BILLY BREMNER MEMORIAL JOIN OUR CAMPAIGN
Date: 11th November 2024
As our chair noted in his last blog, the SFSA recently received a letter from a distraught mum in Aberdeen who had taken her eight-year-old son to see the Dons play against Rangers and both of them were terrified by their proximity to a lit pyro. This is what she wrote:
“I was at the Aberdeen v Rangers match with my 8-year-old son. And the scenes we witnessed makes me question whether I ever want to attend another Aberdeen match.
“Putting the foul language, standing in seats etc. aside for now I would like to focus on the flares ignited in the stands.
“One of which was right next to us. My son and I were petrified, the heat coming from the flare was so intense that I had to shelter my son and myself inside my (thankfully thick) winter coat. It was terrifying. After it had burnt out, I expected stewards or police to then arrest the person but nothing, and he wasn’t the only one. We then spent the entire match in fear that it would happen again.
“My club bow down to these idiots and never do anything but someone will be seriously hurt by these flares and it will be on their conscience to live with that.
“I don’t know what you can do: I’ve contacted the club they couldn’t care less.”
After the SFSA replied, to say we stand with her on this issue, she wrote back to say the following:
“What seems to be happening at my club is an acceptance. There are signs that they actively encourage this. I say this because they recently used the (official) pyro display in advertising on their official twitter page. If only they knew the terror that was going on within that area. But maybe they do, but don’t care.
“I have contacted the club on more than one occasion, they just ask for my personal details and have shown zero interest in what happened to me and my son.
“I do wonder why this is. I can only guess at some possibilities. The first is that they would rather brush the ‘problem’ under the carpet rather than put the effort in to stop it. Another possibility is the recent hiring of a former ultra as part of the staff at the club. Many feel this is an indication of where the club are heading. With ultra fans on board at the club allowing this type of behaviour. I do wonder if the club are either scared to face this group or they don’t want to upset them in case they stop attending lowering attendances, reducing the atmosphere and costing them revenue.
“But what they are doing is making a rod for their own back.
“I hope it gets resolved at a higher level, and instead of talking some action occurs.”
It does seem that the use of pyros is increasing in Scotland. Conversely, they don’t seem to be quite such an issue in England. We have heard that some Scottish clubs are taking action to try to stop them (Raith Rovers have been mentioned as leading on this). What with the attacks on the police in Edinburgh and Glasgow, using fireworks as weapons, the lengthy delay to the start of the Celtic v Aberdeen League Cup semi-final and the injuries to fans and the police from pyros and fireworks in the last few years, are we seriously going to wait until someone gets very badly injured or killed?
The lady who wrote to us has given us permission to publish her correspondence. Bear in mind that pyros are illegal when used in this way. Also, the last thing clubs want is to have strict liability for what happens in their grounds imposed upon them by the government. If they don’t tackle this issue, that may yet happen, which might in turn have all sorts of other unintended consequences. It is undoubtedly difficult for clubs to prevent pyros getting into their stadia, but there are several groups who, it seems to me, can help here: the football authorities, the clubs themselves (what are they doing collectively and individually, or, as the Aberdeen fan suggests, are some conflicted on this issue?) the Scottish government, the police and, of course, the majority of fans who do not want pyros in their grounds. It’s time for action.
Alastair Blair, Director of Operations, SFSA
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