March tomorrow in Cleethorpes.

Quoted from paulgtfc

I like ya post match posts, HM - interesting reading for exiles like myself.  

Like myself, I’m sure you have seen non-whites at away matches that are not family/friends of Town players. I have never seen any hassling or abuse of these people.

Black Town players have often attained cult status - Big Keith, Bogle and even the unproven Rose has his plaudits.  So the race issue among Town fans may be overblown.

Yes we have racist fans. Just like most other clubs. As a whole, are Town fans racist?  No. The number of whites supporting BLM is evidence of this. I hope

I’m with you that the vast majority of Town fans aren’t racist. It’s just that the minority aren’t always silent.
I’ve been following Town 30 years now, I’ve seen and heard things that aren’t acceptable.
Granted it’s better than it was, you still get the odd person shout racist abuse, I’ve been pleased to see more people challenge it in recent years though. The fact that it happens at all shows there is work still to be done.
Like you say I’ve never seen any direct hassling or abuse of BAME fans or families in the Town end, I have seen and heard it while they’ve been present though.

I’m not saying we are the worst or it’s a Grimsby thing. I’m just saying I’d like us to be the best.

Sadly there is little balance on race issues.  

Please may I provide a middle ground.  Patriotism does not equal racism - we should be proud of the freedoms that we have today, thanks to our ancestors that made the ultimate sacrifice. Grimsby/Cleethorpes is proud of those that have made such sacrifice, brought home by the tragic local  deaths in Iraq n Afghanistan.  To host National Armed Forces Day a few years back, was a massive honour for our local area.  We should all be proud of that.

We should be proud of our roots just as I admire other nationalities for showing pride in their roots.  Whenever I see the Manics live, I admire their draping of the Welsh flag over their kit - a nice touch.  Being English n proud is not racist.  The pride of others in their nations is not racist either.

I read Brian Milne comments on the Telegraph site.  I don’t know the man so can only take him at face value.  He made all the right comments, showing absolute respect for our war memorial etc - I admire him for that.  I also feel for him that news of his march hit the media at the time of monument topplings. Very unfortunate timing and not his fault.  

It is sad that the message of other BLM marches have been distracted by actions of a minority.  I’m sure organisers wanted only peaceful protests and the carrying of their messages.

I agree with Martin Vickers. With social distancing measures, not to mention weekend visitors to the seafront, I don’t think the march should’ve gone ahead. Happily for those attending, plenty of coverage has already been given to the BLM movement through other high profile marches/events.  On that front, I’m not sure what further, today would achieve.

There are plenty of people in Grimsby/Cleethorpes and beyond who can not comprehend why the likes of Winston’s Churchill’s monument have to be boarded up. Why a comic Fawlty Towers episode has to be removed albeit later reinstated.  They also cannot understand why English flags cannot be proudly displayed from local buildings.  They also cannot comprehend why the same moral support given to the BLM movement could not be given to poor Lee Rigby’s family and our brave Armed Forces.  There are plenty of white people that would love to airbrush the ultimate sacrifices made by those in WW1 and WW2 from our history.  That is so sad. Their sacrifices have given all of us the freedoms we have today.  This should be cherished.  And progress on race matters does need to be accelerated.  Recent events will help to that end - it’s a shame that a man had to lose his life in furtherance of this.

Quoted from headingly_mariner

I’m with you that the vast majority of Town fans aren’t racist. It’s just that the minority aren’t always silent.
I’ve been following Town 30 years now, I’ve seen and heard things that aren’t acceptable.
Granted it’s better than it was, you still get the odd person shout racist abuse, I’ve been pleased to see more people challenge it in recent years though. The fact that it happens at all shows there is work still to be done.
Like you say I’ve never seen any direct hassling or abuse of BAME fans or families in the Town end, I have seen and heard it while they’ve been present though.

I’m not saying we are the worst or it’s a Grimsby thing. I’m just saying I’d like us to be the best.

Thanks HM - good post,  Totally dismayed how I got a Red Cross for my post.   Must be PC brigade going off course.  Multi cultural society, reflected in GTFC playing staff and I’m totally fine with that 😎

Quoted from headingly_mariner

I often wonder how welcoming Town games are if you’re not white and straight.

I remember town fans chanting “Jonny Ward’s Zulu army” at him a good number of years ago. Completely inappropriate given that he’s black/mixed race. I think at the time he wasn’t offended or didn’t make a big deal of it but that alone tells you the mentality of some town fans when it comes to fans who are non white.

