| Beginning of the end for Blue Action? 09:38 - Mar 11 with 11075 views | USA |
I write this with no agenda. Only with a genuine concern about the reputation of our club.
I have previously raised concerns on other channels about the reputational damage that I think the club risk with part of the Blue Action movement labelling themselves as Ultras. I believe that the connotations of what Ultras represent is very very negative. Please read the link below.
https://news.sky.com/story/violent-football-ultras-reveal-why-they-attack-rivals
Now, initially I contacted a friend who is involved in the BA movement and made a suggestion that they could speak with someone to discuss whether or not this is the type of thing we want to potentially be linked with, even if very tenuously. I appreciate many of the Ultras are over hormonal teens who get a bit OTT but my friend advised that they had actually noticed an increase in the numbers of people who are getting the wrong idea about what BA is intended for and incidents of fighting etc are starting to occur. The Cardiff incident as an example. Now the Cardiff incident may not be in anyway associated with any BA member. But if their own members are also noticing issues then now is the time to act.
Yes the effectiveness of what they do is debated, but there is no doubt their intentions are for the good of the club. What we don’t need to to end up with a reputation of Cardiff or Millwall fans. Which may seem a long way off now, but we need to recognise the risk now and stamp it out.
I await your down votes. [Post edited 11 Mar 9:39]
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| Beginning of the end for Blue Action? on 19:05 - Mar 12 with 899 views | ibbleobble |
| Beginning of the end for Blue Action? on 10:07 - Mar 11 by USA |
So they all wear badges then? Or is it only Stone Island jackets that’s the u form?
My immediate thought when I saw that Ultra banner at the Norwich game was, oh god, what are Blue Action doing that for. I assumed it’s them because of the organisation to have a banner. If the masses associate the two as the same, then that’s a problem. |
If you’re going to criticise any of their banners, start with the Lambo one. As for the others, they’re all good with me. [Post edited 12 Mar 20:02]
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| Beginning of the end for Blue Action? on 21:18 - Mar 12 with 773 views | Bluespeed225 |
| Beginning of the end for Blue Action? on 12:56 - Mar 11 by Guthrum |
Tho I'm interested to know where the imagery of the bowler hatted face was taken from. To me, it brings to mind A Clockwork Orange, which is disturbing. But I may have misinterpreted it.
Otherwise entirely support what they are doing. |
And Monkey Warren is a huge Town fan, and that image, it could be argued, is as well know globally as Ed Sheerhan. Stringy I think is still mates with him, he's LA based these days. | | | |
| Beginning of the end for Blue Action? on 21:36 - Mar 12 with 741 views | JackNorthStand |
| Beginning of the end for Blue Action? on 15:24 - Mar 12 by jontysnut |
The people who really want a tear up at football don't normally jump up and down waving flags to draw attention to themselves. |
And I am pretty sure ultras don’t usually liaise with the club and local authorities with regards to displays before matches to greet the team bus. | | | |
| Beginning of the end for Blue Action? on 08:29 - Mar 13 with 659 views | WeWereZombies |
| Beginning of the end for Blue Action? on 16:38 - Mar 11 by Sharkey |
In Germany and Scandinavia I think the word 'ultras' can also carry another positive connotation, and it's almost paradoxical. As well as being the most obviously fervent supporters of a particular team, they are also the most fervent defenders of the rights of fans... of all clubs, not just their own.
When you go to a football match in Sweden for example, it is not just to watch 22 men chase a bit of leather around, but also to see the theatrical displays provided by the ultras. Companies buy expensive boxes to entertain their corporate guests on the basis that there will be a show even for people who are not that interested in football. They will see 'culture' at work. The ultras are the ones who provide that culture.
And they have the power to flick a switch and turn that culture off, and sometimes make use of this power. . Sometimes it's because they are not happy with the club, (which in Sweden is always fan-owned). For example, Malmö fans weren't happy when the club tried to buy its way into the upper echelons of women's football by simply taking over an already existing club. The fans weren't having this, and let it be known that the club must join at the bottom (9th tier, I think) and work its way up, because they were ashamed to be seen jumping the queue.
At other times, they make a point on behalf of all fans, or all clubs. One instance was a protest against the fact (very recognisable to Town of course) that the days/times of fixtures could be changed at short notice, as if no fans make long-term travel plans, book time off work, etc. Another was a protest against the fact that big games are almost never scheduled at the weekend, the suspicion being that the Swedish F.A. and the clubs themselves would rather not have large away support. Finally, another that springs to mind was that at a Sundsvall game, the home fans were subject to very heavy-handed policing. Fans of the big clubs, (Malmö, AIK etc) came to their defence, to make the point that football fans should expect the same decent policing they would get at any other event (a music festival for instance) and protested in the way they always do; they switch off the support. They stand in stoney silence for a half, or half a half, to say to their club's leadership, - 'try selling your corporate boxes and expensive seats to tourists now'. And it works. (Of course, the players also notice the difference, and post-match interviews can’t really dodge the issues.)
I'm not saying this is particularly relevant to English football. (It may be that in England, if the ringleaders don't sing, it won't stop everyone else from singing) But it is a positive connotation of 'ultras' in some parts of Europe that they stick up for the fans against the clubs. And if it means not supporting the team for half an hour, so be it. [Post edited 11 Mar 22:36]
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Thanks, that's a good read and your teasing out the difference between the understanding of Ultras in Italy and the development of the scene in Germany seems pertinent. I don't think you can draw such a fine distinction between English, Welsh and Scottish supporters but there are different vibes going on. My last visit to Portman Road was back in August for the minor cup tie against Bristol Rovers and perhaps I was a bit naíve in expecting anything other than a comparatively sterile atmosphere. Still more than fifteen thousand in attendance but it seemed feeble against the less than seven hundred I was amongst at a Scottish third tier game I was at in Montrose earlier this month, the Alloa supporters were less than twenty seats away, vociferous and the large older bloke down at the pitchside gesticulating upwards to the Montrose support was, perhaps, winding up a mate - the two towns are not so far apart. The forty strong Links Park Dynamo (yep, they have a nice professionally produced banner too) moved from the stand behind the goal round to face the Alloa lot in the seated stand halfway through the first half on the other side of the pitch (you can't always choose your seat at Links Park due to seat sponsorship but you can choose which stand you go in at any point during the game.) It all seemed quite tinpot, especially after the game when small groups of teenagers were running around the streets nect to the civic gardens with snowdrops and tearoom, but the atmosphere was actually good and lively.
So far so good for the joy of attending a match north of the border but when the crowds go from the hundreds to the tens of thousands it gets uglier at times. Shame Darth is no longer posting on this forum, it would be interesting to get his take on the latest from Hibs:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-68549775 |  |
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| Beginning of the end for Blue Action? on 14:11 - Mar 13 with 506 views | Blue_Order |
Suffolk’s Satanic Panic. |  | | |
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