True fans working hard to restore the club’s reputation
HOW encouraging to see ordinary, everyday, law abiding Stoke City supporters re-claim their club’s good name and reputation so quickly this week. Social media has a lot to answer for, but thank goodness for its existence on Tuesday evening.
Not only because of all the footage that might bring to justice those culprits causing so much damage and distress, but also because it now gives proper fans the chance to redress the balance.
Some 15 or 20 years ago when reporting about such scenes, there were far fewer channels for supporters to register their feelings, certainly in the immediate aftermath, and it was largely left to their representatives.
But how did the majority of fans really think back then? Did they disown their own, or would they have tried to defend/ excuse them, at least a little?
The answer, if this week is any indication, suggests there would have been a resounding condemnation.
More than that, a deep anger, because the hooligans have smeared the good name of Stoke City and their fellow fans.
That anger surfaced pretty much as the damage was being inflicted on Tuesday evening and shows no sign of abating as the dust settles.
Just one tweet captures such anger with the words: “There is an undercurrent of utter pond life who follow us away. Uneducated cavemen you might call them.”
A bit hard on cavemen, but we get the drift.
Meanwhile, as the bill for all the damage is assessed, who pays for it?
Any damage in and around the away end, that which can only have been caused by so-called Stoke City fans, must surely be paid for by Stoke City.
The club has to take responsibility and also follow through its pledge to ban anyone convicted in court.
Events the other night puts a lid on those occasional suggestions of a pre-season friendly between the two clubs because certain sections simply cannot be trusted.
The next test for Stoke City is just around the corner, however, with an FA Cup trip down the road at Shrewsbury.
The parallels with a fixture at Port Vale are obvious, but hopefully a much smaller allocation at Shrewsbury means only regular fans, whose reputation should remain untarnished by this week’s appalling scenes, will gain admission.
Nevertheless, there is no room for complacency, and lessons must still be learned from Tuesday evening.