I only returned from France today and here is my response griff67.

The only disgrace on Saturday was that Hull FC fans who had bought tickets in advance via Hull FC were refused entry to the seats they had paid for in Gradin Sud via Gate A (which was stated on their tickets) and forced to go into an ovecrowded temporary stand at the other end of the pitch. The stewards allowed more fans to go in there than there were seats which meant that there were fans standing at the front and in the aisles with the result that seated fans could not see and had to stand up too. Frankly this was a health & safety nightmare and if it happened in this country there would be an HSE and local authority investigation. To make matters worse the stand on the opposite side of the pitch was barely half full. I suspect that James Rule's inbox is full of e-mails from Hull fans who were treated in such a digusting manner and I expect him and the RFL to do something about the disgraceful behaviour by the Catalans club. The fact that Catalans cannot arrange a match in such a way as to honour ticketing arrangements and treat visiting supporters safely and decently is what will "give the sport a bad name".

Two further points:

1. I have just been on the Catalans board and cannot find any posts from anyone (including the OP) complaining about the behaviour of our fans.

2. Saturday was the only time I have ever seen all fans being searched going into an RL game. Does anyone know if this is the norm at Catalans games?

No.

Have to agree with some of the comments about forcing the Hull fans into an already overcrowded section of the stand. It meant that for the majority of the match everyone had to stand in order to see the game. The only "trouble" I witnessed was 2 Catalan fans fighting amongst themselves and being thrown out.

Apart from that it was nothing out of the ordinary for an away game. Some fairly drunk fans but nobody was really causing any problems that I could see and I was there 45 mins before the game started and was still at the ground 30 mins after the game had finished.

My overriding memory will be the exceptional friendliness and concern of the French people in Perpignan.

When the Ash Cloud entailed the cancellation of all outbound Montpellier flights until Friday, the help and generosity of the owners of the famous Le Grande Cafe de la Poste "Castillet" Bar saved - if not our lives - several hundreds of pounds and a 4 day delay.

Unable to rebook our Ryannair flights online due to an anomalous website blip that does not let you rearrange the return leg of a "return" booking, the only option was to ring the "help"line. The amazing people at the Grande Cafe not only let us call Ryannair's 0871 number internationally, but were happy for us to hold for over an hour before connection. "You have been our customers for 3 days - this is nothing."

Thanks to them, we managed to secure seats on the only alternative flight that day from Perpignan to Stansted. Without going into too much detail, failure to do this would have caused several members of our group untold expense and legal difficulties, not to mention work commitments etc.

I know this bar is a "given" anyway when in France, but I just wanted people to know that the owners are honest people who love the English rugby fans - genuinely. And are prepared to put their money where their mouths are.

Be thankful. Five of the seventeen players got banged up after their game at Wakey earlier this year

Don't forget the people that told you about the other flight being available in the first place (that's if you are who i think you are)

!!

You're all darlings

Agreed totally. We ended up moving to the empty stand despite having tickets for the Gradin Nord. No way should the whole situation have arisen, but after a few "discussions" with the stewards we moved, as did a few others. The reception in Perpignan was great with no hint of trouble anywhere (in response to the original post and Expro's post). The regional paper reported how good we were and how we always travel well too - I'll try to post the article if I can.

You saved our bacon for sure, it goes without saying all of you that helped us were absolute stars.



The one thing that will stay with me is how all the FC Fans stuck together and helped one another out.

I hope everyone has managed to get home safely. Hopefully we will be able to get home a bit easier from Cas, mind you remember last season getting away from the ground was a nightmare.

We spent 5 hours getting to Toulose and then the flight was cancelled at 10pm . So somehow we made it to Paris the next day at 6pm via Toulose and Bordeaux !!! Got home 24 hours late

[url=http://www.lindependant.com/articles/2010-05-16/les-dragons-catalans-sous-haute-affluence-anglaise-181765.phpArticle as promised (in French)[/url

Another article mentioned how we "took up the baton" on Saturday from the celebrations of Friday night after USAP won their game