This one's not so much an away trip, but more of a rant inspired by the antics of the police in the FA Cup replay at Southport in 1992...
SOUTHPORT 3 BARROW 2 (aet) FA Cup Fourth Qualifying Round Replay 27 October 1992 by Graham Murphy
There is nothing that's more calculated to inflame the rage of usually peaceable fans than to be treated like imbeciles when you haven't actually done anything. Such was the fate of the thousand or so Barrow fans who made the trip to Southport for this FA Cup replay. Following a game which could have gone either way, and which was played in conditions more akin to January than October (a strong, cold wind and icy blustery showers), you can imagine our feelings when Southport scored the winner three minutes from the end of extra time. To say we were p¡$$£¶ off would be something of an understatement. So the announcement that the Barrow fans were to stay in the ground for five minutes after the end of the game was greeted with the incredulity it deserved. We'd been stood there since half past seven, the kick-off was delayed from 7.45 until eight due to the numbers of people waiting to get in, and after extra time was over, it was nearly 10.30. Three hours in the freezing cold had reduced us to the edges of exposure and frostbite. So this, together with the result, the rain and the prospect of a two or three hour journey home made us think of only one thing - the warmth of the car or bus going back. So why did the police find it necessary to keep us in the ground, in the rain and cold, for not five, but fifteen minutes? The ostensible reason was that the Barrow coaches could be brought round from the school playground where they had been parked. But most of us were in cars, for Heaven's sake! Did they expect us to run riot down Haig Avenue, smashing shop windows, looting, pillaging and taking anything we fancied? So how would they stop us once they let us out into the street? The whole episode was ridiculous and quite petty and illustrates how those in authority have no understanding of what motivates people to attend matches, or indeed how to spot the true supporter from the small minority who wish to cause trouble, and how to isolate and deal with that minority. If you want to get people upset, then pen them in, keep them waiting in the cold and wet and offer no explanation. The very act of detaining us was a danger in itself. We'd been told five minutes. After ten, one of the policemen guarding the gate opened it to see if the buses were there. Those at the back of the crowd took this as a sign that we could go so they started moving forward. The policeman then closed the gate again, and but for some desperate shouts from the front to the back of the crowd, those at the front, including several kids, could well have been crushed against the gates. So congratulations to Merseyside police whose paranoia in the face of a large crowd of travelling football fans makes them suitable recipients of the John Major award for Panic and Misjudgement at a Time of Crisis (previous holders - Michael Heseltine and Norman Lamont). Issue 015 - March 1993