You could argue the Greater Manchester Police are doing all they can to upset Stoke City and Stoke City fans, but that would be an understatement. Recent reports suggest GMP police, in Manchester for the Man City game on Sunday, ordered a group of Stoke fans home as they made their way to the stadium before kick off, claiming them to be potential risk of alcohol-related disorder, in spite of protests from the group that non of them were drunk or looking to, or having caused any trouble.
This is the latest is a series of decisions from the GMP, which have caused upset to Stoke fans, maybe an over-reaction following the trouble caused by Rangers fans in the city following the UEFA Cup Final in May, and our own history of crowd trouble.
Recent intellegence was the claim from the GMP for the farcical decision to impose kick off time changes to 3pm on Sunday for the Man City game and the upcoming 12.45pm kick off for the Wigan game on November 8th, as well as the decision to enforce increased security measures around Manchester before Sundays game, and this despite protests from Stoke City itself, Stoke fans having caused no major crowd disturbances for ther last 8 years as well as fans being forced to carry ID cards to away matches for the last 5 years.
If this recent intellegence is anything to go by then why hasnt the kick off times been changed for the trip to Old Trafford on November 15th, just 7 days after the Wigan game, and how come Merseyside police were abe to comfortably deal with visiting Stoke fans during our recent game at Anfield without enforcing any unnecessary increased security measures. With incidents like these its easy to see why normal friendly supporters are losing respect for the police.
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