General News Thread

[blabyboy]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgql2qzkz5zo

 

All starting to feel very 1950's McCarthy-esque all of a sudden 

[st albans fox]

34 minutes ago, Lionator said:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c205gnz5p8xo
 

this is controversial obviously but one thing under reported is that there’s plenty of evidence of Maccabi fans engaging in disgraceful behaviour. If it was Hapoel on the other hand, I’d be upset. 

they have a quite unpleasant element amongst them but if that were the basis for banning fans then most games would be home fans only. From what I’ve heard, it’s to do with the west mids police being of the opinion that they cannot be confident of securing the safety of the maccabi fans.  That seems a pretty worrying place for us to be. Surely the numbers could be controlled at a level where they could be ??  

 

 

[Lionator]

9 minutes ago, st albans fox said:

they have a quite unpleasant element amongst them but if that were the basis for banning fans then most games would be home fans only. From what I’ve heard, it’s to do with the west mids police being of the opinion that they cannot be confident of securing the safety of the maccabi fans.  That seems a pretty worrying place for us to be. Surely the numbers could be controlled at a level where they could be ??  

 

 

Indeed but then again the old Firm have only just started away spectators back in again and that is also on religious grounds. How do you reasonably manage such things? Of course nobody should be attacking anyone but there is genuine anger in communities. 

[Trav Le Bleu]

41 minutes ago, blabyboy said:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgql2qzkz5zo

 

All starting to feel very 1950's McCarthy-esque all of a sudden 

Kamala next.

[westernpark]

5 hours ago, Lionator said:

Indeed but then again the old Firm have only just started away spectators back in again and that is also on religious grounds. How do you reasonably manage such things? Of course nobody should be attacking anyone but there is genuine anger in communities. 

Genuine anger towards football fans? That’s what they should be seen as and nothing else. 

[st albans fox]

8 hours ago, Lionator said:

Indeed but then again the old Firm have only just started away spectators back in again and that is also on religious grounds. How do you reasonably manage such things? Of course nobody should be attacking anyone but there is genuine anger in communities. 

That was tit for tat away fan bans. I understand you bringing it up but it’s not the same. I do appreciate that this game in Birmingham is a possible power keg both on the ground and also politically. I don’t believe that the police would have an issue taking in a group of fans from the airport and ensuring their security.  The problem comes with those fans who will not arrive on planned club travel and are looking for trouble. Will they come anyway ??? I guess the police feel they could manage that if they weren’t also looking after a 1000 law abiding people who are not looking for trouble. (This is a  problem btw - that a 1000 law abiding people cannot be assumed to be safe on the streets of the U.K’s second city).  

Either way, it’s a precedent for banning away fans on the basis that there may be aggro. Yes there are extenuating circumstances regarding the demographic of the Birmingham community but you will nearly always find angles on things to back up your narrative if you look hard enough.

 

On balance,  it doesn’t sit well with me.

[Lionator]

6 minutes ago, st albans fox said:

That was tit for tat away fan bans. I understand you bringing it up but it’s not the same. I do appreciate that this game in Birmingham is a possible power keg both on the ground and also politically. I don’t believe that the police would have an issue taking in a group of fans from the airport and ensuring their security.  The problem comes with those fans who will not arrive on planned club travel and are looking for trouble. Will they come anyway ??? I guess the police feel they could manage that if they weren’t also looking after a 1000 law abiding people who are not looking for trouble. (This is a  problem btw - that a 1000 law abiding people cannot be assumed to be safe on the streets of the U.K’s second city).  

Either way, it’s a precedent for banning away fans on the basis that there may be aggro. Yes there are extenuating circumstances regarding the demographic of the Birmingham community but you will nearly always find angles on things to back up your narrative if you look hard enough.

 

On balance,  it doesn’t sit well with me.

It shouldn’t sit well with anyone. I understand why they’ve done it though, you have most traditionally violent and pro BN 🇮🇱 club fans who will be still hurting over oct.7 going into an area of a city where there is a predominant Muslim population who will be angry at the way Palestinianz have been treated. Any attempt to compare it to a pogrom or anti-semitism is in bad faith. It’s ultimately just easier for the police to make this decision for Birmingham to be safe that night. There no good options in this situation. They’ve chosen the least worst. 

[Jon the Hat]

11 minutes ago, st albans fox said:

That was tit for tat away fan bans. I understand you bringing it up but it’s not the same. I do appreciate that this game in Birmingham is a possible power keg both on the ground and also politically. I don’t believe that the police would have an issue taking in a group of fans from the airport and ensuring their security.  The problem comes with those fans who will not arrive on planned club travel and are looking for trouble. Will they come anyway ??? I guess the police feel they could manage that if they weren’t also looking after a 1000 law abiding people who are not looking for trouble. (This is a  problem btw - that a 1000 law abiding people cannot be assumed to be safe on the streets of the U.K’s second city).  

Either way, it’s a precedent for banning away fans on the basis that there may be aggro. Yes there are extenuating circumstances regarding the demographic of the Birmingham community but you will nearly always find angles on things to back up your narrative if you look hard enough.

 

On balance,  it doesn’t sit well with me.

Agreed, and also a bit pathetic frankly.  West MIds police have over 9000 officers ffs.

[Lionator]

Just now, Jon the Hat said:

Agreed, and also a bit pathetic frankly.  West MIds police have over 9000 officers ffs.

Would be a lot more (and maybe a number that could deal with the situation) if successive governments hadn’t massively cut police numbers. But hey we were told those decisions were for the good of the country. 

