Hanworth Villa at home (FA Cup Q3 draw)

[Ian]

Like I say, you have no idea what went on today.

[HEAVY TRUCKER]

probably find most of the drunken louts won't be there on tues day as their checks won't have come through,or they have to go to work early wed morniingi'll be there thogh colours an all, no drunken sot scares me no matter how many there are of them.

[A Rebel and a Saint]

Singing songs about sending fans home in ambulances and kicking our heads in is not football support, not in this day, not to mention the racist etc abuse that others have mentioned. A lot of those fans spent most of their time turning towards us in the corner of that stand and singing at us rather than watching what 'their' team was doing.

 

When that happens we could not effectively support our team and were forced out by all the abuse - at own OWN GROUND! If they were only singing Hanworth songs then it would be fine, but every other song (at least) was about abusing the home support and contained ridiculous amounts of foul language and varying levels of abuse.

 

I hope the club will complain about this - the club could not have expected what was going on so could not have provided more stewards, besides we probably would have needed 50 stewards to at least try and control that situation, and I hate to think what would have happened if they would have tried to throw some people out of the ground.

[brighton_rebel]

Was told that 'Life On Mars' were filming yesterday for a feature length film and wanted some 70's football crowd atmosphere so piled the Hanworth fans with loads of booze and handed out songsheets of some of the seventies classics.

 

Was that our biggest ever gate at Beaconsfield yesterday?

[kingtaff]

As a fan surrporting football through the 70`s onwards following swansea city from the 4th divison to the 1st and back again i experinced the voilence and intimidition at the ground like chelsea, millwall and leeds but i never felt scared and intimidated as i did yesterday, with in the few first few minutes the so called fans came up to me and other wheelchair users and threating if there team lost we would have our heads kicked in and our chairs on the m25 if we were lucky to surivive, i reported to this to the stewards to tell them to get the police but nothing was done until after game.

 

if this is how disabled fans get treated at non-league and i will never go again, i attended league games at wembley play-offs, qpr and never threatined or abused.

 

slough club must complain to the fa about the abuse to the dis-abled fans, rasical abuse to our players and immtimiditng our young fans, or is it a case we leave football and go to rugby as there is no violence or immtimiditon at the game.

 

this will effect slough football club and the chair-man and official of the club must act now other-wise we cant go back to slough.

[ThePigeon]

Hi there,

 

A Hanworth poster here as I feel its very easy to sit here and slaughter our club on a message forum between yourselves!

 

Remember there are two sides to every story and now you have had your say and expressed your opinion I will do the same.

 

Firstly, I was at the game and I go to every game just like the other 150 fans we had there yesterday, we weren't on a 'day trip' and we are as vocal as that home and away week in, week out. It will be louder Tuesday trust me! Take a look at our average attendances and you will see we have 100-200 every game. So straight away there goes your argument about stewarding, you knew we would have fans by just looking at our attendances so if you wanted more stewards why didn't you get them?

 

I was stood in the stand for the whole game and there wasn't racist chanting. Yes there was a bit of banter between our supporters, management and players as there is every week as we are a close knit club and community, we are social friends as well as a football club.

 

We pitched up in the stand behind the goal near the gate and we remained there for the entire 90mins, we didn't move and it is not our fault your fans decided to come in there at half time to watch the second half, if they don't like the banter and the general noise then go and stand somewhere else. From where I was in the stand 99% of the Slough fans in there were enjoying the banter and laughing and joining in - its called having fun!

 

We have been away to Codicote and Kidlington among others, we took exactly the same amount of fans there and everywhere we go we get a glowing reference about our fans being the 12th man and about us bringing back the good old days of non-league football. We have league officials watching us on a regular basis and everytime they do we are complimented on our support. Even in the last round against Aveley we were complimented by their management saying that this is how a non-league football club should be and that our fans were our 12th man.

