Chris Bascombe - Athens Article

[reddragon]

Dont know if anybody read Bascombe's article in the Footie Echo at the weekend about Athens. It was possible the best article I've read about the whole scenario but unfortunately I cant find a link. To summarise:

European ties are big nutter magnets.

New generation of fans hadn't experienced pre-Heysel Euro trips.

Istanbul was the highlight of post Heysel Liverpool in Europe.

Supporters who made 2005 so special felt shoved aside in 2007 thoughout the run. New faces, new accents, and a little Englander mentality grew.

UEFA had a lot to be blamed about in the organisation of Athens.

The worst excesses of scally behaviour and day-tripping glory hunting played its part in wrecking the experience more than Inzaghi's goals.

It wasn't just the night of the game - it was the whole event from the moment you arrived in Athens.

Liverpool FC and fans narrowly dodged a bullet in Athens, and maybe it would be a good thing if we went out early for a couple of years as we concentrate on winning No.19

[ronan]

cant find it on echo site either

[calvoboy]

Dont know if anybody read Bascombe's article in the Footie Echo at the weekend about Athens. It was possible the best article I've read about the whole scenario but unfortunately I cant find a link.

I think this is the one you are after?

http://http://www.liverpoolecho.co.u...0252-19652794/

We must make sure Athens is not repeated
Aug 18 2007 by Chris Bascombe, Liverpool Echo

YOU can get too much of a good thing. When Gerard Houllier led Liverpool back into the European Cup at the start of this century, the sense of rejoining a party where the club used to be the life and soul was apparent.

Just six years on from their return to the top competition, and despite two recent finals, this campaign begins with fears about too many gatecrashers.

Athens – in fact, the whole of last season’s European run - was a watershed for many Liverpool supporters.

The trend which began in Reykjavik in 1964 and ended horrifically in Brussels 21 years later was in danger of being repeated, but a whole lot quicker.

There was a jovial innocence to Liverpool’s early forays into Europe with Shankly. As the stories, myths and romanticism grew, aided by the club’s epic wins on foreign soil, it was inevitable Liverpool’s growing popularity would come at a price.

There’s no greater nutter magnet than a European tie abroad. It was no longer enough for a select band of awayday regulars to monopolise the fun.

Everyone was entitled to their share, and by the time Liverpool were banned, the lunatic fringe had soured the club’s reputation.

When Liverpool returned to big-time European competition under Houllier, there was a sense the innocence of those early expeditions had returned.

A new generation of supporters was intoxicated by excitement at the prospect of travelling to Barcelona and Rome, and although it would be naïve to suggest there aren’t those who still look at the prospect of battling abroad too literally, the shortage of major incidents underlines how the overwhelming majority travelled solely for the right reasons.

Istanbul was the pinnacle for the new generation of fans. Nothing can better it for those who weren’t born or were too young to remember 1977. It was like enjoying the first time all over again. Part of the problem by the time of Athens was those who missed it were determined not to make the same mistake twice.

The supporters who made the 2005 run so special felt they were being shoved aside in 2007, not just in the final, but on the streets of Bordeaux, Eindhoven and Barcelona.

There were so many new faces, an even greater variety of accents and, worst of all, a menacing little Englander mentality which, for whatever flaws Liverpool fans may have, this has never been one.

It all contributed to the shambles of Athens, where the combined forces of incompetence by officials and crude behaviour of a minority almost led to another disaster.

UEFA must still accept their share of the blame for that, even if, as usual, time allows their dusting under carpet to pass unchallenged, but plenty of reasonable Liverpudlians also know the worst excesses of Scouse scally behaviour and day-tripping glory hunting played its part in wrecking their experience far more than Inzaghi's goals.

Enough warnings about the changing nature of Liverpool’s European support were made in the build-up to the final to ensure what followed wasn’t entirely surprising.

It wasn’t just the night of the game which was utterly different from Istanbul. It was the whole event from the moment supporters arrived in Athens, and this was partly a self-inflicted wound.

We should not forget Liverpool only narrowly dodged a bullet in Athens, so as another potentially glorious run to Moscow begins, the process of ensuring there’s no repeat this or any other season should also be underway.

Sadly, other than keeping the pressure on UEFA and ensuring ticket distribution is sensible, one wonders what meaningful action the club can take. Ordering a brain for the scallies and a personality transplant for those whose notions of how to behave in a foreign land lean slightly to the right of Enoch Powell is probably not part of the club’s remit.

Sad and unthinkable it may be to admit, the best solution may be an unintentional period of subdued European adventure.

Winning the Premier League is the top priority, and there will be few complaints here if Liverpool console themselves during several years of last 16 exits in Europe with a couple of title wins.

[Morph]

aye thats the one thought it was a good un myself as well

[Revo]

aye thats the one thought it was a good un myself as well

spot on with the little englander comment as well

[CharlieMansonsSquint]

Brian Reade's was a goodun and all.

[Morph]

spot on with the little englander comment as well

never been on a euro away trip, but i can imagine the type of **** he's talking about

[ronan]

hes also spot on about dodgin a bullet
no doubt about that whatsoever

[reddragon]

cheers calvoboy

agreed - we did dodge a bullet. Thought his comment that UEFA are letting time pass to allow the whole thing to be swept under the carpet interesting. This is the kind of thing they did in 1984, and look what happened a year later. Someone high up in the Government and the FA needs to take them to task - they have to organise these things better or there'll be another disaster and the fans will get the blame again.

[IrishPaul]

I hadn't read that before, very good article

[tomasjj]

I have to say I am a bit surprised by some of his views.
This might be a can of worms, and this just made me think a bit.

It seems to me from a couple of his statements that he tries to pin the blame for the troubles in Athens mainly on non-scousers.
He is surely right that there were more people from all over the world in Athens, but it seems a tad simplistic an explanation to start handing out blame based on country or region of origin imo.


edit: Other topics he touch on I can agree with. However, he does hint at the different, or worse, atmosphere in Athens, and talk about warnings of things to come in the matches in Europe preceeding the final without presenting any examples. I think that isn't good journalism.

[nobbylad]

Tomas.....he's not just talking about non-scousers, he's talking about fans who had never before been to Euro aways.

With regards to not providing examples for the matches prior to the final, I think the point is that people who had been to those matches would know what he was talking about.

[tomasjj]

Tomas.....he's not just talking about non-scousers, he's talking about fans who had never before been to Euro aways.

With regards to not providing examples for the matches prior to the final, I think the point is that people who had been to those matches would know what he was talking about.

Yeah, upon a second reading, that might be his main point.

Still think he should provide examples though. He doesn't just write for people who were at those matches.

[JRC]

........plenty of reasonable Liverpudlians also know the worst excesses of Scouse scally behaviour and day-tripping glory hunting played its part in wrecking their experience far more than Inzaghi's goals.

Tomasjj - I understand your concerns, especially with some of the things coming out of RTK at the moment (or at least the way some people are interpreting what RTK is about), but the above Bascombe quote is pretty even-handed in pointing the finger of blame

[The Glove]

That is a great article.

Have to say tho, when we went to Bordeaux, it was like being part of a big family as you could spot the scouser easily, and thats not meant in a nasty kinda way, you just had an instinct of who was your mate even tho you didnt know them from Adam.