Another comment by a Wealdstone Fan

[JeremyJacobs]

Very well said. Could not have put it better myself.

 

It wasnt the fact that I was told that I couldnt take my camera inside, but the fact that the steward seemed to take some real enjoyment out of stating just that. But two Wealdstone directors came in and stated that I was the regular photographer. I was allowed in, although this was much to the disgust of the young steward.

 

Quite why I would presumably want to use a camera and lens that cost 3000 pounds as a weapon, it obviously beyond some simple folk......

[knighty101]

so were not allowed cameras in now either?

 

soon we will need to go in naked, having shaved our pubes incase we tie them together and use them as a noose........

 

is this club trying to destroy its self?...

[Guest]

And hardly a suprise he did not want to hand over the alleged pictures that he took to the Police. Its rather obvious to those 'fans' who were ejected who would have been the 'snitch'. He likes his camera in one piece I would like to believe!

 

But back to the stewarding. Where it all went wrong, was on how the situation was dealt with. You can have all the unarmed combat or 'ejection' skills in the world, but most of the time, its better to deal with minor situations with a smile and a warning. The 'offenders' only became agitated after the stewards moved in.

 

I've stewarded before, this is how I would have dealt with it:

 

"look mate, I can see you've had a bit to drink and badly need a slash, but its against regulations to do it behind the stand, can you please follow me to the toilets, otherwise, if you carry on, we will have to eject you"

 

99% of the time, the subject will follow your behaviour, apologise and do as you asked....

[knighty101]

well im not sure what happend to you lot or what caused the problem but, i know our stewards are awful and total jobsworths. i mean i was warned for leaning on the coffin end fence im a season ticket holder and attended most games for the last 4 or 5 seasons, with coming home this season i thought it would be great but sadly its bitter and im unsure how much longer i will attend games under the current system. we have to watch every word we say or we are thretend with ejection........ sadly you cant enjoy the game that way.........

[Guest]

Legend

 

I'm sorry that this has been foisted upon you. I thought part of the joy of watching non league was to avoid all of the tension and conflict between supporters and matchday stewards?? Surely you can find 8 decent stewards amongst your supporters??

 

I dread to think what will happen at our new ground if we employ private stewarding.

[meatloaf]

It is obvious that some MFC fans are unhappy with the rule enforcement at Hartsdown Park, but there was an open meeting last week organised by MISA in the club at which it was explained why the FA Ground Regulations were now being enforced if any fan is unhappy with the regulation enforcement put your concerns or complaints in writing to the club. If any Wealdstone fans would care to scroll back through the topics the suggestion of seggregation came from one of thier own. As for cameras under FA Ground Regulation 14 please read what it says

[jkmaskell]

At that MISA meeting we talked for a hell of a lot of time about the stewarding and Im sure meatloaf is fully aware of the problems. As was said at the meeting, this is the first season in a "new" ground so its going to take time to get settled in and for the stewards to be able to get used to home games. The best thing for us to do is to support the stewards if they need help.

[meatloaf]

No one said anything about a camera being used as a weapon, cameras are not allowed in unless authorised by MFC because of copyright, will MFC get a share of any pictures taken and sold?????? I think not

[Cookie]

Regulation 14 says:

 

No person(other than a person who holds an appropiate licence) may bring into the ground or use within the ground any equipment which is capable of recording or transmitting(by digital or any othr means)any audio,visual or audio- visual material or any information or data in relation to the MATCH or the ground.

 

Therefore strickly speaking Meatloaf is correct but as with licensed people the discretion should however be with the club and as cameras are not a direct threat maybe just getting the o.k to take them in would suffice from the club.Its an ass of a regulation and it should be looked at.

 

Regulation 12 also states:

 

Under the Sporting Events(control of alcohol)Act 1895,the following are offences for which a person can be arrested by a Police officer & conviction could result in a banning order being made.

12.1 Attempting to enter the ground or being inside the ground whilst drunk.

There is another 12.2 but the above is the main one we should be aware of.

 

If this fan was such he should not have been allowed into the ground in the first place but please note it also says that a Police officer can evict but no mention of stewards. But stewards DO at times, so flexibility of the regulations is made in this case therefore some flexibility of other regulations,under the eye of the club who are responsible for such should be attainable.