 

It seems to me the problem here is you didn't expect little old Hanworth Villa to bring such a big following - after all we are only a little combined counties outfit! Maybe it was completely out of the norm for you and you didn't like it! As for calling us racists and bigots - that is laughable, in fact about as laughable as the four plice cars after the game! There was nothing even close to warranting a police presence and there will be no such thing Tuesday night either. We are passionate but not violent.

 

As for posting on your forum about our fans not being there Tuesday because they wont be able to collect their cheques on time - thats stereotypical and disrespectful. As I said our fans are there week in and week out and everywhere we go the opposition commends us both on and off the pitch so maybe you should look at yourselves because it seems that maybe its you with the problem!

 

I completely agree with all of your posts regarding the game, it was an end to end match with not a lot between the two sides and I feel a draw was a deserved result and gives both teams the chance to remain in the competition come Tuesday night. I expect another close one Tuesday and am looking forward to it.

 

I will just say it again - week in, week out, home and away. Maybe see some of you there Tuesday night 'supporting' your team? But then again based on the amount of drop outs already on here maybe not. Whether you are there or not I can assure you we will be plus a few more and we will be sure to give you a very warm welcome to 'the ranch'

 

Up the Villa!

[Cookham Rebel]

ThePigeon, that must be the norm at your games and looking at your post, you deem chanting "you take it up the a*s" and "your just a town full of Muslims" as not homophobic or racist then I seriously recommend yourselves look up the definition of being homophobic and racist...

 

As for the "banter" behind the goal in the 2nd half you are deluded, our fans were threatened into moving out of the stand...

 

So in short, stop living in the 70's and learn some respect, if yourselves had turned up and not been all drunk and chanting in the clubhouse whilst standing on tables and then not been so aggressive we would've accepted that... And abusing disabled fans is a complete and utter disgrace, they wouldn't make it up... Yourselves really set a good example to the young children in attendance with your so called supportive chanting!!!

 

Regarding the police, that decision would have been made by our landlord not us!!!

 

Your fans were thugs end of story and If our fans hadn't been so placid there could have been a potential riot in the 2nd half...

 

Yourselves showed us no respect so do not expect any in return!!!

 

Yours sincerely

 

"A very p*ssed off" Cookham Rebel

 

See you Tuesday!!!

[northern rebel]

Sorry, Thepigeon, but as one of the many Slough fans who decided on self preservation and left the covered area I have to disagree with you.

Barging into Slough fans, shoving hands into our faces and screaming at us from 6 inches away when you equalised is not banter, it is aggressive provocation. The Villa supporters in front of me were constantly turning round sizing us up in the hope we would rise to their bait.

Screaming 'You're going to get you're f-ing head kicked in' at people stood 5 feet away: is that banter? 'Town full of muslims' cutting edge wit or crude racism? 'just a bunch of faggots' sounds more like homophobic chanting than banter to me.

I was not laughing along, I left the stand area out of a very real fear of it all going very very nasty if some Slough banter was taken the wrong way or an on the pitch incident ignited the situation.

[HorshamRebel]

Thepegion, we regularly travel to every away game with between 100-150 fans ourselves, so travelling in force is nothing new to us, and we have never come away from an away ground with our hosts complaining about our behaviour.

 

In fact,

before the game we were looking forward to having a good away support to have a friendly banter with which is what happens at our level of football (and I mean both teams when I say OUR level).

 

The last thing we were expecting was an atmosphere from the dark ages from people who could not stand up through drink..

 

Let's hope you are correct and the few that have decided to travel (me included) will get that warm welcome at your ground.

 

As to the football, it was a classic cup match, and I agree, Tuesday could be a close run game and a very long night.

Edited October 16, 2011 by HorshamRebel

[Eastside Urchin]

As an outsider,surely if there was a potential threat then you should of had sufficient stewards available.If the stewards then thought that they couldn't control the crowd,which is what it sounds like,then the alternative is to either speak to the match officials or to contact the police.

As there appears to have been no violence,ejections or arrests made then I would assume that it was maybe just a little lively at best.

