That young lad yesterday

Hope hes good and hope he recovers well! Shame on Swindon fans and stewards, What a disgrace they was yesterday, Is if was your kid how would you feel?

What happened?

Young Walsall lad was out cold and needed medical help! First thing lets hope hes ok!

Swindon steward laughing and taking â– â– â– â–  about situation and he got removed so we was told

Swindon fans laughing and making fun of the situation which is why it went up!

No excuses too be such â– â– â– â– â–  in life, Young lad is a human being and deserved respect not bullshine from them lot. Disgrace too the human race the steward and them fans who did it. If it was your son/grandson/brother how would you feel?

Anyway best off luck too the young saddler hope hes ok and hope hes back following the lads soon enough!

How did he get knocked out

He passed out…

Ok thanks, Hope he’s ok

Someone said it was a diabetic fit he had, hope he’s ok.

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If this is the case don’t the home club have a duty of care placing stewards paramedic staff around the ground as a port of call in case of emergency a shining beacon to run towards for help these stewards IF this was the case yesterday need pulling into the club and spoken to at the very least as for the fans there’s some real ■■■■ heads about ain’t there that’s not taring all Swindon town fans with the same brush but let’s be honest every club has ■■■■■■■

According to WM it was a diabetic reaction.

not not saying ALL fans but that section next us was a disgrace…The steward in question was taken away and we was told “he wont be coming back” and told there fans “will be warned” but then we get all the stewards in our and police and make us feel like the the bad ens??? Then that little idiot at the end who gave us his arse and waves, what a ■■■■■ you are mate and again he was walked away happily into the stand… The paramedic staff took so long too get up too us it was un real…

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Swindon fans have always been scumbags. They are a bunch of â– â– â– â– â– .

Glad the lad is okay.

I really didn’t want to get involved in this thread but since I was VERY close to the action I think it does need a little clarification as to exactly what happened.

The first thing to note - given the number of away fans expected Swindon weren’t allowing us to sit anywhere in the away area i.e. the seats to the right of gangway closest to home fans were not being used, and only up to so many rows back. Those who got there early enough fell in with what the stewards were asking. A large number (not necessarily all one group) arrived immediately before 3pm just as they were about to start the 2 minutes Remembrance silence (credit where credit’s due, it was very well respected by everyone - much better than at our place last week), and all charged towards the back ignoring the stewards’ pleas - although they did stay to the required side of the last gangway.

I was sat in the last row that the steward said was available but a stanchion was blocking my view of the right hand goal - so, since they had given up trying to corral us, after the silence and before KO, I also moved back for a better view. I was on the same row as some of the latecomers but right next to the gangway whereas they were all many seats further in towards the left goal line.

All good for 4 minutes - I didn’t notice anything coming to/from their closest fans at least 2 blocks away to my right and the Walsall lot to the left of me (other than the usual “get behind the team” chants). And then Swindon scored and all hell broke loose - bodies came flying from the left pushing anyone in front of them out of their way to get up to the barrier starting the DMZ. Swindon fans were still celebrating at this point so wasn’t a reaction to provocation from them just the fact that we had let a goal in.

I was being pushed by Walsall fans eager to get at the Swindon fans and also having a go at the stewards who were trying to keep order. I had to move well away from my seat for my own safety (the bloke who had been next me moved out of the area completely and when I returned some numpties had deliberately smashed it, and several others nearby, by stamping on it! ) and was now just a couple of seats from the lad who was taken ill (he was part of the crowd that had rushed over as he wasn’t sat there before) and his mate looking after him. It’s now a couple of minutes or so after the goal but there is still pushing and shoving going on - and the lad is looking very unwell and has an insulin pen out. A steward sees that and asks what it is, is assured it is insulin and not something a bit more sinister, and returns to being abused by an angry mob as the lad’s mate says he is looking after him and he’ll be alright once he’s had the injection.

The injection obviously doesn’t work and the lad gets worse. The stewards still haven’t got everyone back in order (think they were playing it softly softly as the DMZ was a full block of seas netted over so an effective divider) but the lad’s mate is calling for help and getting irate that no one is coming to give it - and then he flies at the nearest steward in the gangway (not the one I saw asking what the pen was). This appears to be the one that was then accused of laughing at what was going on (and later moved away to keep things calm) - but then most of the Walsall fans still seeking blood didn’t seem to have cottoned on to the situation either (so how would the Swindon fans who were even further away have known?)

One of the supervisor stewards had already radioed for assistance and did so again to up the urgency - and then was trying to get the Walsall fans out of the way so that the paramedics could get to the lad and treat him, but some of them just weren’t listening and carried on trying to get as close to the Swindon fans as possible. The stewards, paramedics and even Walsall fans who realised the problem were appealing for calm and co-operation but all they got was abuse.

The Swindon fans may have been jeering at the Walsall fans impotently trying to start a ruck, but I doubt they knew someone was ill (rather than had hurt themselves in the melee), didn’t cause the lad to be ill, abuse the stewards trying to keep order, or block and abuse the paramedics trying to treat him - that was his so called “mates”.

Was the response too slow? At least one steward was aware that someone was having to take an injection but was assured he’d then be alright - and was otherwise engaged trying to stop a fight. Did the laughing steward realise what the issue was or was he thoughtlessly giving back some of what he’d just taken by people screaming in his face? Did the supervisor get the message quickly enough (he radioed at least twice that I saw - when the initial shout went up, and then again when the laughing steward was attacked). The paramedics did take a while to come from down along the main stand to our end (they certainly weren’t rushing to get there) - but then were held up getting up the steps and even while giving treatment, and then carrying him back down.