[FoxesDeb]

Wrong thread!

Edited 17 October 2025 by FoxesDeb

[Jon the Hat]

1 minute ago, FoxesDeb said:

Wordle 1,581 4/6

 

⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜

🟨⬜⬜🟨⬜

🟩🟩⬜🟩🟩

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

its new, but is it news??

[CornwallFox]

18 minutes ago, Lionator said:

Would be a lot more (and maybe a number that could deal with the situation) if successive governments hadn’t massively cut police numbers. But hey we were told those decisions were for the good of the country. 

Unless we're willing to tax the richest far more for pillaging our economy we've been managing decline for a while.

[Lionator]

17 minutes ago, CornwallFox said:

Unless we're willing to tax the richest far more for pillaging our economy we've been managing decline for a while.

Don’t worry, Nigel’s going to kick out a few Zimbabweans and all our problems are going to be solved thank goodness. 

[CosbehFox]

The banning of Maccabi Tel Aviv fans to Villa Park is a story being made too much of. 

 

It's common place right across Europe where police forces believe they may have overwhelmed. It's not particularly unprecedented in the UK either - ourselves back a few years ago were banned from visiting Millwall and vice versa. So we were Birmingham if memory services me correctly. 

 

Italian authorities are pulling Schegen rules for 48 hrs soon for the visit for Eintracht Frankfurt and the French authorities have on more than one occasion affectively banned away supporters from city centres (happened to Spurs in Rennes). 

 

Commonsense approach. 

Edited 17 October 2025 by CosbehFox

[Trav Le Bleu]

51 minutes ago, Lionator said:

Would be a lot more (and maybe a number that could deal with the situation) if successive governments hadn’t massively cut police numbers. But hey we were told those decisions were to keep the rich from being taxed too much.

[Trav Le Bleu]

2 minutes ago, CosbehFox said:

The banning of Maccabi Tel Aviv fans to Villa Park is a story being made too much of. 

 

It's common place right across Europe where police forces believe they may have overwhelmed. It's not particularly unprecedented in the UK either - ourselves back a few years ago were banned from visiting Millwall and vice versa. So we were Birmingham if memory services me correctly. 

 

Italian authorities are pulling Schegen rules for 48 hrs soon for the visit for Eintracht Frankfurt and the French authorities have on more than one occasion affectively banned away supporters from city centres (happened to Spurs in Rennes). 

 

Commonsense approach. 

And Lincoln City pre-season friendly

[CosbehFox]

Just now, Trav Le Bleu said:

And Lincoln City pre-season friendly

Forgot about that! 

[Spudulike]

Every football fan should be disgusted by this. 

 

Ironic that players will be taking the knee before this weekend's games. No room for racism ?

[RonnieTodger]

Starmer’s ability to constantly piss off both sides is impressive. Relentless flip flopping with little to no principles. 

[Raj]

8 minutes ago, Spudulike said:

Every football fan should be disgusted by this. 

 

Ironic that players will be taking the knee before this weekend's games. No room for racism ?

My thoughts exactly.

 

No room for racism but don't the Jews in!!!

 

Unbelievable hypocrisy.

 

 

[st albans fox]

36 minutes ago, CosbehFox said:

The banning of Maccabi Tel Aviv fans to Villa Park is a story being made too much of. 

 

It's common place right across Europe where police forces believe they may have overwhelmed. It's not particularly unprecedented in the UK either - ourselves back a few years ago were banned from visiting Millwall and vice versa. So we were Birmingham if memory services me correctly. 

 

Italian authorities are pulling Schegen rules for 48 hrs soon for the visit for Eintracht Frankfurt and the French authorities have on more than one occasion affectively banned away supporters from city centres (happened to Spurs in Rennes). 

 

Commonsense approach. 

I agree in part with this.  Because various groups pressed for away fans to be banned  on the grounds that Israelis aren’t welcome in Birmingham and Israeli teams should be banned in general, they are now shouting this as a win and that their opinion is validated - the evidence for it hasn’t been effectively published by the group who have made the decision. 
 

They should have come out and said that because of the large number of officers required to ensure safety for the MTA offices and players, that there was sufficient intelligence that MTA fans may not be safe, that it was decided in the interests of elf and safety of travelling fans, that they be barred. 

[st albans fox]

3 minutes ago, RonnieTodger said:

Starmer’s ability to constantly piss off both sides is impressive. Relentless flip flopping with little to no principles. 

He certainly has a nack for it 

whether that’s because of his principles - I’m not convinced  

[Samilktray]

1 hour ago, CosbehFox said:

The banning of Maccabi Tel Aviv fans to Villa Park is a story being made too much of. 

 

It's common place right across Europe where police forces believe they may have overwhelmed. It's not particularly unprecedented in the UK either - ourselves back a few years ago were banned from visiting Millwall and vice versa. So we were Birmingham if memory services me correctly. 

 

Italian authorities are pulling Schegen rules for 48 hrs soon for the visit for Eintracht Frankfurt and the French authorities have on more than one occasion affectively banned away supporters from city centres (happened to Spurs in Rennes). 

 

Commonsense approach. 

Whats the reaction to this on the continent when it happens? Can't imagine its anything like as OTT as this 

[leicsmac]

I never knew that the fanbase of one football club was synonymous with the entire population of a monotheistic religious group and therefore to speak of one is to speak of the other. 

 

Interesting to know. 

[Lionator]

Personally I’m just so so so sick of cultural and social issues that have little impact on the actual issues in this country being in the headlines constantly while the actual things that matter are degrading around us.