starliaisonRoyalBluestarliaison However I have been told that the behaviour this season has been significantly worse than the previous few seasons and so it may seem different to the fans.
I'm very surprised by that statement from the club. Has anyone on here seen any evidence to support that claim? Indeed have STAR been shown any video evidence to back that up? Perhaps they ought to ask to see some because it is a very serious claim to be made 'in passing'.
As someone who last season was threatened with a ban for 'shouting too much/too loud' - at no point was I accused of swearing, using racist language etc. - I am very much of the opinion that some of the stewarding is completely OTT.
As you sit in the same seat from what you have said before, how can you know if behaviour is better or worse? Do you spend the whole game watching the crowd? That is what the people in the control room do, and they also make an effort to not escalate things. For instance, everyone on here says that they never do anything to away fans. This is not true they often eject (steward speak for throwing out) away fans but they don't march them down the stand surrounded by stewards do they - they wait until they go to the concourse and then they approach them and eject them, so as far as the home fans are concerned nothing had happened.
As has been said on here before a steward threatening you with a banning order for standing may be the same as a mother saying 'wait until your father gets home'. If they have been instructed to warn you of a banning order they have to give you a written warning, otherwise it is their way of dealing with you, which may or may not be effective.
To answer just a few of your points.
If there is crowd trouble/misbehaviour, it is normally pretty visible to others in the stadium. Yes, I do sit in the same seat, which is why I asked others on here whether they had seen any evidence that behaviour had significantly worsened this season.
And no I don't expect you to give up your time to sit through hours of video, but if the situation has deteriorated to the extent the club claim, they should have no trouble showing you instances in just a couple of minutes - one thing I will acknowledge is that their crowd surveillance equipment is very sophisticated so it shouldn't take them long to pull up the 'highlights'.
As for the point about quietly ejecting away supporters when they go into the concourse. Just how many away supporters are ejected in that manner? How many Man U supporters were ejected this season? In case you were too busy watching the game vast numbers of them stood for most of the game. I would therefore expect ejections to be well into double figures but somehow doubt it happened. Quietly ejecting a handful over the course of the game does sod all to show visiting and, just as importantly, home supporters that the club does take the regulations seriously and doesn't turn a blind eye to abuse by away support whilst quite happily coming down hard on its own.
I strongly object to being taken from my seat and warned for shouting too loud/too much, even if you do just regard that as the equivalent of a mother saying 'wait till your father gets home' (surprised if the PC brigade let you get away with that sexist analogy!
). It annoys me even more to then see away support treated with kid gloves for fear of escalation. Either standing is dangerous, in which case fear of escalation should not be an excuse for failing to deal with it, or it is not. If the latter, lay off the home support a bit.
