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[Blog] How To Offend 18,000 People - And Spur On The Opposition
Written by tractorboykent on Sunday, 26th Feb 2012 16:06

This is an open letter to the people who put together the banner at The Amex on Saturday. It said "Some Things Money Can't Buy... Football Isn't One: The Amex".

I can only presume that this is related to the fact that the ground is named by an American corporate so the suggestion is that the club is bankrolled that way.

A few facts that you might have better checked first.

1) Amex only sponsor the ground

2) There are some money men behind the club but hardly in the Abramovich league and they have been involved in a long and admirable fight to save the club. If you're suggesting that the club has been acquired lock, stock and barrel by rich businessmen and that that's a bad thing then there are better examples a bit closer to home (have a look at the front of the shirt that you were no doubt wearing on Saturday.)

3) Check your history (read Build A Bonfire) Brighton's previous and long standing ground was sold from under them by two ex-directors and the club just about survived by playing at a 6,000 capacity converted athletics track. During this time a group of supporters worked though endless objections by local councils to every suggested alternative that was put forward until, after a feat of amazing patience and dedication, they got their result and their new ground was built. There are few clubs or fans that have been through as much. It's a proper club.

You did us no favours. The number of Brighton fans I heard trashing ITFC proved that. Look at their boards today too. And for what? As a club we have always had a pretty good reputation for fairness and a decent relationship with most other fans so what do we gain by winding people up where there's no point behind the attack anyway?

In the end it worked nicely for Brighton. Their chants of "can we play you every week" at the station afterwards made sense. Their team had played us off the park (not sure how Paul Jewell thinks we were the better side at any point during the 90 minutes) and they had the chance to ram your insult back down your throats. Happy days for some.

Maybe I - and all the Brighton fans - have got this wrong? Why don't you explain it? In the meantime, unfortunately the rest of us have been tarred with the same brush. Thanks.




Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.

Garv added 16:34 - Feb 26
I've not even read this I just think its pathetic that you've made time to write a blog on something so small and insignificant.

Just drop it everyone.
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statto72 added 16:41 - Feb 26
18,000+ opposition supporters (plus no doubt the media) thinking we're a bunch of d***s. I don't call that small and insignificant. Can we have an explanation behind this whole sorry episode?
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stickymockwell added 16:53 - Feb 26
Mr Garv,
It's all ways wise to read the print before making a comment otherwise you could end up looking a bit silly.
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tractordamage added 17:00 - Feb 26
Exactly statto72.
It's a humiliating disgrace...we deserved to lose on this issue alone. Nothing is bigger than my club, except justice. Justice wins.
Although it's not fair to tarnish us with the same brush of a handful of people. So Brighton also need to be 'accurate with their protests' in return.

Who are the ignorant morons with the banner? We must find them.
(I'd start with the tents of the 'Occupy London' prats, because they're the only other group I can think of that hasn't a clue about the subject they're protesting about)
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gorse added 17:05 - Feb 26
Good blog post, which hopefully will be seen by the Brighton fans. Thank you.
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awayfan added 17:05 - Feb 26
Thanks very much for this blog, which is spot on.

Garv - clearly you live on some other planet, where being invited into someone's (new) home and proceeding to crap on their carpet is a small and insignificant matter.
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tractordamage added 17:06 - Feb 26
...or try looking in Garv's house.
Fools tend to stick together.
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Tractorboy24 added 17:16 - Feb 26
I think people need to sit and think what this banner was written for. Following a lot of worry about homophobic chanting, I believe (and I can only guess due to not knowing who wrote the banner and didn't attend the game) it was an attempt to be funny, trying to use a credit card phrase (not even the right one) and adapt it to something relevant.

Brighton and Ipswich fans should look at this being a poor attempt at a joke, which went wrong. At the end of the day it's hypocrisy for Ipswich to criticise for teams having a wealthy benefactor considering the millions we owe to Marcus Evans. Also let's put it in perspective, no one was killed, I doubt the players were really that riled for it to have influenced the game.

Let's just get over it and forget it happened.
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John_Warks_Willy added 17:18 - Feb 26
Is this a 'sensitive souls' club?
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PJ_Needs_Duncan added 17:19 - Feb 26
Unfortunatly we are more likely to be remembered for that stupid banner (which by the way made all of our fan base look moronic as it didn't even make sense) rather than fans who gave Billy Sharp a standing obviation after he scored against us! Seriously don't know what they were thinking, it was just pointless
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6fish added 17:21 - Feb 26
Tractordamage, I'm afraid your own ignorance of the occupy movement somewhat defeats your point about justice. I don't know who put the banner up yesterday but the best description of it would be 'lame'. It made no point and in fact was so obtuse no one knew what the hell they were on about. Unfortunately, I, like many others have had a photograph taken with the damn thing looking like we stand by it. Living in Brighton I'm also going to have to argue about it for evermore.
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CaughtInTheBrambles added 17:25 - Feb 26
To write a blog based on such little research as to misquote the banner text (which therefore changes the entire emphasis of it's meaning) and undermines all three points you make is poor. Do us a favour and research and the then revise the blog accordingly If you still cannot see the subtlety (as many bhafc fans on twitter did when the exact text was pointed out to them) undermines your whole blog.

