Amsterdam police are a disgrace

[Eccles Blue]

Having read the email from City to the supporters, we also decided that getting up to the stadium early would be a sensible idea, it said in there that there would be 3 security checks at the ground. Anyone who read that should have worked out that the normal practise of arriving 15 minutes prior to kick off was going to be a problem, and doing so with several hundred pissed/stoned football fans was likely to cause disorder. I'm not condoning what I heard went on in the queue outside, and there is clearly not adequate turnstiles for 2700 fans.



I'm sorry that so many people seem to have had issues, but from past experience, and lots of hindsight, most of them can be avoided if you keep your senses about you.

whilst agreeing with most of what you said, the conditions getting into the ground were appalling
i had no email from City for some reason, and I got to the ground at 7.45
we had no help in finding the away end after asking several stewards, police and home fans

when we found the entrance it was 8pm
we got in our seats thirty seconds into the game after nearly forty five minutes of trying to protect my wife from being crushed
as we got nearer to the entrance i couldn't physically hold on to her anymore and we split up
when i got in she was complaining to a steward about the way she had been 'handled' during the search and felt quite degraded
meanwhile i got through without being searched and yet had a laptop bag full of stuff! but they were beginning to panic by then
woke up this morning feeling like i had been in combat, aching from head to foot
just because we are football fans we don't need to be treated like animals

I received the email from City and I arrived early (but then I always try to anyway) and the queue even then was quite long, it was between 7.05 and 7.15 as I got off the train exactly at 7.00. The queue was quite long then, the first two 'check-ins' were easy but the third one to actually get through the turnstile was a nightmare. There were at least 5 security people standing behind the turnstiles doing nothing. Directly behind each of the 4 turnstiles was one security man who signalled for you to scan your ticket and then patted down the person going through before the next person could scan their ticket. Even if the next person had been able to scan their ticket they wouldn't have been able to get through as the person in front was still standing within the revolving bit!! If you had a bag they then passed you over to another person.

For the females they let them through to a female security person and boy did she take pleasure in patting you down!! I have never been body searched as thoroughly even at Boston Airport when the scanner kept bleeping and we couldn't find out why!! To be honest it was embarrasing and humiliating.

By the time you had climbed the stairs, worse than Newcastle as everyone kept remarking, you were too exhausted to complain to our own stewards!!

So what I am basically saying is that their 'instruction' to arrive early was of no use whatsoever!

 

[Why Always Ste]

I know people had different experiences but since Tuesday when we arrived the Police were quality with us. Laid back, laughing and joking with us, no problems whatsoever.

 

[cleavers]

So what I am basically saying is that their 'instruction' to arrive early was of no use whatsoever!

It was. because had you arrived at 8:15, you'd have been caught up in much worse from what I've heard.

They can only give out advice, they can't make people heed it. The email also suggested that City fans congregate in Dam square, but that was never likely to happen given the other "attractions" a couple of streets (canals) away.

As I said I was only passing on how we were treated by the police, and like Why Always Ste, it was positive, but I avoided the obvious pinch points.

 

[Eccles Blue]

So what I am basically saying is that their 'instruction' to arrive early was of no use whatsoever!

It was. because had you arrived at 8:15, you'd have been caught up in much worse from what I've heard.

They can only give out advice, they can't make people heed it. The email also suggested that City fans congregate in Dam square, but that was never likely to happen given the other "attractions" a couple of streets (canals) away.

As I said I was only passing on how we were treated by the police, and like Why Always Ste, it was positive, but I avoided the obvious pinch points.

Sorry Cleavers, I was basically only commenting on what squirty had written, I've not mastered the art of taking out the earlier quotes!! :-)

You are correct in saying that if I had ignored the advice from City it could have been a longer wait I guess.

As for the police I can't comment on them because I wandered around on my own and didn't see many City people and very few police where I was.

 

[Drewmanc]

So what I am basically saying is that their 'instruction' to arrive early was of no use whatsoever!

It was. because had you arrived at 8:15, you'd have been caught up in much worse from what I've heard.

They can only give out advice, they can't make people heed it. The email also suggested that City fans congregate in Dam square, but that was never likely to happen given the other "attractions" a couple of streets (canals) away.

As I said I was only passing on how we were treated by the police, and like Why Always Ste, it was positive, but I avoided the obvious pinch points.

Sorry Cleavers, I was basically only commenting on what squirty had written, I've not mastered the art of taking out the earlier quotes!! :-)

You are correct in saying that if I had ignored the advice from City it could have been a longer wait I guess.

As for the police I can't comment on them because I wandered around on my own and didn't see many City people and very few police where I was.

That's because there's not many coppers/fans behind the red curtain of a Dam brass!

 

[Hes the left back remember]

I was in the ajax seats in the opposite corner to the City fans.
Got there early ,had a few drinks in their outside bars and then queued for 10 minutes to get in.
No stewards around and no security searches etc.

I am sure GMP will adopt strict security when ajax visit particularly in light of their last visit to Manchester.
However I am sure our arrangements for entry into the ground will be much better.

 

[stonerblue]

Drama queens it's not mass killings

Dunno about Ric's bit of bother but i was right in the middle of the 'bridge' scuffles and spent a couple of hours watching events unfold. I was with an ex Ajax hoolie and he was pointing out the coppers to watch out for and not one of them had a uniform on. They do not fuck about.

Saw no real trouble there but onr or two Ajax boys got battered and hauled off.
I was in a boozer opposite the City fans.

Saw some proper scrapping later on around midnight in rld.

 

[innovator]

What is it with foreign police force assaulting City fans again? Absolute wankers, thinking twice if I want to go Dortmund if this is how they treat paying fans. Thing is you can't do anything back as it's there word against yours saw the footage in Madrid and it was disgraceful you'd never see that happening over here.

To be fair the German police are usually pretty good!

 

[cleavers]

To be fair the German police are usually pretty good!

I'd concur, until and unless somebody really pisses them off, if that happens expect it too hurt, because they won't f*ck about either.

 

[ell]

Absolute morons hitting people trying to get out of the way. Asked politely how to get back to the hostel when things turned ugly and he was proper rude