You can't as a club start throwing accusations of racial abuse and threatening behaviour if you as a club made no attempt to stop it at the time,it just makes it look like you are unable to control a crowd.

[Matt]

Hi there,

 

A Hanworth poster here as I feel its very easy to sit here and slaughter our club on a message forum between yourselves!

 

Remember there are two sides to every story and now you have had your say and expressed your opinion I will do the same.

 

Firstly, I was at the game and I go to every game just like the other 150 fans we had there yesterday, we weren't on a 'day trip' and we are as vocal as that home and away week in, week out. It will be louder Tuesday trust me! Take a look at our average attendances and you will see we have 100-200 every game. So straight away there goes your argument about stewarding, you knew we would have fans by just looking at our attendances so if you wanted more stewards why didn't you get them?

 

I was stood in the stand for the whole game and there wasn't racist chanting. Yes there was a bit of banter between our supporters, management and players as there is every week as we are a close knit club and community, we are social friends as well as a football club.

 

We pitched up in the stand behind the goal near the gate and we remained there for the entire 90mins, we didn't move and it is not our fault your fans decided to come in there at half time to watch the second half, if they don't like the banter and the general noise then go and stand somewhere else. From where I was in the stand 99% of the Slough fans in there were enjoying the banter and laughing and joining in - its called having fun!

 

We have been away to Codicote and Kidlington among others, we took exactly the same amount of fans there and everywhere we go we get a glowing reference about our fans being the 12th man and about us bringing back the good old days of non-league football. We have league officials watching us on a regular basis and everytime they do we are complimented on our support. Even in the last round against Aveley we were complimented by their management saying that this is how a non-league football club should be and that our fans were our 12th man.

 

It seems to me the problem here is you didn't expect little old Hanworth Villa to bring such a big following - after all we are only a little combined counties outfit! Maybe it was completely out of the norm for you and you didn't like it! As for calling us racists and bigots - that is laughable, in fact about as laughable as the four plice cars after the game! There was nothing even close to warranting a police presence and there will be no such thing Tuesday night either. We are passionate but not violent.

 

As for posting on your forum about our fans not being there Tuesday because they wont be able to collect their cheques on time - thats stereotypical and disrespectful. As I said our fans are there week in and week out and everywhere we go the opposition commends us both on and off the pitch so maybe you should look at yourselves because it seems that maybe its you with the problem!

 

I completely agree with all of your posts regarding the game, it was an end to end match with not a lot between the two sides and I feel a draw was a deserved result and gives both teams the chance to remain in the competition come Tuesday night. I expect another close one Tuesday and am looking forward to it.

 

I will just say it again - week in, week out, home and away. Maybe see some of you there Tuesday night 'supporting' your team? But then again based on the amount of drop outs already on here maybe not. Whether you are there or not I can assure you we will be plus a few more and we will be sure to give you a very warm welcome to 'the ranch'

 

Up the Villa!

 

What a completely outrageous post, designed to provoke a reaction.

 

There WAS racist chanting, homophobic chanting and abuse of the disabled from the visiting mob. There would be plenty of people, also standing in the covered end, who would be prepared to verify that. You say you were standing in the covered end and didn't hear it. You're either ignorant or are here to wind us up.

 

The one thing you got right was that we weren't expecting such a large away following. But having said that, why should we expect to need more stewards? You should be disassociating yourself from the mob in the covered end, not condoning their behaviour. They left us with a terrible image of Hanworth Villa FC. And if that's the norm for your club, and they really are seen as a 'twelfth man', that's a really sad reflection on you and your club, and I really hope you get your house in order soon. This is not how non-league football should be, especially not at this level. Sounds to me like you're trying to sweep the problem under the carpet and hope it goes away.

 

I don't know who called the police but they were probably justified in doing so. The aggression and provocation from the 'Hanworth fans' behind the goal was unbelievable, more so when the second equaliser went in. Slough fans were barged out of the way, pushed into the corner with the mob shoving their hands into our faces as if to demand a response and hope something kicked off. Luckily that was never going to come from us.

