From the Sunderland Fans Forum

[redrobo]

https://www.readytogo.net/smb/threads/t ... h.1566326/

Not what I want to hear about our 'so called' fans......disgraceful behaviour and something that we should find the scum and ban from the Mazuma for life.

[Gone_Shrimping]

https://www.readytogo.net/smb/threads/trouble-after-match.1566326/

Not what I want to hear about our 'so called' fans......disgraceful behaviour and something that we should find the scum and ban from the Mazuma for life.

This is part of the problem when the support and season ticket numbers increase so much. The more fans you have the more likely that a small minority are trouble makers. Just looking at the Facebook page we seem to have a good number of younger fans who talk like Premier League fans , wanting the manager sacked and condoning bad behaviour. They have no concept of financial reality. Heaven only knows how much Sunderland's wages budget is but it will be comfortably several times what Morecambe's is.

[RedRedWine]

It doesn't need to part of the problem - there's a way to behave, and some people crossed the line last night IMO.

Ultimately do we want to be a club like Accrington (but with more fans and much bigger crowds!) where the supporters get behind their team enthusiastically and treat the opposition with respect - meaning away fans want to visit and reciprocate Stanley's welcome when they host them, or a club like Fleetwood that cause trouble and people look to avoid/think are utter pricks? That's up to individuals involved, and to a certain extent the club (although the club has always presented itself as one that prides itself on inclusion and friendly family environment), but hopefully people will conclude it's the former when they reflect.

For the life of me I do not know why our supporters were chanting anti-Mackem rhetoric throughout - I think they saw it on a tok-tik or something? Some suggestions that there were some Newcastle fans in attendance, but I think this is being generous. One or two perhaps. "Feed the Mackems" seemed a bit rich, given the abject poverty and reliance on food banks (collection at the next home game btw) in our own town - one of the most deprived areas in the country. I get that some people might find this type of thing humorous because other local 'big' clubs who are rivals like to goad one another with this kind of 'banter' - but we aren't a big club, and have no beef with Sunderland, so it was all rather embarrassing to be honest. I don't know what the underlying objective was? If it was to create a good atmosphere - it did not work because some people were excluded from participating, myself included.

There were more songs about Adam Johnson, than there was in support of our own team. Admittedly the team did not give the supporters much to chant about - but such chants were heard at 0-0 before the players entered the pitch. Surely we can come up with something more original, and funny that everyone can join in with? Preferably not a rebranded Manchester United song. That's not to say we need to be a soft touch, clowning around in Eric Morecambe gear 'don't let the football spoil your day out' type attitude - but somewhere in the middle.

The smoke bomb was just downright stupidity, and whilst I don't think the intention was to throw it down to the next tier - this is where it ended up. I don't think I'm being pathetic to say that had the canister landed on somebodies head from that distance, a small child say in the family section below, it could have been a very different outcome. Thankfully nobody was hurt.

What you cannot fault is the numbers we are getting home and away these days, and the general enthusiasm for the club. It has certainly reinvigorated my interest and enjoyment in supporting the Shrimps - pre-Derek Adams 75% of my mates (3 of the 4) had pretty much given up supporting the team mainly because the football was terrible and the club was only FL in name - severely lacking any ambition, happy to merely exist so long as it was getting a solidarity payment. Overall, things have changed significantly for the better recently and long may that continue. 400+ on a Tuesday is fantastic support for us. I hope this is just an isolated incident, we do have a good reputation in general - and because of that we are given a bit more leeway vs other clubs with Police, what pubs we can go to, etc. I don't see why this needs to change. Have a beer, enjoy the game/day with your mates, cheer the lads on, celebrate/console yourself with the result, moan on social media/here if you must (it has got me through 25 years largely unscathed so far), go again.

Heaven only knows how much Sunderland's wages budget is but it will be comfortably several times what Morecambe's is.

Did you not get the memo about 'Goodbye Little Old Morecambe'? We are a serious club now, with serious objectives. I don't think the financial reality of Sunderland vs Morecambe is lost on anybody, but you can't use that as an excuse to justify some of the shambolic defending last night - nor should you try. We were pathetic, the manager and players have already acknowledged this. I don't want senseless fighting at games, but I can also do without this defeatist attitude that has held the club back and allowed it to sleepwalk into situations like the fat Brazilian shafting us whilst being chauffeur driven around the country... or some crazy homeless Italian man plotting an underwater casino (If he can get a loan from HSBC Morecambe branch) whilst crashing in the MFC boardroom. Or Wild Boar burgers in the airport departure louge/Globe Bar & No Grill (this one is for you Posh).

[Posh]

To be fair a fairly sizeable section have been causing trouble for a while now. At Burton they were kicking cars in the car park, even while police were present. Then walking down the road shouting about awful Burton was to anyone who would listen and generally harrassing people. It was embarassing and pathetic.

