GREATER MANCHESTER POLICING
On this page you will find information on the experiences of a group of 10 friends and there days out at stoke away matches. How we got there, what we did, ground standard and all sorts of related things. starting with Oldham Athletic on 06/04/2002.
08.00...arrived at stoke on trent station to be met by 20 fully armed police intent on making sure nobody travelled without a ticket for the match or train.
08.25 full body search(twice in the space of 20 yards)
08.45 board train to Manchester along with the 20 coppers who were on the station
09.30 arrive in manchester where the fun began..
we were led out of piccadilly station and held in a car park for roughly 3/4 hour surrounded by a ring of 70-100 police. some in full riot gear. All drinks were confiscated including pop and we were denied any civil rights at all.
(i may add that the stoke contingent was in excess of 350)
the toilet was officialy a brick wall at the side of the station
10.30 approx we were told to move onwards toward victoria train station.(1/2 mile walk that should only take ten mins)
11.15 we arrive at victoria after being escorted for about 2 miles by the police around the backstreets of manchester.
here we had to wait for another 1/2 hour outside. yet again totally surrounded and denied any civil rights
the sight of women having to stoop on the pavement to go for a pee was degrading to say the least
11.50
we board the train to oldham in the hope of being allowed a bit of freedom but no such luck when we get there
12.10 arrive in oldham. the police prescence has now swelled to about 200 including mounted police and a helicopter. here we went on another 3/4 hour slow march to the ground.
at the ground we managed to break clear of the police lines and find our own seats. The others who stayed were not so fortunate. They were herded into a seperate section of the ground and couldnt even get a drink or a bite to eat.
I wont even mention the game because it pales into insignificance with waht happened after.
to be cont.
