Chairman's Blog

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Bogratsteve
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Chairman's Blog

Post by Bogratsteve » Sun Nov 11, 2012 9:41 am

Mike Amos wrote:Since the Sunday Sun will probably out me in the morning, let it be said that for the first time in almost 25 years of holding a Northern League “all grounds” pass, I used it at West Auckland v Darlington this afternoon.

No, I wouldn’t have been happy about paying £10, either. A gate of 502 when perhaps three times as many might have been expected underlines the effectiveness of the fans’ boycott.

Even then there are mixed feelings. “We’ve been ripped off all over the country,” says one of those who do turn up. “What’s another fiver at West Auckland?”

Others view the West pitch in the manner that a novice mountaineer might view the North Face of the Eiger after an overnight frost. Come off it, boys, it’s only a few undulations – and it’s been there an awful lot longer than you have.

Another fan’s surprised to see former Quakers favourite Phil Gray, transferred this week, in West Auckland colours. “You’d have thought there’d have been a clause about not playing against us,” he says.

“Come off it,” says his mate, “we’re not talking about Carlos Tevez, are we?”

There are a few stewards and what the constabulary calls a sergeant and six, probably a bit like you used to have a coach and eight. What there’s not is bother, though it seems to me that the language and chanting of a small group of Darlington fans needs to be addressed. Certainly it’s inflammatory, manifestly it’s unpleasant, arguably it’s racist.

Right or wrong, the stayaways miss a tremendous match. A last minute penalty gives West a 2-1 win.
Fair shout to him not paying the £10

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Christophano
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Re: Chairman's Blog

Post by Christophano » Sun Nov 11, 2012 9:59 am

Just wrapped the quote in tags for you there.

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Re: Chairman's Blog

Post by princes town » Sun Nov 11, 2012 10:03 am

"the language and chanting of a small group of Darlington fans needs to be addressed. Certainly it’s inflammatory, manifestly it’s unpleasant, arguably it’s racist"

this needs to be addressed if true? One time I'm actaully interested to hear from someone who is there. If it true shut the f up you clowns

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Re: Chairman's Blog

Post by Yackley_Quaker » Sun Nov 11, 2012 10:12 am

Apparently he is referring to a group of Darlo fans who used the expression "pikeys" in chants aimed against West. Fair call in my opinion. (The pikey reference,not the criticism).

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Re: Chairman's Blog

Post by Bogratsteve » Sun Nov 11, 2012 10:17 am

Christophano wrote:Just wrapped the quote in tags for you there.
cheers :thumbup:

In regards to the Pikey's chant i'm sorry but that cannot be racist as to abuse a minority group they have to be recognized in law and as the thieving scum do not pay taxes then they cannot be formally recognized as no births, deaths or anything else is registered apart from claiming benefits

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Re: Chairman's Blog

Post by princes town » Sun Nov 11, 2012 10:39 am

Yackley_Quaker wrote:Apparently he is referring to a group of Darlo fans who used the expression "pikeys" in chants aimed against West. Fair call in my opinion. (The pikey reference,not the criticism).
Don't think 'rascist' is the right term to use. Don't think it is 'fair'.

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beatroute66
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Re: Chairman's Blog

Post by beatroute66 » Sun Nov 11, 2012 10:50 am

I'd say, if I was a genuine gypsy (of Romany descent), and some football fans were chanting that I was a "p*key", then I'd feel racially abused.

Had some chanting been aimed at a coloured West player, you'd (rightly) all be up in arms. Why should this be any different?

This embarrasses me.

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Re: Chairman's Blog

Post by Bogratsteve » Sun Nov 11, 2012 11:00 am

Not sure there are many Romany gypsies in West.

However it is not directed at gypsies

to quote Wiki
Pikey is a pejorative slang term used mainly in the United Kingdom[1][2] to refer to people of low social class.
the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the definition became even looser and is sometimes used to refer to a wide section of the (generally urban) underclass of the country (in England generally known as chavs), or merely a person of any social class who "lives on the cheap" such as a bohemian.

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beatroute66
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Re: Chairman's Blog

Post by beatroute66 » Sun Nov 11, 2012 11:08 am

Well, you can quote Wiki if you want, but I think we all know what the term 'pikey' is used for 99% of the time.

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Re: Chairman's Blog

Post by Bogratsteve » Sun Nov 11, 2012 11:18 am

beatroute66 wrote:Well, you can quote Wiki if you want, but I think we all know what the term 'pikey' is used for 99% of the time.
Nope disagree, when I was growing up in Darlo we had 3 distinct groups
Gypos
Hawkers
Pikeys

The Pikeys were also refereed to as the robbing low life scum from certain areas and not usually from Darlo, most of the scum in Darlo was the Transit Van brigade of Hawkers, the gypos usually came to town when there was a funeral or wedding and caused merry hell along with increased crime rates.

