DAVID McCARTHY is sick of the way fans are treated in Scottish football.

[ian1964 10,418]

The £4m cop-out: Instead of wasting cash on facial recognition cameras clubs should pay for police to root out thugs

 

THERE’S a train of thought if you’ve nothing to hide why worry about facial recognition cameras being brought into Scottish football?

 

I get that and I suspect the silent majority do as well.

 

That’s because most of us just want to go to the game, meet our mates, support and moan about our teams then go home. Some of us take our kids and while the language could make a navvy blush at times, my own two don’t even seem to hear it. They’re too caught up in the shock of being ripped away from their XBox perhaps.

 

That’s the reality though. For every bampot there are thousands who aren’t.

 

The picture being painted of Scottish football fans – and we in the media have to take a look at how we portray them – bears no resemblance to reality.

 

I read one column this week that was written by someone who clearly believes football supporters – in this case it was Rangers fans, whom she accused of carrying out all sorts of atrocities on Hibs followers at Ibrox – are the scum of the earth. Get the army in to sort them out was her solution.

READ Celtic fans protest against cameras

 

Look, there is an element in every support that clubs would ditch in a heartbeat and the rest of us would applaud as they were slung out. It’s not the Home Counties Village Cricket League we’re talking about but this constant persecution of people who go to matches gets me down.

 

More than 99,000 fans watched the SPFL action over the weekend. That was the highest proportion of fans to population in Europe – and that was on a weekend when Rangers weren’t at home so you can chip in another 45,000.

 

I’d say 99 per cent of those don’t harrass or harm anything but their bank balances given the price they pay for entry.

 

Some of the songs they sing aren’t politically correct and some are downright offensive but the seething cesspit that some would claim is our game is a lie. The vast majority of people who go to football here are not knuckle-dragging,

flare-throwing bigots. It’s garbage and in an era where folk look for things to be offended about that notion is truly offensive.

 

Granted, those who have hurled smoke bombs haven’t done football’s image any favours and have sent the game’s governers into a state of panic – hence the facial recognition idea.

 

That has provoked the predictable outcry from those who bang on day about their civil liberties.

 

Yet their faces are being filmed and photographed a dozen times a day – in banks, supermarkets, petrol forecourts and high streets – and it doesn’t stop them going about their business.

 

I don’t mind being filmed and if it does help catch those who deserve to feel the long arm of the law on their shoulder then that gets a thumbs-up. But here’s why I don’t think it should happen in football.

 

To even suggest spending £4m – or asking the Government to hand over that kind of cash – so the SPFL and SFA can nail a few nutters is mindboggling.

READ Experts sound warning over facial recognition plans

 

How many new nurses could be trained for £4m? How many homeless people could be helped? How many people who are forced to use foodbanks could be fed and watered? Yes, something does have to be done about the minority who are hellbent on causing trouble.

 

Strict liability is a non-starter because clubs won’t vote to punish themselves. The

authorities also don’t want the power to deduct points because all hell will break loose.

 

So here’s what the clubs can do, with the help of the SFA and SPFL. Spend a few more quid on proper policing.

 

Forget the stewards – why would they put themselves in the firing line for the kind of dough they are getting?

 

But if the clubs think there’s a big enough problem to be asking for £4m to sort it they can pay to bring in more cops and tell them to root out the troublemakers.

 

Search them before going in. Most of us can recognise the dafties at a thousand paces.

 

And if they get in and start their nonsense go in and take them out. Then the rest of us can watch the game in peace and when it finally gets through the thick skulls of those who want to cause bother that they really are going to end up in the pokey it might just make them think twice about going along.

 

And who knows the real football fans might just get the recognition they deserve. Facial or otherwise.

 

Read more at http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/4m-cop-out-instead-wasting-7253354#PDDovVuzPw5BvdVH.99

Edited January 27, 2016 by ian1964

[Juancornetto 1]

Bravo Mr McCarthy :clap:

[MacK1950 2,231]

Read the report in the paper at last it seems something sensible written by a reporter.

Totally agree that such a sum of taxpayers money should not be used for such a hair-brained idea as not all taxpayers are interested in football.

While I find a lot of songs ,over the full spectrum of football,to be offensive/annoying if they are kept within the grounds it is a way of letting off steam.

More worrying is the issue of flares etc.,the culprits should be,if caught,jailed and left with a criminal record.These people are not fans but just senseless morons.

[The Stroller 0]

I believe the flares & smoke bombs are a complete red herring. They are looking to build a database & will look to prosecute anyone who says the word F****n. Beginning middle & end. The most mind boggling aspect to me is that F*****s were a legitimate political group & there is nothing wrong with the word in itself. It is often an accurate description of Republican viewpoints. I was in Dublin recently & was standing on F****n Street. Of course it has been used as a blanket description for anyone who was Catholic & it wasn't always an accurate description. Sticks & stones right enough.

Edited January 27, 2016 by The Stroller

[pete 2,499]

I believe the flares & smoke bombs are a complete red herring. They are looking to build a database & will look to prosecute anyone who says the word F****n. Beginning middle & end. The most mind boggling aspect to me is that F*****s were a legitimate political group & there is nothing wrong with the word in itself. It is often an accurate description of Republican viewpoints. I was in Dublin recently & was standing on F****n Street. Of course it has been used as a blanket description for anyone who was Catholic & it wasn't always an accurate description. Sticks & stones right enough.

 

The word Fen!an is in itself not illegal. It is when it is used in a derogatory sense it becomes illegal.

[ian1964 10,418]

The word Fen!an is in itself not illegal. It is when it is used in a derogatory sense it becomes illegal.

 

Nope!,only when used by a Rangers fan to describe a C****c fan is more accurate!

[The Stroller 0]

The word Fen!an is in itself not illegal. It is when it is used in a derogatory sense it becomes illegal.

 

Consider what you just said there & reflect how pathetic it actually is. It is illegal to say a word that may cause someone "offence" even if it accurately described their political viewpoint. Don't get me wrong I'm not condoning its use but defending the right to say a word, even if you are a numnut

[aweebluesoandso 290]

I cannot get to enthused, nor to congratulate any Journalist late to this argument. Rangers fans have been for years complaining about being subjected to this unfair selective vilification and harassment. That other football supporters are now being targeted and subjected to the same agenda comes as no surprise..

 

The Press themselves then as now, are at the forefront of our harassment, as is BBC Scotland, Police and Government. They all Learned by targeting Rangers fans, how easily it was to isolate one section of the football community and unfairly demonise them.. All they simple had to do was widen the net and apply the very same method, to attack, harass and isolate football fans in general.

 

Everyone was well warned this would all come to pass, those warnings were ignored, sadly the Rangers fans predictions have been proven correct.

Edited January 27, 2016 by aweebluesoandso