 

I will be there on Tuesday - nothing is going to stop me from supporting my club and witnessing justice being done and Slough progressing through to the Fourth Qualifying Round once again.

Edited October 16, 2011 by Matt

[A Rebel and a Saint]

Eastside Urchin - as fans we tried to get the amount of foul language lowered by requesting they calm down (due to the kids being present in the stand too), but got told in no uncertain terms to f off.

The police were called, and I did see our stewards on the edge of the Hanworth crowd trying to make their presence known, but there is no way that we could have found enough stewards to deal with the group of 40-50 of them causing the problems, particularly as there is nowhere for them to go once they have been ejected by stewards.

 

Unfortunately it is not practical for me to make Tuesdays match, which is a shame as I love supporting Slough and wish to do so, especially in the FA Cup, but part of me is certainly glad that in all my travels to home and away matches I should not be facing up to that torrent of abuse ever again.

[Eastside Urchin]

you have to provide adequate safety for spectators,by failing to do so you are failing as a club.I am sorry if this upsets you,its not meant to but that is the rules,if you cannot provide adequate safety then you must as a club find other measures,thats what the police are for,to stop crime,whatever it is.

[Matt]

As for the game itself - a draw probably was a fair result, and I think both sides were happy with it in the end, if only to bring an end to proceedings. The referee was very biased towards Hanworth in the second half - probably frightened he was going to get his head kicked in after the game if he gave Slough a crucial decision.

 

Also, we won't see a better strike than the second equaliser for some time.

 

I thought they were there for the taking though, not offering much up front and looking succeptible at the back. At times we played the occasion more than the opposition. At our best we'd have won comfortably I think. All to play for Tuesday though, with the added spice of knowing who the potential opponents will be.

[Eastside Urchin]

rebel and a saint,unfortunately and i wish it wasn't the case,we can't always rely on fans to get on and listen to our requests,it would make life a lot easier if we could but unfortunatly at football,beer is sold and we all know the demons of drink with crowds,it is part of the problem with football at times and combined with what was undoubtably a large following for such a small side these things happen.

[Ted]

I like non-league football because of its friendley atmosphere ( games against Hitchin are good examples, bigger crowd, but total respect between the fans), family orientation, and the abscence of violence and intimidation (been acardiff City season ticket holder in the past so I know a little about this).

 

As a club we probably were caught a little bit on the hop yesterday, not by the number of away fans (who we were looking forward to), but by their behaviour. Yes, we probably, on a strict interpretation, shoud have had more stewards, however in 10 years we havn't needed them. That is one the beautys of non-league, you don't need lots of stewards, so you don't have them. In 10 years I can only think of 1 person (Toothless Kev of Worthing) who needed stewarding (he certainly needed something, though I'm not certain as to what). Large contingents from AFC Wimbledon and Aldershot have visited in that time with little fuss. But what I've mostly seen is friendly people who like football and a shandy ot two.

 

Then along come a bunch of arrogant and unpleasant drunks from Hanworth. Sufficiently drunk that many were more intersted in staying in the bar than watching the football. No thank you. That's not what I expect or want to see. If Hanworth were to be the new face of non-league, I'd spend my Saturdays doing something else. Thankfully Hanworth will be a one off, as most clubs have more self respect, more fans who genuinely like watching football, and a lot fewer drunks. A great pity as Hanworth seemed a decent football side, who are supported by drunken bums.

[Ian]

Ted has reinforced the point that I was going to make - it is not the number of fans that dictates stewarding requirements, it is their actions. We have travelled with more than Hanworth brought yesterday. We've also had more away fans than Hanworth brought (Salisbury, Walsall, AFC Wimbledon, Windsor) yet at no time was there a hint of the aggression or terrible behaviour that was present yesterday.

 

If Hanworth fans feel the behaviour of those behind the goal yesterday was acceptable then they are either deluded or were too drunk to remember. It was only the restraint of the Slough fans that averted a very nasty situation from occurring.

