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Post by MarkWolstanton on May 26, 2011 22:21:09 GMT
Today is the tenth anniversary of the zenith of the Oldham race riots.
The subject was widely covered in the Greater Manchester media. Most identified the visit of Stoke City to Oldham a few days before as a major contributory factor to igniting the racial tension present in the area at the time.
One report stated that" the Stoke supporters ran riot in the town causing damage to property, attacking people and hurling racial abuse".
Stoke supporters had already a bad enough reputation at the time but this marked a distressing escalation and an added sinister dimension to the football hooliganism that had been a trade mark for some time. It was clear that right wing racists had now attached themselves and were hiding behind the standard Stoke hoolie.
The more long standing users of this forum will remember well the problem very much manifested itself on our message boards. We became almost inundated with people who we had never come across in the years the message board had been active, claiming to be Stoke supporters of long standing with anecdotal references to Gordon Banks, 1972, Stan Mathews and anything else they knew about Stoke.
It was clear they had one agenda as they turned thread after thread into a vehicle for their prejudice and used any pretext to discuss race issues. The odious smell of racism hung over Stoke City, its supporters and this message board for a long time back then.
It was bleak days indeed the likes of which I hope we never see again.
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Post by jugger on May 26, 2011 22:24:16 GMT
Well said, Mark
J8-)
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Post by Pretty Little Boother on May 26, 2011 22:26:44 GMT
Zenith? Or Nadir? Because that could easily flip your argument to something completely different.
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Post by mark71 on May 26, 2011 22:30:58 GMT
There was a lot of talk in the days before that game that Stoke were going to give the local Asian community some pay back for the racial attack on a white OAP which was widely reported in the national media.
I was there and saw most of what went on before and after the game. I've traveled to away games for years and know what going to away games "back in the day" entailed but the Oldham game was a lot different than any other game I'd been to.
The same faces were there, it wasn't as if there was a major influx of outside people masquerading as Stoke supporters. The intensity of the hatred was immense, it went far beyond havin a ruck at the football. After the game was even worse.
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Post by MarkWolstanton on May 26, 2011 22:36:28 GMT
Zenith? Or Nadir? Because that could easily flip your argument to something completely different. It isn’t an argument..if you want to be pedantic. I don’t think it’s difficult to understand my view to be fair.
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Post by Deleted on May 26, 2011 22:46:40 GMT
I watched the news program tonight that featured the article. Both white and coloured residents were interviewed with regards to their thoughts 10 years on regarding racial integration and tensions. In general the Asians and blacks said that the situation was much better , but many of the white population said it was so much worse and predicted a reoccurence of rioting in the near future. A clear divide in opinion.
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Post by Pretty Little Boother on May 26, 2011 22:48:05 GMT
Zenith? Or Nadir? Because that could easily flip your argument to something completely different. It isn’t an argument..if you want to be pedantic. I don’t think it’s difficult to understand my view to be fair. I know, I was only being awkward for the sake of it, sorry Mark.
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Post by TheWiseMaster on May 27, 2011 7:58:41 GMT
Sad day for the club and fans was that game where we let ourselves down big time. I knew a good number of the racists who attended the riots and they would indeed class themselves as Stoke fans. They saw this day as a real opportunity to parade the worst aspects of themselves - on another occasion some of them would be regarded as good fans
Let's not kid ourselves, a very high percentage of the population have these prejudices. The numpties involved at Oldham are happy to use this prejudice to attack another group - being at the bottom of the social ladder it makes them feel better to if they can point to another group they consider below them in the pecking order
I spent quite a good part of the match booing the ant-paki chanting and got knocked about a bit for my trouble. Sad to see an Asian Stoke fan nearby have to leave our crowd in disgust
Prejudice will never be stamped out but it can be controlled if the majority of fans show their contempt for the racists when it does occur
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Post by shoey100 on May 27, 2011 9:16:00 GMT
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Post by st2potter on May 27, 2011 11:14:03 GMT
How come my comment was deleted it was as offensive as a baby rabbit
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Post by RAF on May 27, 2011 11:25:13 GMT
Wasn't it just after this that a certain infamous poster appeared?
H
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Post by StokieMatt on May 27, 2011 11:39:50 GMT
one of my 1st memories of stoke away this is was 11 at time
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Post by Mr_DaftBurger on May 27, 2011 11:48:48 GMT
The end of the season was the worst time. Luckily these type of posts seem to have died out!
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Post by TheWiseMaster on May 27, 2011 11:51:36 GMT
Wasn't it just after this that a certain infamous poster appeared? H who
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