M18CTID
Well-Known Member
I’ll get to Dante in a minute.
I think opinion on the display can be divided into 3 main groups:
1) Those who liked it
2) Those who didn’t like it, but appreciate the effort that went into it
3) Those who didn’t like it, don’t appreciate the effort that went into it, have never had anything positive to say about 1894, and never will
Negative feedback from individuals who don’t have an agenda against the group - ie: some of the people @urban genie referenced and some of the posters on this thread - aren’t an issue and fall into category 2. You’ll never please everybody and 1894 aren’t above criticism so constructive criticism will be taken on board.
However, some of those who fall into category 3 are up to something more sinister. They mainly reside on that cesspool otherwise known as Twitter, some have a large reach via podcasts and blogs, and have been part of an orchestrated smear campaign against the group for months over the Madrid display and the money that was raised for it. When I say smear campaign, I’m talking things like disgraceful allegations about where the money raised went. And because these people have a decent number of followers, it doesn’t take long for the misinformation to spread, so much so that this shit even spilled into the last home game before lockdown v West Ham. The perps know exactly who they are. Some of them may well lurk and post on this forum. Now that the penny has dropped and they’ve seen the size of the display which in turn has made them realise it cost a lot of money, some have now changed tack and said it would’ve been better to donate the money to charity due to the pandemic. I don’t know what goes through the heads of some of these people but given that the display was paid for long before a single person in this country had died of Covid-19, I’m not sure how that could be possible. In any case, fans donated money to an anti-UEFA protest. As for charity, 1894 has been donating to foodbanks for years and also made a donation just recently.
I don’t know what it is with these people. I can’t work out if it’s a jealousy thing because the group often garners a lot of publicity and can do things that make the back pages of a national newspaper or Sky Sports News (as happened with yesterday’s display), or whether it’s something else. One thing I know for sure is that they’re ungrateful bastards. Why? Well, banners, flags, and displays aren’t for everyone but since forming as an atmosphere group, 1894 has also campaigned tirelessly on various fan related issues. They’re affiliated to the FSA and were heavily involved in the TwentysPlenty campaign for cheaper away tickets. It was Dante himself who came up with the idea of a nationwide weekend of protest which took place in October 2015 and involved fan groups from every other Premier League club and some Football League clubs. Along with lobbying of the Premier League and some of their sponsors from the FSA and fan groups from Liverpool and Everton, just a few months later it was announced that Premier League away tickets would be capped at £30. So despite their shitty smear campaign of late, no doubt some of these clowns have financially benefitted due to 1894 playing a key part in securing cheaper Premier League tickets for all away fans.
I guess that’s gratitude for you!