By Tony Attwood
If you have never heard of the Coupe Vaudoise you are forgiven. Because until today I hadn’t either. And indeed I am still struggling to get a full picture.
But I have found out that by beating Aigle 3-0, Genolier-Begnins (a club which plays in a stadium with under 800 seats) recently retained their Coupe Vaudoise trophy. But so lacking is the information and so poor is my grasp of the local language I am still not sure of all the details.
However what I do know is that this cup final was interrupted for a quarter of an hour due to smoke bombs being thrown onto the pitch with the first smoke bomb being thrown with Genolier-Begnins already 3-0 up.
I think I have it right in saying that FC Genolier-Begnins is in the 2ème ligue (which I believe is the 6th league from the top) and that means their stadium is about the right size for this sort of team. Pictures from the ground show many supporters sitting on what appear to be grassy banks watching the game.
In fact the match it appears was played in front of around 1000 spectators. And the reason I mention it was that after Genolier went 3-0 up in the 75th minute fireworks including rockets were projected onto the pitch, and fighting broke out. In a crowd of 1000.
The game was then suspended for around 15 minutes. After the match the president of the Vaudois Cantonal Football Association said, “This does not give a good image of what should have been the celebration of Vaudois football.” Which hardly begins to scratch the surface.
Of course not every match is interrupted in this way, but this incident does make a point. It is possible to police matches at Premier League clubs (and indeed for the final game on Sunday at Arsenal there were more police around the stadium, the stations and outside the pubs than I have ever seen before. And Arsenal were not even playing a local team).
But no one should ever assume that people who want a fight or want to cause mayhem will go where expected. In Switzerland it seems they can always find another club – a lot smaller club – where mayhem can become the order of the day.
And this is the danger. Simply increase the policing at the big matches and hooligans go to smaller games. But wherever the match is there can be an impact – in this case an assistant referee was hit on the head by a bottle.
But the fact is that without lower-league football in all countries, it is not possible for the higher leagues to exist, because there is no way for less skilled players to develop their skills.
And besides, such players have as much right to play without having bottles thrown at them as anyone else.
So why should this be happening in a lower Swiss League match? Because at the top level in Switzerland, as I understand it (and please correct me if I am wrong), it is hard to get a ticket without revealing who you are. Which is pretty much how it is at Arsenal.
Thus we have groups of thugs turning up at lower league events and effectively encouraging family supporters to stay away.
Looking back on my childhood I recall, as I have mentioned before, my father taking me to Highbury for reserve matches. I was also allowed from a young age to go to the games of the amateur side Wood Green Town, just a little way down the road from my home. After we moved away from London when I was 11, my father and I went to watch the likes of Poole Town and Bournemouth and Boscombe Athletic (then on Division Three South, now AFC Bournemouth of the Premier League).
None of that could have happened if there were incidents like this going on in lower league games. But there were not – the games were safe.
The report also notes that in Colovray (where FC Stade Nyonnais play their games opposite the Uefa headquarters) where the stadium has 860 seats, fighting had broken out before kick-off, with smoke bombs and fireworks thrown by masked FC Aigle ultras. The president and general manager of Stade Nyonnais went over to the Aigle supporters to try and calm them down, fearing the game would be awarded against them 3-0 because of the trouble.
Of course, Switzerland has stadium bans and the like for those found guilty of crimes within the stadium, and the clubs get fined.
My point in reporting this, is that as the police presence increases at games (and the level of policing at the match on Sunday at Arsenal, really had to be seen to be believed) one side effect can be sending those intent on troublemaking elsewhere.
At present there is virtually no joined up thinking going on in terms of issues around football – which by and large is the fault of the League and the FA. But it is not the way to make football work in terms of crowd problems or anything else. We really do need some more joined up thinking.
I don’t know about ‘joined up thinking’? Just thinking would be a start!!
Sorry to go off the subject, but I want to make a point about Everton’s goal yesterday. I knew something was wrong at the time, and having watched the highlights today on arsenal.com, I was right.
The free kick was taken from nowhere near the right place. In fact, it was taken from almost 7 yards (sorry to use old money, but hey, I’m old!) nearer the goal than it should of been. In even older money that’s about 20 feet!!!