[Adil Berdai]

I spoke to one of their fans and he said there home support is nothing like what we saw yesterday, infact they don't even bring that many to home games. It was just a huge game for them. There were a lot of hooligans there that are kicked out of going to any matchwa so they all support Hanworth now.

[foxyhills]

Hi there,

 

A Hanworth poster here as I feel its very easy to sit here and slaughter our club on a message forum between yourselves!

 

Remember there are two sides to every story and now you have had your say and expressed your opinion I will do the same.

 

Firstly, I was at the game and I go to every game just like the other 150 fans we had there yesterday, we weren't on a 'day trip' and we are as vocal as that home and away week in, week out. It will be louder Tuesday trust me! Take a look at our average attendances and you will see we have 100-200 every game. So straight away there goes your argument about stewarding, you knew we would have fans by just looking at our attendances so if you wanted more stewards why didn't you get them?

 

I was stood in the stand for the whole game and there wasn't racist chanting. Yes there was a bit of banter between our supporters, management and players as there is every week as we are a close knit club and community, we are social friends as well as a football club.

 

We pitched up in the stand behind the goal near the gate and we remained there for the entire 90mins, we didn't move and it is not our fault your fans decided to come in there at half time to watch the second half, if they don't like the banter and the general noise then go and stand somewhere else. From where I was in the stand 99% of the Slough fans in there were enjoying the banter and laughing and joining in - its called having fun!

 

We have been away to Codicote and Kidlington among others, we took exactly the same amount of fans there and everywhere we go we get a glowing reference about our fans being the 12th man and about us bringing back the good old days of non-league football. We have league officials watching us on a regular basis and everytime they do we are complimented on our support. Even in the last round against Aveley we were complimented by their management saying that this is how a non-league football club should be and that our fans were our 12th man.

 

It seems to me the problem here is you didn't expect little old Hanworth Villa to bring such a big following - after all we are only a little combined counties outfit! Maybe it was completely out of the norm for you and you didn't like it! As for calling us racists and bigots - that is laughable, in fact about as laughable as the four plice cars after the game! There was nothing even close to warranting a police presence and there will be no such thing Tuesday night either. We are passionate but not violent.

 

As for posting on your forum about our fans not being there Tuesday because they wont be able to collect their cheques on time - thats stereotypical and disrespectful. As I said our fans are there week in and week out and everywhere we go the opposition commends us both on and off the pitch so maybe you should look at yourselves because it seems that maybe its you with the problem!

 

I completely agree with all of your posts regarding the game, it was an end to end match with not a lot between the two sides and I feel a draw was a deserved result and gives both teams the chance to remain in the competition come Tuesday night. I expect another close one Tuesday and am looking forward to it.

 

I will just say it again - week in, week out, home and away. Maybe see some of you there Tuesday night 'supporting' your team? But then again based on the amount of drop outs already on here maybe not. Whether you are there or not I can assure you we will be plus a few more and we will be sure to give you a very warm welcome to 'the ranch'

 

Up the Villa!

well said and you are totally correct there will be alot more fans there tuesday as chelsea play on the wednesday lol

[Premiership Joy Rider]

I had been looking forward to this game all week and although I was disappointed that the Rebels did n't win it was a good game and a fair result.

I was looking forward to the usual (mostly) friendly banter between two non league clubs and some discussion about the match in the bar afterwards.

It is many many years since I have seen such an intimidating crowd and heard such racist chanting. The constant swearing was such a bad experience for my wife that she will not be attending another football game for some time.

I am so glad that the football game itself was relatively clean as the thugs were just waiting for any excuse to start a riot.

When I left the match on Saturday my initial reaction was not to attend the replay but on reflection that is just giving in to the thugs and not fair on our team who are always appreciative of our support. So I have now decided to attend and hope that the Hanworth officials have noted what happened on Saturday and will take the necessary precautions.