There is an old expression known as “taking the piss” and Swindon Town have taken the piss big time today. Remember last Saturday when Rovers’ away trip to the County Ground was abandoned after a storm turned the ground into a boating lake? Thousands of Gasheads did. In fact, one lady of my acquaintance offered to let me touch her underwear several hours after the game to prove just how wet she was. I’ll let you insert your own punchline here, but suffice to say I declined the opportunity. Unlike Swindon, I was not going to take the piss.
Anyway, back to the point. I have been to a few games over the years that have been abandoned. When that has happened, fans have been invited to retain their ticket stubs which would be valid for the re-arranged game. This makes sense since the first game was not finished and in terms of the record books never really started. But Swindon Town have another view: they want to charge full whack for the return game.
The reason they have given is police costs which I would argue is utterly irrelevant from the main issue. It is a fact of life, an unfortunate fact, that games have to be policed at all but they do. That’s just the way life is. The vast majority of supporters are not there for a fight and I do not understand for the life of me why they should be penalised in this way.
If anything, the Swindon rip off action is likely to make matters worse, not better, because you can imagine a far more angry atmosphere at the game than there was before. More coppers may need to be employed so expect Swindon to announce substantial ticket price rises for the rematch. I am not joking.
I expect this, or something similar to this, has happened before in football but it is quite unacceptable. What should Gasheads do?
I am not urging a boycott of the game but look at the effects of the unofficial boycott of tonight’s EFL game at the Mem and at games elsewhere. The authorities will simply not be able to ignore fans if they withdraw their support and, indeed, their money.
At the Rovers we have a supporters club which, for all its failings (and there are many) has seen off all protests over the years so you would think they might have a bit of clout. There are two elected directors, Ken Masters and Brian Seymour Smith, who have talked the talk but never walked the walk. Perhaps, for once in their lives, they could show leadership to the fans who are the real victims in all this, being fleeced once again by a football club with no principles and campaign for the Swindon rip off to be stopped in its tracks.
Fair play to Rovers boss Darrell Clarke for supporting the supporters by describing the actions of Swindon as “disgraceful”. He speaks for all of us in the blue half of Bristol. And don’t forget the fans united will never be defeated.
