Well done Wrexham AFC. Faced with an uncomfortable situation on Saturday, we were firm and clear in our message. We will not tolerate behaviour which is not worthy of the club.
Last Saturday was a wonderful day, with Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds rounding off a tumultuous, historic week by finally getting to attend a game at The Racecourse. It was an occasion we’ve been anticipating for over a year and, appropriately, they certainly lived up to their billing.
Sadly, not everybody did so. Admittedly, we’re once again talking about a small minority, as almost everybody in the town, fans or not, got swept along on a wonderful wave of optimism.
However, the problem is, and has been for a while, that the aggressive, self-serving group who disgraced themselves on Saturday are loud, difficult to ignore, and drag our club’s name through the mud.
The usual suspects took up their usual spot and hurled projectiles, mostly bottles, at the Torquay fans. The club has done well to swiftly call out such behaviour as despicable, and thankfully their efforts with the police resulted in a few extra season tickets becoming available to real fans, as banning orders take effect.
Plenty of weasel words were offered up to excuse this thuggish behaviour:
“The club put the Torquay fans near the Wrexham fans, in a vulnerable part of the ground.”
“They threw bottles first.”
“There was a small group of teenagers in the Torquay end who were acting like we were.”
“They chanted things we didn’t like.”
All this nonsense can be put down with one simple answer: “Does that make it okay to throw bottles at people?”
Our small hooligan pocket have had too loud a voice for too long, and need to be removed from the club, which is why I welcome the club’s firm response. They shout loudest, but represent nobody. They turn their abuse on their own players without a second thought.
A depressing litany of stories from the day were soon on social media. It’s incredible to think that these people could make such a wonderful week end so horribly:
The incident which really sums up the motivation of these people was less violent than the bottle-throwing. When Reynolds and McElhenney walked out into the middle of the pitch, everybody knew this was the high point of a remarkable week. Our new owners had seen the club they fell in love with, and the town they want to support, and found themselves even more committed than before. Their presence at the club was inspiring; what they represented to the town uplifting. And now, they were going to directly address 10,000 people who had every reason to hang on their every word, desperate to show them their gratitude first hand.
Except that small minority didn’t see it like that at all. For them, the increased publicity Wrexham are enjoying, the heightened status we crave, are just opportunities for self-aggrandisement. They chanted obscenities throughout the speeches. They were directed at the Torquay fans, but does that matter? Can’t they shut up and listen to our own for just a minute?
And what did Reynolds and McElhenney think, I wonder, as this long-awaited moment failed to unfold as they expected it to? As their rousing words were greeted with a chorus, from the Wrexham end, of “Who the f*** are you?” Did they think it was directed at them? Did they wonder whether they’d invested in a club with hatred at its core?
I’m sure they didn’t; I certainly hope they didn’t. Being associated with this sort of people is what drives god people like them away.
I’ve called these people out before, and received plenty of abuse for it, so let me be clear. I don’t begrudge anyone the right to an opinion, and anybody who has listened to my broadcasts or read what I write will hopefully know that I enjoy a sensible debate, and am willing to acknowledge opinions other than my own. But there’s a line that can’t be crossed.
You’re not a Wrexham fan if you turn up just to pour hate on the other side.
You’re not a Wrexham fan if you are violent to anybody.
If you’re any of the above, get out of our club.
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