A shame as it was well written.
http://bbombmessageboard.runboard.com/p47896#post47901
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Garv added 17:26 - Feb 26
Billy Sharp's ovation was headline news (of sorts), I havn't seen this ridiculous subject even mentioned in the media.
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Damster added 17:40 - Feb 26
What a truly rubbish blog. It was light hearted banter similar to the chant we sang to Blackburn years ago "where we're you when you were crap".... The same can be said for BHA. They have gone from 8000 to 16000 gates which suggests somewhat fair weather supporters. Why do some idiots want Town to be a nice side who sing nothing banter related, sit throughout the match and occasionally shout Jolly Good Show. I bet you lot also like to see the side down the road doing well!!! In summary I would have preferred a banner saying "fair weather glory hunters" but we can't have everything!!
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PhilTWTD added 17:44 - Feb 26
CaughtInTheBrambles

The text in the blog is the same as in the link you posted, isn't it?
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CaughtInTheBrambles added 17:50 - Feb 26
No Phil it's not quite right, look closely at the link I posted. Subtly different but makes a major difference.
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davidjbrooks34 added 17:52 - Feb 26
Excellent Blog, well written and spot on the point. That banner was not banter,it was brainless baiting of long-suffering fans. And anyone who ever went to the pitiful Withdean stadium BHA were left with after they were shafted by their unscrupulous directors will understand why they didn't always fill the 6000 capacity -it was a truly awful place to attendwith terrible views and worse atmosphere.

So whoever wrote the blog - well done.

Whoever wrote the banner - all you achieved was to fire up the BHA players and crowd, if you feel the need to speak on behalf of ITFC fans in future, please resist.
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PhilTWTD added 17:58 - Feb 26
CITB

The ellipsis? Edited, but I don't see how that changes the meaning. Is it not intended to be a crude comment on football selling out to the corporate world aimed somewhat inaccurately at Brighton, the epitome of a community club?
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gordongull added 18:04 - Feb 26
Someone went to a lot of trouble in the name of banter!
There appears to have been an agenda, which the majority of Ipswich fans were unaware of.
I've posted the link to this page on the Argus site, so people can make their own mind up.

By the way, Damster, Withdean had a capacity of 8,850. The capacity at the Amex is 22,500.
It isn't rocket science that attendances have increased!
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tractordamage added 18:05 - Feb 26
@6Fish...I never put my view of the Occupy Movement forward, so a rather moronic reply. Clever move [heavy sarcasm].
You have no idea of my knowledge on the matter or whether I've sat and chatted with them. You simply categorised me, just like Far Left bigots lways do. Why always the need to categorise people and 'aggressively silence the opposition' ffs!? Please broaden your mind fella...or at least use it.

The point is Brighton found it seriously offensive. That's all that counts, so this blog is important as it shows we care, well...most of us. It's a bit like a man being paralysed in a car accident, then undergoing years of therapy to learn to walk again...he finally walks again...and we shoot them in the leg [well...sort of]
That stadium epitomises their comeback.
It's also a club I assumed most Town fans would be fond of. They're a proper club.
For the next few years we're going to have a VERY tough time playing them, their crowd will always be up for it, and they could well prefer other clubs in transfer issues. For me, that ain't good.


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dommyboyblue added 18:15 - Feb 26
Just one thought on this, what the hell were they thinking if at all? D!cks
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CaughtInTheBrambles added 18:17 - Feb 26
The ellipsis is not critical but the question mark is.

I was never involved in the banner's creation but understood it. Clearly many didn't

As I see it, the point made is that after all that Brighton have been through, shafted by business, years in exile and the hell hole of the Withdean and the hard work and fund-raising of so many supporters it is sad that someone sold the naming rights to the stadium to a big Corporation, it seems at odds with the community nature of the club and it's survival. Sums up all that is wrong with modern football.

The first bit was a joke and a good point and a compliment referencing Brighton's survival against the odds. the last bit is the question. Clearly such nuances are lost on many but kills points 1, 2 and 3 of the blog. Amex have naming rights because they sponsor the community scheme, not the stadium.

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PhilTWTD added 18:34 - Feb 26
CITB

But there isn't a question mark on the banner.
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vestanpance added 18:37 - Feb 26
I'd just like to know who they are so I can point and laugh. I suspect they are mis-shapen faced bumpkins.
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Northwestblue added 18:55 - Feb 26
Tractordamage:
'I'd start with the tents of the 'Occupy London' prats, because they're the only other group I can think of that hasn't a clue about the subject they're protesting about'
I would definitely read that as putting a view forward!
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