Sunderland response to complaint about Stewards !!

[VolvicStokie]

Had a letter through today from Sunderlands safety manager, after my goodself being thrown out of the Stadium for something that never took place... Originally the accusation was for an obcene hand gesture towards the Sunderland fans...

It now turns out the steward in question reckons I used foul and abusive language ;D ;D

Letter below:


Dear Mr ..........(Volvic) .........

Thank you for your recent letter. I cannot comment on the claims you make in your letter except that they are at odds with the information given to me from the steward who ejected you. He said you used foul and abusive language, and made indecent hand gestures toward the home supporters.

In relation to the CCTV football, you may be entitled to view or obtain a copy of any image captured of 'you' during the game. To this end I have attached our codes of conduct lies & deceipt! regarding the use of CCTV. the necessary request form and guidance document.
This may incur a fee and you will have to furnish me with a recent photograph of yourself to enable our records to be searched for images of you.

The other information regarding our charter & complaints procedure can be found on our website - sacfc.com

Your claim that Sunderland supporters were not asked to sit is incorrect ;D ;D
They were subjected to the same scrutiny and two sunderland fans were ejected for persistant standing compared to the ejection of one Stoke City supporter.

Yours sincerely

Paul Weir
Safety Manager


I had to laugh at some of that... I have to pay to get them to show me the CCTV, plus the fact the steward changed / added to his bullshit story he made up to get me out? and they tell me porkies about Sunderland fans being subjected to the same scrutiny.... All who were there, would of known that was simply not the case....

Any ideas on the responce?!

[Lakeland Potter]

You could point out that the Sunderland fans were asked to sit down - BUT NOT UNTIL THE SECOND HALF started.

[scfcrob]

Ask Malcolm!

MALCOLM!!!!

[AlanHansen]

Paul Weir
Safety Manager

Did he have his name changed by deed poll?

[w15cfc]

Volvic,

I have been in emailing the same safety manager prior to sending him my formal complaint to gain an understanding of their procedures etc before taking action. I presume he has sent you the same CCTV Code of Practice and request forms that I requested from him and have had sent to me which are pretty much standard for the CCTV operations. I think that you will find that the standard fee will be £10 and may actually be specified in the CCTV CoP.

My complaint shall focus on the conduct etc of the stewards and in particular senior stand steward who I and others observed marshalling the operation within the stand. I do not anticipate recieving a reply much before Weds next week and so shall not be able advise everyone on the results of my complaint until then.

I do know that Kit Kat Kev has already registered his complaint, recieved a reply and has forwarded it to the Chair of the Fans Forum. Unfortunately I can't advise on what to do next as i have no existing experience of the protocols and procedures related to such events; hopefully those with more experience will advise you accordingly now.

In his reply he states that only 1 Stoke fan was ejected from the away end; i am sure that i observed more than that, (i thought it was nearer 5); can anyone confirm one way or the other? 1 or 5, or what the exact figure was?

[w15cfc]

O yes,

and i have forwarded all the detail i have so far, emails, responses and my draft complaint to Malcolm for comment prior to sending it to the stadium safety manager.

[The Torch]

volvic
were you wearing a grey coat at sunderland ?

[swampySCFC]

Its a fucking joke. Monday night 250 miles from home and 20 odd quid to get in. Its about time these fuckers started serving customers instead of looking for problems to justify their sad existence.

Funny thing is a bloke lost his life at the Brit because the "stewards" did fuck all.

[Malcolm Clarke]

Craig - have PM's you with some comments.

Anyone making a complaint against a PL club who is dissatisfied can take it to the Premier League as the next stage ( contact Cathy Long).

If still dissatisfied, you can go to the Independent Football Ombudsman,

www.theifo.co.uk

I don't think fans "work" the IFO enough on complaints - they either don't know about him or give up before it gets that far.

[Deleted]

Simple point is that being as though you were apparently the only Stoke fan to be ejected then it should be pretty easy to identify you!! You'd be...well...the only stoke fan to be ejected.

As the steward is claiming that you used foul and abusive language and made indecent gestures, and as such had you ejected, then the burden of proof is on the steward to prove this - not for you to prove that you didn't. To that end, anybody can only assume that you're innocent unless proven otherwise. He has absolutely no right to believe the steward over you without anything to back it up.

Being as though the steward said that you had been caught on CCTV then that should become fair game and you've every right to use it - and if it proves inconclusive and does not support the stewards version of events, then you're entitled to get that money back (along with any other compensation you may get)

Edit - and its not a case of you 'may' be entitled to view or obtain a copy...they have a duty under the Data Protection Act as you have asked for it - which followed the claim from the steward that you had been captured on CCTV.

[kccircle]

The problem with the post above is that everyone else has a right to anonymity. They may have to remove faces of others to give you the CCTV of yourself

Data protection is great isn't it!

[jbstokie]

Just tell em you'll make sure to bring Bonita next time