Anyhow there should have been no chanting as there should have been no fans there, just shows the type of "darlo fan" that turned up.

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beatroute66
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Re: Chairman's Blog

Post by beatroute66 » Sun Nov 11, 2012 11:24 am

There is so much wrong with your above post I don't think I have the will to reply to it properly.

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Christophano
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Re: Chairman's Blog

Post by Christophano » Sun Nov 11, 2012 11:38 am

Pikey is a term for travelers, not chavs. It comes from turnpike roads; i.e. someone who lives on the roads.
Gypsies or travellers cover a large spectrum of ethnic groups, so I'm not sure if consider pikey to be racist in itself, but it's certainly meant as an insult.

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Re: Chairman's Blog

Post by Bogratsteve » Sun Nov 11, 2012 11:45 am

beatroute66 wrote:There is so much wrong with your above post I don't think I have the will to reply to it properly.
Oh for gods sake stop trying to take the moral high ground and be big and clever, politically correct it won't be, i'm just trying to point out the general view of things that were taken when I was growing up in Darlington twenty or thirty years ago, anyone from that era will no doubt confirm that.

Trying to pin the Pikey name tag onto Gypsies as you are trying to do is very wrong and a massive injustice to them in this current day and age, I doubt any of the kids chanting it yesterday even know what Romany decent means never mind understand what group of people they are.

Christophano, I appreciate once upon a time that this is the association, nowerdays I don't think it does listening to the Yoof using the term.

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Re: Chairman's Blog

Post by beatroute66 » Sun Nov 11, 2012 12:04 pm

Why is being offended by something and making that point me taking any moral high ground, being big or being clever?

And the start of your second sentence is laughable. *I'm* trying to 'pin' the pikey expression on to gypsies?! What on earth are you on about?

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Re: Chairman's Blog

Post by Bogratsteve » Sun Nov 11, 2012 12:11 pm

beatroute66 wrote:I'd say, if I was a genuine gypsy (of Romany descent), and some football fans were chanting that I was a "p*key", then I'd feel racially abused.
Think this was you that said this, you brought the Romanies into this when as I said i'm pretty sure none of the chants yesterday were directed at this group of people as chances are the idiots chanting yesterday have no clue they exist.

Anyhow this is getting very tedious so I will leave you to feel offended by the wallies who turned up at the match yesterday.

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beatroute66
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Re: Chairman's Blog

Post by beatroute66 » Sun Nov 11, 2012 4:13 pm

Bogratsteve wrote:Anyhow this is getting very tedious...
Well, at least we agree on something.

*shakes head*

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Re: Chairman's Blog

Post by beatroute66 » Sun Nov 11, 2012 4:15 pm

So, you're saying that because I pointed out that 'pikey' is an offensive term towards gypsies that *I'm* - and I quote:

"very wrong and (doing) a massive injustice to them"

Are you nuts?!

Is it just me, anyone else? :shock:

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Re: Chairman's Blog

Post by NonBrainZone » Sun Nov 11, 2012 4:30 pm

How typical of 1883 fans to insult the pikeys that beat you soundly yesterday, it's just sour grapes.

Gypos are salt of the earth people who are honest and hardworking. Don't be fooled by the tracky bottoms tucked into their socks, by their Lurcher dogs, cans of 8 Ace and flat bed pick up trucks. Arrogant bastards you all are, I can't wait until you need a tree cropping back, then what are you going to do? Call 1883- PIKEY, that's what. Learn some humility.

Oh and one last thing, no the pikeys didn't nick the wheels off your bandwagon yesterday evening, THEY FELL OFF!
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Re: Chairman's Blog

Post by louemmell » Sun Nov 11, 2012 5:45 pm

I'm with you Beatroute66
The 'Pikey' chants and comments on this subject highlights ignorance both by the Darlo fans at the match and by those adding to this message board. Don't want to get into a discussion about it but it saddens me that in this day and age, a minority of Darlington fans make ill judged and thoughtless comments based on false information gained from discussions in a pub/reading The Sun.
Sad :thumbdown:

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Re: Chairman's Blog

Post by A kick in the Jacobs » Sun Nov 11, 2012 10:49 pm

Beatroute - you're a right fanny.

Gypsies are scum - they leave squalor behind at whichever illegal place they choose to stop for a week. This is something my parents have had to deal with at least once a year for the last 5 years.

They horrendously mistreat animals, especialy horses.

They don't pay taxes yet still manage to have the latest 4WD Pikeymobile on the market.

They drive with no care for other roadusers.

If there's any group lower than them in the UK, I've yet to experience them (apart from the SCABS, of course).

