Just when you think Scottish football can't sink any lower

[JFK-1 1,693]

I hadn't even heard of this incident but i'm more than confident the sports media in Scotland would be talking about nothing else if this had involved Rangers fans and everybody would know all about it.

 

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As Rangers fans, us Bears know a lot about hate these days. No one Likes Us We Don’t Care has always been our defiant motto, but since 2012 we have certainly felt that hatred magnify exponentially.

However, Scottish football plunged to possibly the lowest rung of bowel-scraping hate and horror at St Mirren Park when a portion of the natives decided the best way to help a fan of their opponents Dundee United who was lying unconscious with head injuries was to throw missiles at him and spit on him.

It’s not often we’re lost for words by the hate the human mind appears to be capable of sinking to these days, but this incident has left us close.

To outline the level of loss of humanity here is probably about the best way to sum it up – a human being, lying unconscious and in vital need of medical attention being spat on with missiles hurled on him.

When did people lose their basic respect for life?

We know that fans do lose their minds at football, that we all get caught up in the emotion and act in ways we simply don’t outwith the ground.

But there’s something wrong in this instance, when hate for an opponent goes so far as to enjoy his suffering and inflict further upon him.

Each person who did this – would they be proud to own up to it to their families? To their children?

What stories will they tell their grandchildren? “You know there was once a time we played at home and I spat globules of filth at an innocent man lying unconscious – oh those were the days.”

In the past six or seven years, aided and abetted by the rise of social media, people have simply lost their decency – especially when it comes to football.

We get all kinds of abuse on Ibrox Noise from grown men (and women) who should know better just because they disagree – and that kind of abuse has sadly filtered into the ‘real world’ where it is deemed appropriate to grog up on a helpless and injured man lying defenceless on the ground.

The club of course completely condemned this behaviour and pulled no punches in describing it or trying to shame those guilty – but it’s a sad time these days that we have to praise decent behaviour because the horrible stuff is becoming the majority.

Scottish football really is plunging into a vile black abyss of depravity and we see no pulling it back from the brink any more.

 https://www.ibroxnoise.co.uk/2019/02/just-when-you-think-scottish-football.html

[Gonzo79 15,197]

They were spitting and throwing things at celebrating opposition fans, not specifically an unconscious one.

 

I realise that spitting at anyone or throwing coins is unacceptable but that article is a bit ridiculous.

[Bluedell 5,604]

1 hour ago, Gonzo79 said:

They were spitting and throwing things at celebrating opposition fans, not specifically an unconscious one.

St Mirren themselves say that they were throwing things and spitting at him.

 

"While the unconscious supporter was being removed there were numerous people standing above the vomitory who decided to spit and throw coins at him."

[MacK1950 2,358]

2 hours ago, Gonzo79 said:

They were spitting and throwing things at celebrating opposition fans, not specifically an unconscious one.

 

I realise that spitting at anyone or throwing coins is unacceptable but that article is a bit ridiculous.

Sorry indefensible especially since club reported the "sickness" of the incident.

[JFK-1 1,693]

St Mirren Club Statement

 

We are fortunate to have a very loyal support who travel up and down the country following the team through thick and thin and, as we have previously stated, this is never taken for granted and is much appreciated by everyone connected with St Mirren.

This season the police have been in dialogue with us over some incidents and behaviour that has taken place predominantly at away games. This relates to a very small number of fans, however, it goes without saying that this negatively affects the reputation of the support as a whole.

Amongst other things this has involved the setting off of flares, fireworks and smoke bombs, organising fights with opposition supporters and vandalism of public property. These are very serious allegations and seriously tarnish our club’s reputation.

While the aforementioned are primarily a police issue we are now also seeing instances of this unacceptable behaviour appearing at our home fixtures.

On Saturday a Dundee Utd supporter suffered a serious head injury after the away crowd surged forward after United’s first goal. This is something we have warned our own support against on numerous occasions so hopefully this will make people realise how dangerous this can be.

Given the seriousness of the injury the decision was taken to remove the fan by the quickest means possible which was through the vomitory at W7.

While the unconscious supporter was being removed there were numerous people standing above the vomitory who decided to spit and throw coins at him.

This is completely and utterly unacceptable. We cannot allow the actions of a very small number of fans to ruin the reputation of St Mirren Football Club.

Some of the people responsible were identified but unfortunately the quality of the CCTV footage of the incident is such that at this time we are unable to pursue this to the degree of certainty that would allow prosecution.

If we are able to clearly identify the culprits, regardless of what happens in a legal sense, they will be given a lifetime ban from our stadium.

We would ask anyone with any information or footage of the incident to contact the club on info@stmirren.com.

Any information provided will be treated in the strictest confidence.

Everyone connected with the club fully acknowledges the fantastic contribution the W7 group have made to improving the atmosphere at the stadium. Whilst we want to nurture and support the fans in that area of the stadium we are also duty bound to apply the same rules that cover all other areas of all other stands.

For the avoidance of any doubt antisocial behaviour will not be tolerated in ANY area of our stadium.

There has been much comment on social media over the weekend regarding all of the above but that is not the place we should be having these conversations especially when people are not aware of all the facts and individuals can twist the truth without the risk of being held accountable for their words.

As a result of this ongoing situation we have asked local MSP George Adam to arrange a meeting with the police, the club and relevant fan groups to try and find a sensible way forward to get us all pulling in the same direction once more.

 

https://www.stmirren.com/news/club/all-news/2590-club-statement

[craig 5,199]

On ‎13‎/‎02‎/‎2019 at 03:45, Gonzo79 said:

They were spitting and throwing things at celebrating opposition fans, not specifically an unconscious one.

 

I realise that spitting at anyone or throwing coins is unacceptable but that article is a bit ridiculous.

The number of times you attempt to defend the indefensible...….

[pete 2,499]

One thing that has shocked me in the last few years is that our emergency workers are often threatened and attacked by groups of youths when doing their jobs. I wondered if this was a Dutch phenomenon so I asked one of my mates in Glasgow( yes I do have some) who is an ambulance para-medic and he says that it happens to him all the time as well. He was actually off a time sick because of the pressure of his work and is thinking of just going back to being an electrician which was his original trade. 

[917 191]

Yes, this sort of thing is mind boggling. However it is also possible to jump to conclusions. Did Dundee Utd complain about this incident? How many witnesses were there?? However, you certainly do see & hear behaviour at the football which is worse than sectarianism/racism, in my opinion.