to attend because our fans got nasty over the removal of a flag....a flag? 'http://www.dcfcfans.co.uk/public/style_emoticons//laugh' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':lol:' /> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrivateDerby Posted December 22, 2012 Share Posted December 22, 2012 He also stated that Nigel would be giving you a phone call and agreed you did a lot of good work to try and improve the "match day experience" Post your questions for Nick the flag man to ask Nigel the manager in here - 'http://www.dcfcfans.co.uk/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':lol:' /> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ck- Posted December 22, 2012 Share Posted December 22, 2012 ...I was then told that these 10 Hull fans had threatened to burn the flag and also physically attack a steward hence the reason the decision was made.... Errmmm. Eject the 10 fans from the ground. Report them to the police for threatening behaviour. Job done. Silly decision by us if the way it has been reported is true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deirdre_Barlow Posted December 22, 2012 Share Posted December 22, 2012 Tom Glick was behind this, the plot thickens. I'll be tuning in next week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boycie Posted December 22, 2012 Share Posted December 22, 2012 Ok. I think it was wrong by the club to take the flag down during the match. But, it was, in theory in the away end because of the few fans in the upper part of the stand. In defence of the flag, and it's guardian Nick, the position was fine per match. To sum up, the flag was there before the away fans were, they should have been moved to empty seats. Obviously, I'm assuming that the away fans hadn't bought tickets for the upper tier, and if tickets were sold on the night, then perhaps the flag could have been moved pre kick off. Either way, it was and is a PR disaster for the club. The result didn't help. I wait and see what happens. But sadly, I won't hold my breath. May I also add my appreciation towards Nick on how he has acted in this sensitive situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alph Posted December 22, 2012 Share Posted December 22, 2012 Oh well now, if Niall was angry.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boycie Posted December 22, 2012 Share Posted December 22, 2012 Oh well now, if Niall was angry.... yeap, He tweeted it while getting head from a fan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-JW- Posted December 22, 2012 Share Posted December 22, 2012 yeap, He tweeted it while getting head from a fan. He's hung like a donkey, let me tell you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boycie Posted December 22, 2012 Share Posted December 22, 2012 He's hung like a donkey, let me tell you! thats a bit of a mouthfull Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.