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Re: Chairman's Blog

Post by DarloOnTheUp » Sun Nov 11, 2012 11:39 pm

beatroute66 wrote:I'd say, if I was a genuine gypsy (of Romany descent), and some football fans were chanting that I was a "p*key", then I'd feel racially abused.

Had some chanting been aimed at a coloured West player, you'd (rightly) all be up in arms. Why should this be any different?

This embarrasses me.
So you go on about racism, then use a term like "coloured".

You've just embarrassed yourself.

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Re: Chairman's Blog

Post by beatroute66 » Mon Nov 12, 2012 12:57 pm

DOTU - I should have put ' ' around that word to emphasise the point I was making. I wasn't using the expression as 'me', if you see what I mean.

AKITJ - there are good & bad in all groups. I know non-gypsies who do similar/worse than the things you mention, so how do you quantify it?

Saying (insert any racial/ethnic group of your choice) are 'good/bad' is pointless and too sweeping, surely.

But we've been here before and I recall more of you being supportive of my views when it was Pools fans saying that about Darlo fans - it's "alright" if it's Darlo fans saying it about other clubs, is it?

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Re: Chairman's Blog

Post by Lawman3 » Mon Nov 12, 2012 1:14 pm

People who make sweeping, crass generalisations are all a bunch of c*nts.
Never argue with an idiot: The best possible outcome is that you win an argument with an idiot.

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Re: Chairman's Blog

Post by Jazz Maverick » Mon Nov 12, 2012 1:24 pm

Personally I think football is getting softer and blander every day.

Obviously abusing someone based on colour is out of order, but this is completely different. When people call each other 'pikeys' these days, they arent referring to their ethnicity or background. In contemporary speech its merely calling someone a scruffy, thieving, dishonest fucker.

Before long you wont be able to say we're playing crap without someone like Breedon or his ilk coming on here in floods of tears about how bad the language was at the game.

Oh - and regarding actual gypsies - AKITJ is bang on the money.

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Re: Chairman's Blog

Post by Quakerz » Mon Nov 12, 2012 1:39 pm

To be honest I'm already sick of all the namby pamby do gooders complaining about all the nasty words that offend women and children. For a start I find that patronising to women who can make their own minds up about what they can safely hear without turning into a wreck. As far as kids go, it was hearing the gratituous swearing and chanting that MADE ME want to go to MORE matches when I was a kid!

You read threads on certain un-named forums with people saying "how do we get the crowds back to the NL?" before blaming Sky TV and of course - swearing putting families off - whilst being completely oblivious to the FACT that it is level 9 part time football that very few people are interested in watching.

And funnily enough crowds have been rising anyway over the last few years despite all of the above factors, so how intrinsically wrong is a "how do we get the crowds back?" thread in the first place?
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Re: Chairman's Blog

Post by princes town » Mon Nov 12, 2012 1:46 pm

Jazz Maverick wrote:Personally I think football is getting softer and blander every day.

When people call each other 'pikeys' these days, they arent referring to their ethnicity or background.
I didn't really understand why Mike A suggested it was "arguably rascist". As far as I now 'Romany gypsy' is the only race defined in statistics but presumably that wouldn't be what the songs were about. It was a term I heard when I first moved to Darlington but never at any time did I think it had racial undertones. I guess Americans would use the term hobo or trailer park.

I do think you're right that this is a highly sensitive age and personally, I am deeply suspicious about PC protocols. At best, a very shallow mantra and at worse a tool used by the worthys to control thought. Not my thing at all but then I was brought up in a 'sticks and stones' culture where you were toughened up just to ignore name calling. Progress?

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Re: Chairman's Blog

Post by princes town » Mon Nov 12, 2012 2:06 pm

Quakerz wrote:the FACT that it is level 9 part time football that very few people are interested in watching.
Are you suggesting there are too many footballing levels?

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Re: Chairman's Blog

Post by A kick in the Jacobs » Mon Nov 12, 2012 2:07 pm

Have you read about the burning poppy arrest?

Jesus H Christ.

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Re: Chairman's Blog

Post by Quakerz » Mon Nov 12, 2012 2:11 pm

princes town wrote:
Quakerz wrote:the FACT that it is level 9 part time football that very few people are interested in watching.
Are you suggesting there are too many footballing levels?
No, there can be as many levels as there are players wanting to play at. But at some level, and it's different for everyone, there is a threshold to what you are prepared to pay to watch.
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Re: Chairman's Blog

Post by Bogratsteve » Mon Nov 12, 2012 2:17 pm

A kick in the Jacobs wrote:Have you read about the burning poppy arrest?

Jesus H Christ.
Yeah its beyond belief, big hairy one dropped there I think.

Imagine if he had burnt a white rose, the whole of Yorkshires swat team would have hunted him down and summarily executed him on the spot................

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