ComeOnYouUll wrote:
It's not just the violence it's the increasing propensity of people chucking beer in the air in celebration.
The BBC were pretty much encouraging this during the FIFA World Cup last year by showing it happening at fans parks around England and even saying which was the 'best' celebration.
I know most people behave and that stopping everyone enjoying a couple of pints whilst watching the game is punishing innocent people but it's worth it to stop trouble and maybe stop families drifting away from the sport.
I agree. The reality is that most clubs have sections of supporters who cross a behavioural line. Clubs have no interest in dealing with them - attendances are compromised as it is and they want the bar turnover, and the RFL don't want a light shining our hooliganism issue. I suspect what we will get is a couple of Wire fans being "banned for life" (not enforceable), a comment from both clubs trying to deflect from the issue by talking about the majority of well behaved fans, and a £20k fine for Warrington's owner who is worth £157m.
The unintended consequence of this continuing as you say is that families are put off. We have a real opportunity here as a sport to take a moment of self reflection and launch a positive, take a stand initiative, being transparent about the issue and encouraging fans to call out what's unacceptable and galvanise around a family theme. With the ladies game taking off and reserves back next year this could be a good time to reinvigorate the "club" mentality and differentiate ourselves positively from other sports. It won't happen, but something needs to change or Wembley could get messy.
