Are we living in a police state?

Mark Waters surveys the end-of-season run-in…

Bristol Rovers (home)
The first home victory since November was a great match despite the messy football and spurned chances. The lack of coordination gave us an hour of nail-bitingly nervous time during which it seemed certain Rovers would score and I had to stop myself falling onto my knees, hands clasped together in prayer. It seemed the quality of our play wasn't going to be sufficient to prevent Rovers equalising and possibly going on to win the match, and despite being an eternal optimist, and an athiest, I was overwhelmed with the urge to pray. Perhaps it worked, as we scraped through and gave the whole town an important psychological lift after months without winning at home and the three points probably stopped us slipping into the relegation zone.

Wycombe (home)
I watched the game from the balcony of the Turf, something I've always resisted in the past as I would rather my money go to the club and I like the atmosphere on the Kop. However, with the new stand being erected, this was the last chance for my son and I to taste a bit of history. The view was great, similar to that from the Yale Stand, and the pints of Pedigree and chip butty during the game was far better than the fare available on the Kop. The toilet facilities, however, did not match up to those behind the Kop. I got a good view of people leaving the game early, with the brother and sister from Swindon first to leave 20 minutes before full time. Their day was to get worse though: I passed their car broken down on the side of the M6 an hour later.

Fulham (away)
This game will always stand out in my memory for several reasons. I took a friend to the game and we set off across London early with the intention of stopping in Putney to drink a few pints before the game. Unfortunately, the heavy traffic meant we only had time to buy a can of lager each to drink as we walked through the park to the ground. We got to the stadium after passing a car engulfed in flames, finished off the cans (eyed by some beady coppers) and queued at the turnstile. I paid for me and my son to enter and turned round to see my friend had disappeared. I waited a few minutes and looked outside; he was nowhere to be seen! How on earth could he have vanished like that? Was it West London's equivalent of the Bermuda Triangle? The mystery was revealed a few minutes later when a very young policeman came up and asked if we were waiting for our father.

I said: 'No, he may look old enough to be my father but actually he's the same age as me (just very weather-beaten from his time on Cornish fishing boats).'

'Well,' said the copper, 'we've arrested him.'

'Arrested him! What for?', I replied.

'Trying to enter a football ground while drunk,' he said.

'Drunk,' I said, 'he wasn't drunk, he'd only had one can!' (Admittedly, a can of Tenants Super 9% ABV).

'He had red eyes and smelt of alcohol, and in my opinion was drunk,' replied the now aggressive cop.

'But we both only had one can and I'm not drunk,' I said.

I noticed the copper looking closely at my eyes, which felt red under his gaze, and for a nasty moment I thought he was going to throw me out. We didn't argue anymore, but made our way into the terrace.

    My son (who is 13) was horrified that the police could just snatch an innocent person off the street for drinking one can of beer. What's going on if you can get arrested for entering a football ground with red eyes? Is it really an offence to enter a ground while drunk? Have other fans had similar experiences at
matches? I remember in the past attending evening Leyton Orient games when I was so drunk I had to hold onto the wall as I staggered the 200 yards from the nearest pub to the Brisbane Road ground in full view of grinning policemen without a word said. Millwall and West Ham sell beer to away fans before the game.

    The match itself was great, with our early goal silencing the 'WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS' being sung by the gloating Fulham fans. The Wrexham posse were in full voice and kept the team going throughout the game. Strangely I didn't hear any chants about Fayed or Keegan. I've never really liked Keegan; he always seemed too full of himself and childishly temperamental if he doesn't get his own way. I'm glad we stopped Fulham's run of 15 home victories. At the end of the match a shout of 'KEEGAN, YOU'RE CRAP!', as he walked past us to the tunnel, was loud enough for him to glance my way.

Bournemouth (away)
I like visiting Bournemouth as I make a day of it and visit a close relative who lives on the edge of the New Forest before the game. There was a party-like atmosphere and the locals, who last year saved the team, were unbelievably looking at the prospect of promotion to Division 1. It was unfortunate that we spoilt their party, but I want to visit Bournemouth again in the coming season. The Wrexham fans were seated in the stand, but Jacko for some reason was stranded alone with Bournemouth fans on the adjacent terrace. He responded to chants of 'JACKO, JACKO, GIVE US A SONG' by leading a rendition of 'EVERYWHERE WE GO, PEOPLE WANT TO KNOW, WHO'S THE TEAM IN RED AND WHITE, etc' surrounded by puzzled Bournemouth fans, until he was marched out by half a dozen of Her Majesty's finest and escorted into the stand with us. The players did their best as usual and it was good to see them applauding us, the away fans, for supporting them through thick and thin. Roll on next season. I didn't like being filmed by hard-faced cops during the Bournemouth game and neither did others who started chanting about where they could stick their camera. I remember similar sinister surveillance at other games this season including, I think, the Colchester game. On both occasions there was no crowd trouble whatsoever, so what right do the police have to film us?

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