Give ’Em Beans! - What Our Columnists Said

Mr Zebedee took his name from the number of times he has been springing up and down the country watching Barrow play, writing his columns on the train on the way there and back, no doubt...

Mr ZEBEDEE

• on CS GAS

FA Cup second round day, 6 December is a bad date for football. For on this day two years ago, police used CS gas at a British football ground for the first time. The then Home Secretary, Michael Howard, claimed that CS sprays would only be used in situations where police had reasonable grounds to believe that a murder or serious assault involving a weapon might otherwise take place. I've always thought that a minor disturbance fell outside this definition. At the Scunthorpe v Ilkeston FA Cup tie last season an angry exchange of words between spectators and police developed into minor scuffles and finally into the use of CS sprays by the police. Amongst those incapacitated were a child and several young women whom the police admit took no part in the disturbances.

Critics of CS sprays point out that those used by British police are 25 times stronger than those used by American police forces. Three deaths in police custody have been blamed on CS gas. Let's hope this incident at Scunthorpe was the last time police will use CS gas at a football ground. But if you're at a match and they do, keep your head down and get out. Quick.

Issue 037 - November 1998

• on NEWCASTLE UNITED

Remember Newcastle United's pathetic tantrums over the location of their FA Cup tie against Stevenage almost exactly twelve months ago? What a bunch of cry babies. The Geordies reckoned that Stevenage's Broadhall Way ground wasn't big enough. In the only sensible decision they've made in the last twelve months the FA overruled them. So Newcastle made the long journey to Hertfordshire expecting victory by divine right only to struggle to hold Stevenage to a 1-1 draw. Newcastle won the replay, but not by the seven or eight they seemed to expect. The score was a more modest 2-1. Not content with that, Kenny Dalglish, with not so much a chip, more a large sack of potatoes on his shoulder, made the venomous and crass remark that he hoped Stevenage would be knocked out of the next round of the FA Trophy. Was there any need for that remark, Kenny?

All that came just before the scandal of the behaviour of two of Newcastle's directors and their less than complimentary remarks about their fans and North Eastern women. I guess diplomacy and sportsmanship are seriously lacking at St. James's Park. Then, nine months later, amongst acrimony and controversy, Dalglish gets the sack .

You've got to feel sorry for Newcastle's supporters. After all, would you want to support a club like this?

Issue 037 - November 1998

• on WHEN RIVALRY BECOMES BIGOTRY

It is commonplace for bitter rivalry to develop between neighbouring football teams. Think of Spurs and Arsenal, Liverpool and Everton, or Newcastle and Sunderland for example. That kind of rivalry couldn't be worse than in Glasgow where traditional enmity between the two main football clubs is poisoned by the evil of sectarian bigotry.

For the purposes of this article, let's call the two clubs X and Y. Last year, in Glasgow, a teenage boy wearing the replica shirt of club X was murdered. He was killed not because his shirt marked him out as a supporter of club X but because of the religion that team represents. As if that wasn't bad enough, it was alleged that a director of club Y defended the murderer.

If there's even the slightest bit of evidence to suggest that the allegation against the director of club Y might be true, the Scottish FA should take the strongest possible action against that director and his club. They won't, though. It's about time the Scottish FA launched an anti-bigotry campaign to drive the sectarian bias out of Scottish football for good.

Issue 037 - November 1998

• on WOKING

So those smarmy so-and-sos from Stockbrokerland, Surrey won the Trophy again. They think they have a divine night to win it as well as reach the Third Round of the FA Cup every year. But their days of cup glory may could well be over now their manager has gone. Perhaps they will return to their rightful place in the Ryman League and their supporters in their poncy pinstripe suits, bowler hats and briefcases will fall down the hole which recently appeared in the middle of the Kingfield pitch. (Does this mean you don't like Woking then? Ed.)

Issue 031 - September 1997

Mr ZEBEDEE
Mr Zebedee took his name from the number of times he has been springing up and down the country watching Barrow play, writing his columns on the train on the way there and back, no doubt...
• on CS GAS FA Cup second round day, 6 December is a bad date for football. For on this day two years ago, police used CS gas at a British football ground for the first time. The then Home Secretary, Michael Howard, claimed that CS sprays would only be used in situations where police had reasonable grounds to believe that a murder or serious assault involving a weapon might otherwise take place. I've always thought that a minor disturbance fell outside this definition. At the Scunthorpe v Ilkeston FA Cup tie last season an angry exchange of words between spectators and police developed into minor scuffles and finally into the use of CS sprays by the police. Amongst those incapacitated were a child and several young women whom the police admit took no part in the disturbances. Critics of CS sprays point out that those used by British police are 25 times stronger than those used by American police forces. Three deaths in police custody have been blamed on CS gas. Let's hope this incident at Scunthorpe was the last time police will use CS gas at a football ground. But if you're at a match and they do, keep your head down and get out. Quick. Issue 037 - November 1998
• on NEWCASTLE UNITED Remember Newcastle United's pathetic tantrums over the location of their FA Cup tie against Stevenage almost exactly twelve months ago? What a bunch of cry babies. The Geordies reckoned that Stevenage's Broadhall Way ground wasn't big enough. In the only sensible decision they've made in the last twelve months the FA overruled them. So Newcastle made the long journey to Hertfordshire expecting victory by divine right only to struggle to hold Stevenage to a 1-1 draw. Newcastle won the replay, but not by the seven or eight they seemed to expect. The score was a more modest 2-1. Not content with that, Kenny Dalglish, with not so much a chip, more a large sack of potatoes on his shoulder, made the venomous and crass remark that he hoped Stevenage would be knocked out of the next round of the FA Trophy. Was there any need for that remark, Kenny? All that came just before the scandal of the behaviour of two of Newcastle's directors and their less than complimentary remarks about their fans and North Eastern women. I guess diplomacy and sportsmanship are seriously lacking at St. James's Park. Then, nine months later, amongst acrimony and controversy, Dalglish gets the sack . You've got to feel sorry for Newcastle's supporters. After all, would you want to support a club like this? Issue 037 - November 1998
• on WHEN RIVALRY BECOMES BIGOTRY It is commonplace for bitter rivalry to develop between neighbouring football teams. Think of Spurs and Arsenal, Liverpool and Everton, or Newcastle and Sunderland for example. That kind of rivalry couldn't be worse than in Glasgow where traditional enmity between the two main football clubs is poisoned by the evil of sectarian bigotry. For the purposes of this article, let's call the two clubs X and Y. Last year, in Glasgow, a teenage boy wearing the replica shirt of club X was murdered. He was killed not because his shirt marked him out as a supporter of club X but because of the religion that team represents. As if that wasn't bad enough, it was alleged that a director of club Y defended the murderer. If there's even the slightest bit of evidence to suggest that the allegation against the director of club Y might be true, the Scottish FA should take the strongest possible action against that director and his club. They won't, though. It's about time the Scottish FA launched an anti-bigotry campaign to drive the sectarian bias out of Scottish football for good. Issue 037 - November 1998
• on WOKING So those smarmy so-and-sos from Stockbrokerland, Surrey won the Trophy again. They think they have a divine night to win it as well as reach the Third Round of the FA Cup every year. But their days of cup glory may could well be over now their manager has gone. Perhaps they will return to their rightful place in the Ryman League and their supporters in their poncy pinstripe suits, bowler hats and briefcases will fall down the hole which recently appeared in the middle of the Kingfield pitch. (Does this mean you don't like Woking then? Ed.) Issue 031 - September 1997