Segregating supporters so unnecessary in
IT was Saturday 5 August , and County were playing their first match of the new season at Brewery Field Spennymoor – a football ground that we had not, before that day, visited in the 134 years of the Hatters’ existence.
Despite County having the majority of the possession, they failed to turn this time on the ball into goals and thus our hosts ran out winners by just one goal to nil.
That was disappointing, but everything else about the experience that day was of a decidedly more uplifting hue!
For starters, County supporters commissioned three coaches to take a large number of fans on the trip to the north east – two from the Bobby Peel and one from the Fingerpost.
Secondly, when we arrived the welcome was low key but welcoming, and upon entering Brewery Field it was a small joy to note that there was no segregation in force and thus County fans could mingle with the locals, and enjoy the game totally free from trouble.
What’s more it soon became apparent that, joy of joys, you could do a full circuit of the ground without having to negotiate your way past a phalanx of stewards, and with this element also came the ability, much loved by fans, of being able to change ends at half time!
The result of this relaxed approach from our hosts was that, despite tensions on the field, there were none off it!
Now, I realise that occasions occur when segregation may well be appropriate, but my feeling is that, for whatever reason, instead of being a choice or last resort, it is increasingly becoming the knee jerk first choice!