Last night was worse. The canister could have seriously injured someone. While there were some Newcastle fans in amongst us, the Johnson song was a decade out of date and pointless, the Feed the Mackems (have you been to the West End of Morecambe?) was shameful, and half a dozen had some form of Tourettes. I don't think I've heard the C word shouted so much ever and with kids in amongst everyone. Simply they behaved like the scum we'd avoid if it was anywhere else.

Getting rid of the 'little old Morecambe' moniker doesn't mean abandoning basic common decency, tolerance and respect. While we've always had idiots involved whatever size we are they largely went away because the club and fans wouldn't tolerate it. We shouldn't tolerate it now.

[Freez]

We aren’t little Morecambe anymore, but Sunderland are huge at this level, that still hasn’t changed.
Of the 400 there, most were there to support the team. However some of the so called banter was humourless and childish, most of the lads who are leading the singing are not a bad set of lads, just beered up and egging each other on.
And that performance didn’t help, spineless and inept, no wonder it turned a little ugly. Still no need mind, better to sing with humour and irony but that may come.
The flare throwing was, as has been said, dangerous and stupid. The culprit was identified and no doubt will be punished, thankfully nobody was hurt.
Our reputation is being tarnished, as Stu has said, do we want to be perceived as a friendly and welcoming club, with humour and sincerity or are we going to let this incident happen again and continue to firefight against the young lads, enthusiastic though they are, who perhaps need a bit of guidance.
It would be quiet without them, but we all must respect that we lose games as well as win and draw, it’s how we all react when things aren’t going our way that defines the club support overall. Some language last night was ripe and uncalled for, as well as unfunny.
Shame both on and off the field yesterday, let’s hope we can learn from it in both areas and move forward.

[Andy D]

the Newcastle fans who keep getting mentioned, one of them as lived and worked round here for a good 20yrs or so, he’s not an hooligan, he just likes to have a drink and a laugh and has done his fair share Morecambe games over the years causing no bother and was absolutely nothing to do with the smoke bomb being thrown by the younger one’s.

[black morse]

I always feel that the manager and players might help curtail this sort of behaviour. They won't listen to 'old farts' in the crowd and probably wouldn't take any notice of directors but they might just listen to the players?

[Wild Bill]

It's a new generation now, but we were a long way away from the 'best fans in football' tag we had back in the 90s and 00s. Freez is right though, the trouble makers probably aren't bad lads, but probably need intervention to prevent isolated incidents becoming the norm. Shit chants killed the atmosphere last night. Frankly it was all a bit embarrassing

[Keith]

There has been a small group of dick-heads this season that are perhaps becoming more confident in their general numptiness. A bottle thrown from the home stand a few games ago was condemned by some on FB but had others saying it was 'banter'. We need a zero tolerance implementing now. If the bottle thrower was identified, then a long ban, made public. If the smoke canister thrower is identified then hopefully reported to the police and at minimum, a very long ban (five years).

We've commented upon the thugs who have attached themselves to Fleetwood. Accrington are going to severely limit the number of tickets that they are allowed next season if they are both in the same league. Are we really 'Fleetwood-wannabes'? Get. them out now. If they take some of their mates with them, so be it.

[RedRedWine]

Getting rid of the 'little old Morecambe' moniker doesn't mean abandoning basic common decency, tolerance and respect. While we've always had idiots involved whatever size we are they largely went away because the club and fans wouldn't tolerate it. We shouldn't tolerate it now.

I was referring specifically to the notion that supporters have no right to point out how shite we were against Sunderland (we were, the players and management have already acknowledged that we were miles off) - with the old "they have a bigger playing budget than us" underlying defeatist comments/excuses.

People will be saying we are lucky to have Stephen Robinson as manager next (other than me before the Sunderland game in a Sunderland preview piece )... a copy and paste job to when we had Jim as boss.

I already said that the behaviour of one supporter was not acceptable, and of many others not something that I personally enjoyed - but these were just football chants ultimately, no actual meaning behind them.... in addition to a lack of thought. I think they will learn that they'll get a more positive response and participation from the rest of the support if in their efforts to support the team their energies had more of a focus on that rather than our opponents..... and we dropped Manchester United songs!

[Lurchy]

Chant wise I can't see anything changing. It's the young fans who start/direct the chanting. They aren't going to get drowned out by others. Older singers are a minority so don't have much control over what is sung. The young vocal fans seem to very much enjoy trying to anger opposition and call everywhere a shithole.

[Shrimp Girl]

No idea what if it ever made a difference, but I notice we no longer play the ' football is a family game.. ' message pre match, the one read out by kids. Might be an idea to reboot it, just to remind the majority that the club does have standards and expectations of the fans.