Charlton Athletic Online

It's been interesting reading all the posts concerning the proposed ban on Manchester United fans at next years Valley match, following van Nistelrooy's over exuberant goal celebration and the trouble that happened in the Jimmy Seed stand before, during, and after the game.

I can understand Peter Varney being upset; any mis-behaviour at The Valley by opposition supporters reflects on Charlton. We are rightly proud of the low arrest figures from home matches in recent seasons, and the game on Saturday will obviously affect those numbers.

There are three elements that have led to the current slanging match (between supporters, but not clubs, yet...) - first, the standing in the away end; second, the sexual assault, and third, the goal and collapsed gate that followed.

Standing: I've read some of the Manchester United message boards, and the fans there think that they have a right to stand at games, that it can be safer, and doesn't cause any harm. Sorry lads! The ground rules state that you must be seated, and the grounds safety certificate is based on this. The reaction to the standing in the first instance, a few years back, was to employ more stewards. They seem (according to United fans) to have over-reacted and been bullish, which resulted in fans being ejected and stewards being attacked in retaliation. The stewards were not able to ensure that United fans took their seats during the game. Subsequent years saw more stewards, and more aggression by United fans, who continued to stand, and then a reduction in ticket allocation numbers after a decree by Greenwich Council. Even this year, with even less tickets on sale to United supporters, two thirds of the stand stood thoughout! The loss of revenue to Charlton is quite significant (£30,000 in lost ticket sales plus extra stewarding costs), so Varney has my backing in calling for a ban, but that will probably end with a compromise position of United paying some or all of the lost revenue/extra costs. For information to any United supporters, Charlton do not have this consistent standing problem with any other Premiership club who come to The Valley.

Sexual Assualt: Not much to say here - the police have made an arrest, the United fans have given statements and a conviction once it goes to court seems imminent. The idiot will hopefully get a custodial for the offence and not a slap on the wrist as it was at a football match, thereby tarring football with more bad media.

Ruud's celebrations: This was all a bit unfortunate, and I don't actually think that too much would have been written if the other things hadn't have happened. OK, Ruud shouldn't have gone to the crowd; that's why he got booked by Riley. If the crowd had been seated, there probably wouldn't have been a surge by standing supporters, and the gate wouldn't have collapsed. The steward wouldn't therefore have been injured and the three supporters not catapulted onto the running track by the pitch, and subsequently arrested. They will probably be banned from attending football matches now, and will be feeling pretty bad about things... Sure, the fact that the gate collapsed, and some people could have been seriously injured (or even killed...) is the relevant point here and, ultimately, this was van Nistelrooy's fault. Any punishment and action should therefore in my opinion be taken in his direction, and the learning point be made to all footballers so it doesn't get repeated.

United's message boards suggested that they should come back to The Valley next year and really smash it up - totally moronic bahaviour. If a United fan had died on Saturday as a result of the gate collapsing, then the opinion and verbal sparring may have been of a very different complexion.

Peter Varney (left) will be wary of Greenwich Council and the police taking decisions when they have seen no movement to change the problem from Charlton's side. Hopefully, Varney and United can reach an agreement that is acceptable to both clubs (and the Council), and we can welcome United fans to The Valley in all future seasons.