Quoted from headingly_mariner

Extremists like another. Sad that some choose to associate themselves with our club.

Would be great to see an anti racist fan movement at our club, not one that comes from the league or the club.
I often wonder how welcoming Town games are if you’re not white and straight.

the purpose of this would be what?

Can’t see what this blm protest is supposed to achieve and even more so think Cleethorpes is totally the wrong place to do it.
Not surprised to see idiots getting in on the day either.

It’s a shame our media also doesn’t seem to report fairly and the left get away with murder while the right get branded even if they don’t do anything. You cAn be right and peaceful.

Seems to be an element of thought police going on . You don’t like their views you get shot down.

Quoted from Boris Johnson

the purpose of this would be what?

Not sure if you’re trolling or not but it’s quite simple. The point would be that we, as a club woud be more welcoming or appear to be more welcoming to those from BAME groups. Also, if I’m putting my PR and marketing cap on it’d also be very good publicity for the club too. St Pauli in Germany are a good example of this.

Quoted from paulgtfc

Sadly there is little balance on race issues.  

Please may I provide a middle ground.  Patriotism does not equal racism - we should be proud of the freedoms that we have today, thanks to our ancestors that made the ultimate sacrifice. Grimsby/Cleethorpes is proud of those that have made such sacrifice, brought home by the tragic local  deaths in Iraq n Afghanistan.  To host National Armed Forces Day a few years back, was a massive honour for our local area.  We should all be proud of that.

We should be proud of our roots just as I admire other nationalities for showing pride in their roots.  Whenever I see the Manics live, I admire their draping of the Welsh flag over their kit - a nice touch.  Being English n proud is not racist.  The pride of others in their nations is not racist either.

I read Brian Milne comments on the Telegraph site.  I don’t know the man so can only take him at face value.  He made all the right comments, showing absolute respect for our war memorial etc - I admire him for that.  I also feel for him that news of his march hit the media at the time of monument topplings. Very unfortunate timing and not his fault.  

It is sad that the message of other BLM marches have been distracted by actions of a minority.  I’m sure organisers wanted only peaceful protests and the carrying of their messages.

I agree with Martin Vickers. With social distancing measures, not to mention weekend visitors to the seafront, I don’t think the march should’ve gone ahead. Happily for those attending, plenty of coverage has already been given to the BLM movement through other high profile marches/events.  On that front, I’m not sure what further, today would achieve.

There are plenty of people in Grimsby/Cleethorpes and beyond who can not comprehend why the likes of Winston’s Churchill’s monument have to be boarded up. Why a comic Fawlty Towers episode has to be removed albeit later reinstated.  They also cannot understand why English flags cannot be proudly displayed from local buildings.  They also cannot comprehend why the same moral support given to the BLM movement could not be given to poor Lee Rigby’s family and our brave Armed Forces.  There are plenty of white people that would love to airbrush the ultimate sacrifices made by those in WW1 and WW2 from our history.  That is so sad. Their sacrifices have given all of us the freedoms we have today.  This should be cherished.  And progress on race matters does need to be accelerated.  Recent events will help to that end - it’s a shame that a man had to lose his life in furtherance of this.

I don’t think anyone is saying you can’t be patriotic. It’s fine to be proud of where you come from and to shout about it. It’s also wonderful to remember those who made such great sacrifices. Let’s not honour them by behaving like twits.

Somebody nailed the Lee Rigby on another thread, it was a horrific murder committed by terrorists. They were arrested immediately and it was condemned everywhere. There was national mourning and huge coverage. There was pretty much complete moral support from the whole country barring some extremists.

This is about the institutional racism that people suffer from.
I’m not sure any monuments were in danger in cleethorpes, just an opportunity for a radicalised minority to sound off.

Quoted from Boris Johnson

the purpose of this would be what?

To be a fanbase that welcomes everyone. To make clear to those that still bring the racism out, that we fans aren’t having it.

Quite moving.Hence this ex military personal man was trying to protect the statue of Churchill in London  as he claimed  not all who were there were far right  .Hence he was standing up for what Churchill achieved and trying to protect the statue from some people who wanted to deface it .Granted Churchill wasnt perfect but done a lot of good in helping beat the Nazis .Hence some have been in the army as the guy above and you can understand his deep convictions for being there .Only one can understand that if you've been a army veteran. Hence 2 sides to every story.