Your Worcester News is an offensive weapon, footy fan told (From Worcester News)
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Stoke ban Worcester News from ground for game with West Ham because newspaper is deemed a potential weapon
7:30am Thursday 7th March 2013 in News By Catherine Phillips, Reporter
POWER OF THE PRESS: West Ham United fan Chris Barmby had his newspaper confiscated at Stoke City’s Britannia Stadium turnstiles. 1013261005
A WEST Ham United fan was stopped from taking his copy of the Worcester News into a Premier League football ground after guards branded it an offensive weapon.
Security guards at Stoke City Football Club confiscated the newspaper belonging to Chris Barmby, of Claines, in case he set it alight. Two guards stopped the 57-year-old retired firefighter saying he could not take it through the gates into the Britannia Stadium as it was the club’s new policy to ban newspapers to stop people using them as a torch.
Lifelong football fan Mr Barmby said: “It was absolutely ridiculous, what is stopping someone setting light to a club programme?
“I’ve been following football for years and years and go to a lot of home games and as many away games as I can and I have never heard anything so ridiculous.
“The worst thing was I hadn’t even read it.”
Mr Barmby travels to games with a group of West Ham fans from Worcester and is well known for carrying a copy of your Worcester News with him.
“I always take a copy with me to read on the train but we end up having a bit of banter and I stick it in my back pocket to read later.
“I told them I hadn’t read it but they said to stick it behind the fence and pick it up on the way back. I left the grounds out of another gate so I didn’t even get it back.”
Football hooligans in the 1960s and 1970s would allegedly roll up newspapers into a cosh-style weapon known as a Milwall brick.
Bryan Shaw, chairman of Stoke City Supporters Club, said it was the first time he had heard of someone having a newspaper taken from them at the grounds.
“I can’t contradict what they have said and I haven’t seen the new guidelines but it is unusual.
“The only thing I can think of is that there has been tension between the fans during the last couple of visits with West Ham fans trying to get to the other supporters.”
Stoke City Football Club did not respond to numerous requests for a comment. On the club’s website the list of banned items does not include newspapers.
However, it does state that any article that might be used as a weapon and/or compromise public safety would not be allowed into the grounds.
Comments(21)
Guy66
says...
9:04am Thu 7 Mar 13
Guy66
says...
9:07am Thu 7 Mar 13
Try Rugby far more civilized!
outside-edge
says...
10:18am Thu 7 Mar 13
Guy66 wrote:The pen is obviously mightier than the sword.
If you roll a newspaper tightly it can be used effectively as a weapon. Paper is quite formidable when used in certain ways......
imustbeoldiwearacap
says...
10:48am Thu 7 Mar 13
Guy66 wrote:An oxymoron?
Just to add... It only goes to show that football grounds still don't trust their own fans and the expectation that items will be utilized as weapons must still be at forefront of the clubs security policies....
Try Rugby far more civilized!
CJH
says...
12:05pm Thu 7 Mar 13
scolesy
says...
12:32pm Thu 7 Mar 13
Guy66 wrote:Yet the will sell you a match program for a tenner!!!
If you roll a newspaper tightly it can be used effectively as a weapon. Paper is quite formidable when used in certain ways......
brooksider
says...
3:20pm Thu 7 Mar 13
I wonder if they are Coldstream or Grenadier?
Guy66
says...
3:50pm Thu 7 Mar 13
scolesy wrote:smaller less offensive and rubbish content!
Guy66 wrote:Yet the will sell you a match program for a tenner!!!
If you roll a newspaper tightly it can be used effectively as a weapon. Paper is quite formidable when used in certain ways......
stu2010
says...
4:56pm Thu 7 Mar 13
Doogie 46
says...
6:08pm Thu 7 Mar 13
Raymond Delauney
says...
7:25pm Thu 7 Mar 13
Brilliant.
charlie the cat
says...
7:29pm Thu 7 Mar 13
Jim F
says...
7:54pm Thu 7 Mar 13
Jabbadad
says...
12:37am Fri 8 Mar 13
However rolled newspaper is a good deterrent for your would be naughty dog, when we had Alsatians just the noise of a rolled newspaper slapping sent them, scooting away. No pain just the noise.
So perhaps this would affect the footy fans as well ha ha.
TDH123
says...
6:32am Fri 8 Mar 13
topjock1972
says...
6:50am Fri 8 Mar 13
iamthebinman
says...
7:10am Fri 8 Mar 13
Doogie 46 wrote:Millwall Brick! Wasn't that Harry the Dog and the F-Troop steaming in the Kop End of the Victoria Ground rather than some old geezer with his local rag! Security at football have no idea how lucky they are these days!
They`d have to have a lot of WN`s to make a Millwall Brick - it`s so thin these days (unless it was a Thursday with the property supplement)And it wouldn`t burn for very long!!!
Respectable
says...
9:13am Fri 8 Mar 13
worcester shelf side
says...
6:45am Sat 9 Mar 13
a millwall brick if folded right can break a house brick, a long thin news paper is just right for rolling one in either of its forms.
pinkfluff
says...
1:18pm Mon 11 Mar 13
Jabbadad wrote:Rolled up newspaper can easily be used as an effective weapon, could cause death even.
Rolled newspaper a weapon, get real the only time it could be seen or used as a weapon was if it were wrapped around an iron bar or house brick.
However rolled newspaper is a good deterrent for your would be naughty dog, when we had Alsatians just the noise of a rolled newspaper slapping sent them, scooting away. No pain just the noise.
So perhaps this would affect the footy fans as well ha ha.
mr.meldrew says...
9:00am Thu 7 Mar 13