Witnesses speak of trouble in and around Memorial Ground

According to letters written into the Bristol Evening Post, the violence associated with the Rovers match on Saturday 12 May 2007 was the worst some seasoned football supporters have seen since the 1980s. Also according to the Lincoln city fans forum, bottles and coins were being thrown into the away supporters area at the Memorial Ground but stewards and police within the stadium did nothing to stop this.

One of these witnesses says that when he spoke to a steward at the Memorial Ground while events were unfolding he was told:

...it is the Police's responsibility to police outside the ground, and [he] should write to the club and [his] concerns would be dealt with in due course.

The letter goes on to say

The club has made statements that they are a community club and they care for and want to help the local community. This is a time when I - a local resident, and so part of the local community - want their help.

Policing fans at Ashton Gate has also been a problem and improved match day policing arrangements were promised along with the expansion at those grounds. But as a letter to the Evening Post said in December last year, despite "Police warning for fans ahead of Millwall game" (December 15) fans were causing trouble and no policemen were in sight to prevent it.

This does not bode well for the current plans to rebuild the Memorial Stadium. Over the last year Rovers matches have frequently failed to attract even 5,000 fans. During the planning application, the lack of seating was given as one reason why numbers of attendees were not higher. After redevelopment the stadium will have a seating capacity of 18,000 which is over three times the 5,000 that have been normal earlier this season and around twice the number that have attended the recent matches where trouble has broken out.