So yes, things might have been handled better, but I wouldn’t say it was all down to the Swindon officials or fans. Did all our fans cover themselves in glory by their own actions?

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PS Yes, I too am glad the lad himself is now OK.

Did you actually see that stewards reaction? Did you hear there fans shouting? It did go OTT but beer and loosing and a few other factors caused that i think, But there own stewards even said " he was bang out of order hes been removed" tell you a lot about his actions in the situation. Youve made your own fans sound a lot worse than they worse there tho, Everyone has there view on i guess but i heard and saw things that warranted a reaction maybe not so server but deffo a reaction…That lad who got his arse out too us aswell, What was that all about? I guess when your struggling like we are and the chips are down reactions happens quick, But 80% of them lot are avid WFC fans and travel all over the place with the club and dont “act” like that all the time?

Beer and losing - yes, I did get connection (the smell of stale beer when everyone rushed over was hard to miss). Don’t know whether the lad himself had been drinking but he was part of the crowd not one of the bystanders caught up in it (I saw others nearly being pushed over seats by those trying to push past - and these were your fellow Walsall fans for heaven’s sake!)

While everyone else was intent on having a row with the Swindon fans (who were giving it back - but they didn’t start it, and I doubt knew that someone was ill at that point as that took a few minutes to develop) I was trying to watch the game while keeping out of the way. I had moved further away from the gangway so didn’t hear that particular steward’s words that provoked the lad’s mate to fly at him (there was quite a lot of shouting going on) - but I had seen and heard another express concern right at the outset, and seen the supervisor ask for medical assistance; they weren’t all out of order but they were all getting stick.

I also saw one of the paramedics stumble backwards and nearly go flying down the steps because the lad kicked him while he was trying to give treatment - but might have been accidental as we was in a bad way and probably didn’t know where he was at that point. The ones who weren’t ill but were getting in the way didn’t have that excuse.

Overall the stewards (and police when they arrived) tried it defuse it as diplomatically as they could and didn’t wade in like I’ve seen in similar situations (minus the medical emergency) when we’ve played away elsewhere. Was there a single ejection from among the Walsall contingent? Were they right or wrong to handle it that way?

Apart from that one steward (who was moved and would be “dealt with”), and a handful of muppets doing to you what you were doing to them, what is it you are saying Swindon Town FC are at fault for, and our “fans” completely blameless? What would the reaction from this section have been if the situation had been reversed?

Vaild points on many fronts… I dont think anyone would of gave medical staff abuse or lashed out that them as everyone was trying too clear the gangway too help them and get help too the lad… No Walsall was arrested on the day, As you didnt hear or see that stewards or those certain Swindon fans comments or action then possibly you couldn’t really relate too why they reacted how they did…I mean if it was your son on the floor and he was receiving that kind of “words” and “abuse” how would you react? He was a young kid which is why most got very heated very quick, Its called backing your own but yeh the manner in which other fans around got pushed and ■■■■ was not acceptable but at the time i dont think they came into people’s heads, There’s no “hooligans” or “nasty” fans among ours just very passionate and very worried fans and sometimes it spills over at points or for certain reasons…Not saying it was all correct or wrong but it was what it was

I really don’t want to come across as some sort of prude or look like I’m condoning any moronic behaviour that the Swindon fans may have got up to as well, but the fact is that he was taken ill AFTER it had all kicked off. There may have been a later reaction to a lack of sympathy being shown, but that wasn’t the cause of the animosity - the majority of their fans were just celebrating their goal and not even looking our way until there was suddenly a ruck of people running across and offering them out.

If they later twigged that someone was actually ill and said some nasty things then shame on them - but it doesn’t make it any better for people not to have let it go and concentrated on the more important issue of getting out of the way so he could be treated by people not in fear for their own safety.

Moral high ground maybe, but think - next time there might be someone ill or hurt on the other side of the barrier and “Well Swindon did it to us” would not make it right.

Bit of banter and taunting - not got a problem. And we were all hacked off with being 1 down so quickly and easily again so yes, letting it show is understandable. But open aggression, pushing your own fans, smashing seats, and giving the stewards a hard time (who might have been able to react quicker to the lad’s distress if hadn’t got that situation to deal with) has had it’s day decades ago and we don’t want it back. There are ways to show how ■■■■■■ off you are without trying to start a fight.

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I don’t know why footballs clubs don’t use more common sense when it comes to away fans The Stratton Bank stand was completely empty on Saturday and would have been perfect for away supporters to sit or stand.
Assigning traveling fans to some obscure corner of the ground, in the same stand as the home supporters is fueling the fire. Not to mention a lousy view of the game.
It just doesn’t make any sense to pack people in like sardines when there’s an empty stand available for use.

Well I would agree with you on that (it was great in there the day we clinched the title in 2007 and it was packed out) - except that the Stratton Bank is uncovered and if you hadn’t noticed on Saturday it happened to be absolutely bucketing down … :cloud_with_rain::cloud_with_rain::cloud_with_rain:

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Yes, Andy, the rain was torrential on Saturday, hence the need to house fans in a covered stand - makes perfect sense, thanks for pointing that out.
There are times when away fans seem to be treated quite harshly by some clubs. I’m all about treating people equally and fairly, I think it’s time clubs adopted some of those traits.

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