 

You are correct Meatloaf in all that you say but in some cases, despite the regulations, there has to be some degree of common sense attached, some understanding and leaway from all sides.

Not ALL regulations are abided to to the letter I am sure in many grounds across the country.

Am sure if the club gave out a notice that cameras were allowed in this regulation could be covered.Its not such a "big" thing at the end of the day is it? Its certainly not going to breach national security is it?

[zhukov]

Legend, you are making an important point which is being overlooked with the development of the club. There is a growing sense of alienation amongst some of the fans who were staunch supporters throughout the last few difficult years. It is not possible to identify one particular reason for this because it is an accumulation of factors and change itself is always unsettling. The sort of club atmosphere I would like to enjoy would be those I enjoyed at Bognor Regis last season and in the previous year at Conference level at Woking. These clubs were welcoming and there was a friendly social atmosphere about the place. There was an absence of being searched, controlled and surveilled like some criminal/terrorist suspect.

The club is changing and we have to cope as best we can with the changes but I am with you.

[meatloaf]

rule 14 also goes on to say .......Copyright in any unauthorised reording or transmission is assigned (by way of present assignment of future copyright persuant to section 91 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988) to the club. Regulation 18.1 states.......Entry to the ground shall constitute acceptance of the Ground Regulations

[Cookie]

I fail to see how taking pictures of the game by whatever means is doing the club a misjustice.In fact the club should be encouraging it as it is a means of publicity,free publicity for the club.

[knighty101]

so is this going to mean people who have mobile phones will not be allowed in unless they hand them over, you and me both know phones have cameras on them now that are as good as a standard digital camera some far better and they take video..

 

where are you going to draw the line?

[meatloaf]

and no financial gain from the sold pictures cookie, the photographer from wealdstone said that he could lose money by handing pictures over therefor he would be making money out of MFC

[jkmaskell]

I do think some people are over-doing it here with the criticisms of the regulations here. The regulations are there for a good reason and if we dont accept them and instead decide to ignore them, if MFC is caught breaching those regultions, they could face huge fines. Its not worth the risk.

[Coffin Ender]

Good point about camera-phones, Legend. I can't see what possible harm it can do for a spectator to take photographs.

[meatloaf]

Ground Regulation 11......Mobile telephones are permitted within the ground, provided that they are used for personal and private use only.....if anyone is seen to be using a mobile phone for taking pictures you can be asked to delete the pictures in front of a steward and a director of the club

[Cookie]

Common sense again. We should be encouraging the taking of pictures as it SHOULD all be good for the club.Financial gain shouldnt be a factor here despite the above statement being made.

We are all going around in circles here with this,probably blowing things out of all proportion and getting no-where. Maybe the club officials and the stewards should sit down and work something out between themselves and come to a satisfactory conclusion on all counts. Maybe include a representative from the FA among those talks too. Conclusions that please everyone,not just the FA. If taking photos of the game was such a threat to security or indeed to safety then I would be 100% behind those regulations but the fact is that they are not any of those things.

Legend makes a good point about mobile phones. They ARE acceptable into the ground as it is. As he says now that technology has moved forward does this mean that they too will be banned. I think its about time the FA and its regulations,on certain aspects got updated dont you?

[Guest]

What a strange subject - the use of cameras at a non league football ground. Who cares what regulation xx says. I am flabbergasted to hear that anyone at Margate gives a monkeys about cameras being brought into your ground. You must be the only non league club in the country refusing entry to cameras.

 

When you contact visiting clubs prior to match - do you provide a full list of what you do or do not allow?? In all seriousness you should because otherwise the rest of us will assume you are a normal non league club playing in the Ryman Premier applying the same rules as the rest of us - obviously you don't.

 

Had I brought my camera down to Margate (which I might well have done had the kids come with me) then I would have been outraged to be refused admittance to your ground with it.

 

Changing the subject completely, it's obvious from a number of postings that several of your fans wrongly identified who the wfc chairman was.

[jkmaskell]

The FA does give a monkeys and that is what matters. We may not like the rules but we have to abide by them.