Jeez Jing, over 50 years ago at the age of 14 I was offered outside at Hull just because I was sporting Cas colours. (a scarf).
Theres always been banter and \I hope there always will be its just that over the years the mindset of what is acceptable has changed. Think back to a very popular programme called "The comedians" The so called comedians including a black Yorkshire man called Charlie Williams who said much worse and we all laughed.

Theres a fine line between banter and hostility these days. Old school will call it banter and laugh it off,new generations will see it as hostility and not be on the same page.

I agree that what is alleged to have been sung was inappropriate, offensive and out of order.

However can Bradford fans honestly tell me that they've never, ever, ever heard such offensive singing at any other rugby ground? Because if they say they haven't they'd be lying.

Let's not stick our head in the sand and pretend this is an isolated incident. The only significant difference here is that the club (Wakefield) have publicly acknowledged it.

How long did it take a team like Widnes (just one example) to admit they had a problem with violent fans 2-3 years ago? There were incidents at Bradford, Wakefield, Hull FC (to name but three) and the club said nothing. It was only when there was trouble at Warrington did they finally make a statement.

Whilst Widnes took a while to acknowledge they had a small number of hooligans, not many clubs acknowledge they have a minority of bigoted, offensive fans.

Maybe Wakefield are a little bit more open about these things. That is good and bad. Good that it is brought into the open and not swept under the carpet. Bad in that it creates negative publicity which makes small minded people think the problem is unique to us.

I've never had any training in how to be a steward. However I guess the problem is difficult to tackle there and then. A bunch of 10-15 people (or maybe more) are difficult to be told "don't say that or I'll eject you". In the heat of the moment approaching such a group could lead to a much more significant disagreement.

wildshot,
I've never had any training in how to be a steward. However I guess the problem is difficult to tackle there and then. A bunch of 10-15 people (or maybe more) are difficult to be told "don't say that or I'll eject you". In the heat of the moment approaching such a group could lead to a much more significant disagreement.

and this is why segregation is a must.... also it's easier to eject individuals with pop bottles

If it is, that's only because certain individuals have created the myth - and the club has been naively paternal in its responses; as Vastman has suggested, playing the angry Dad routine and making idle threats via press releases is an admission of guilt before any formal process has been carried out - and that's not how to handle complaints at an organisational level. It feeds into the perception that Wakefield as a club has a 'problem' with supporters - which it doesn't, any more than any other club does.

For example - every single time Leeds are on telly, the much lauded South Stand will sing a chorus about what a merchant banker the referee is; it's clearly audible on Sky microphones and yet is never mentioned by the commentators and there's never a public apology from the club. If there were any complaints about it, I can absolutely guarantee you that Hetherington would *not* issue a press release condemning the chanters and promising to ban them for life - partly because it's an admission before the facts and partly because he knows it's a) part and parcel of the modern world and b) impossible to enforce.

The modern phenomenon of social media is a perfect vehicle for the creation of faux hysteria and faceless outrage at the actions of others who we perceive to have offended us - I agree that there are lines which should not be crossed, but being offended is not fatal, nor are we protected from it under law; so if Mr Carter wants to make BV an offense-free zone, then he needs to bite the bullet and despatch a large number of properly trained and empowered stewards to police the crowd and remove anyone who is perceived to be misbehaving - good luck with that though - it's literally impossible to achieve.

I can't wait for my next trip to Odsal - I will take a notepad, write down everything that offends me, and demand a meeting with their Chairman to lodge all of my grievances - let's see if he responds in the same way that we have.

Regarding Hull,all I can assume is that you look a bad 'un!

Well in typical style MC has managed to crush a huge positive on Saturday with an overblown negative as far as I can see.

On the plus side that means another positive is on the way.

I'm beginning to wonder that if this is the methodology that runs through the club it's no surprise the teams attitude was so defeatist.

I'm certain that methodology and attitude has affected the players directly Vasty.
I don't think carter gets that at all.

Agreed.

The number of fans who are responsible for these events is probably less than the number of Wakefield fans who have recently contributed to Aardvarks charity run and the Danny Jones Fund. Haven't noticed the club statement regarding those!

It doesn't help when people post on the Bradford forum, apologising for the big bad Wakefield fans, but praising the wonderful Bradford travelling support - that just feeds the myth that Bradford were blameless and it's all the fault of the big bad Wakefield hooligans.

I heard plenty of effing and jeffing from many Bradford fans on Saturday, and a good few subjectively 'offensive' songs; I also encountered a number of affable Bradford fans who were disappointed with their teams performance, but remained sensible about it. I'm not daft enough to believe that either group represents Bradford fans in totality - because there's no such entity; just as there's no such entity that represents all Wakefield fans. A crowd of people is impossible to characterise, and it's a logical fallacy to attempt to do so.

The shame is it started off so well with an impeccable minutes silence.
I guess some just get carried away but I didn't see or hear and problem from either set.

Just heard the RFL are now investigating on local news.

I totally agree with you although like you, I didn't hear any racial chants or anything about the Bradford fire, so we will have to leave that for someone else to look at.