The stripes on the pitch make it easy to measure. There’s a line at the 6 yard box, the penalty spot, and the penalty box. Therefore each stripe is 6 yards.
The foul occurred a fraction inside the second stripe outside the box. A fraction under 30 yards out. The kick was taken from a yard inside the first stripe outside the box. About 23 yards.
That is a massive advantage. A 20 foot advantage. There is no way Everton would of had a shot at goal from the proper place and as such were highly unlikely to of scored given our record of defending set pieces.
A couple of things:
How could the referee get the position so wrong giving such a massive advantage to Everton?
How come Arsenal players didn’t at least point it out?
I know it’s all water under the bridge now, but the fact they scored from it means it could of been absolutely crucial.
Have a look. It’s nowhere near where the incident occurred, and if it had turned out to be crucial there is no way it wouldn’t of been a massive point of contention.
I thought it was a poor decision all round as party touched the ball. Even if it was a foul it shouldn’t of been a card as he definitely went for the ball, and got it, so not cynical. So no card should of been issued either.
I also agree with John L, and you can call me a cynical old f*** if you want, when he said in another article that he doubts Oliver would of allowed our goal to stand had City’s score been different.
Perhaps the heavy police presence was because Arsenal could have won the Premier League…you can take it from there.
Nitram,
I also thought that Partey did not commit a foul and that Oliver was looking for a pretext to wave his yellow card at an Arsenal player.
Also, what about Tarkowski (?) kicking lumps out of our players with no intervention from the ref? Doucori (?) trying to tear Gabriel’s arm out of its socket – and succeeding? No comments at all about Dyche thug tactics being allowed without comment from pundits.
No surprise that Dean, the epitome of objective fairness amongst referees, says that our second goal should have been disallowed,
@ Nitram
Re free kicks being taken from the wrong spot , FA Cup final v Hull , one goal scored against us , it really changed the angle of the delivery into the penalty area . It would have been easier to defend if taken from where the foul took place , these things happen it’s Arsenal .
The richest football league in the world does not have the means to have a set of referees sufficiently good and numerous to avoid most of the problems.
I believe PGMOL gets every penny it request from the PL. And in the end they are costing the clubs a fortune for a service that is at best poor, at worst a deriliction of duty if you consider the outsized impact they have on the final table league.
Just speaks for the total mismanagement and incompetence of that organisation.
As for the PL, visibly they are prisoners of some contract and just shredding it would in fct stop the PL from operating because it does need referees. Tell you one thing… I am full against AI…except in refereeing… ;=))
Nitram this is my bug bear about the sly cheating by all teams. When was the last time you didn’t see the thrower at a thrown walk up the line 5/10 yards before taking the throwing ?
When a free kick is given how many times do we see the kicker spin the ball forwards from near he spot a free kick was given.
And the most ludicrous of all are the players taking a corner kick placing the ball on the outside of the D but with the circumference of the ball slightly over the outer side of the line. We’re talking millimetres to get an advantage. And all the referees allow this to get worse & worse.
They couldn’t get away with that in American football were the ref drops the cloth werethe event occurred
@Adrian,
I find it a disgrace how this is not treated by referees. They gice a yellow for time wasting when that time is anyway added at the end, but let outballs and freekicks, corners be done far from the spot and if they intervene, it is with no sanction.
The referee ought to always mark the spot, and if not respected give a yellow to the kicker.
But then again this would anihilate one cheating way they let happen….
Having carefully read the above article , and readers comments , it seems we are all agreed on the PGMO . Quite simply they have to go . You all know the Professional Gerry Manderers Operatives make many terrible subjective decisions based on what the shrapnel lodged in their collective brain war wound is telling them.
So the question is ; “How can pressure be brought to bear on the FA so that they will have no alternative but to sack their UAE paid minions?”
Having carefully read the above article , and readers comments , it seems we are all agreed on the PGMO . Quite simply they have to go . You all know the Professional Gerry Manderers Operatives make many terrible subjective decisions based on what the shrapnel lodged in their collective brain war wound is telling them.
So the question is ; “How can pressure be brought to bear on the FA so that they will have no alternative but to sack their UAE paid minions?”