check out this post from SOS, it looks like the police wont let Hicks in for his own safety, well done to the protesters
---
Graham Smith
SoS Committee Member
This is the story of the day from an SOS perspective (I'll post this on other sites too if you don't mind).
By about 12.45pm we had each of the four entrances covered by about 10 or 15 people but the numbers grew throughout the afternoon. We had been contacted in the morning by the police who had got wind of some sort of protest (they mentioned websites so quite clearly, and understandably, they monitor what is posted). I have been the liaison with the Police so we indicated that there was to be a protest as we understood the owners where to attend. I was told in that conversation that the Club had said that none of the owners where to attend. The point was made that all the officer (who to be fair is extremely reasonable and fair as far as my dealings have been with him) was doing was repeating what he had been told. We made the point that everyone would look very stupid if it turned out that the Club were trying it on. The officer said he would be personally "very emabarrassed".
We then got credible reports from the people inside the Club at a senior level that Foster Gillett was going to attend. This clearly put a different slant on the misinformation that the police were receiving.
By about 1.45pm it was clear that we could not rely upon anything we were hearing so it was decided to concentrate upon the Shankly Gates entrance and everyone was whistled around to there. With onlookers and those taking part there were now a couple of hundred people.
The stewards were fine (only doing their jobs) but were starting to overstep their authority with stepping out of the gates and asking people to move back. At this stage there was only one officer deployed but shortly four police horses arrived and then a further couple after that. Then a minibus of police deployed by us as well.
If you know the Shankly Gates and Anfield Road there is a small pavement either side of the road by the entrance. We were penned to the right hand side as you look at the gates with horses next to us.
There were a couple of false alarms (Howard Webb's minibus got challenged at one point and a Carlsberg bus got stopped and emptied) but no one senior from the Club was able or prepared to say anything other than they had been told that neither of the owners were coming. Upon being challenged by us about the fact that there were credible sources saying that Foster Gillett was coming despoite them telling the police what they did the response was "he's not an owner, he's only a director". That didn't help the situation.
The crowd built until there was a shout that a silver people carrier had Foster Gillett in it (we had spotters up the road). At this point there was the only flashpoint of the afternoon, a couple of the horses pranced around a bit, one sitting on the car bonnet and the officers jumped in. One officer on a horse was pretty aggressive but the horse deployment itself was over the top and caused more problems than it solved. There was a surge from the pavement and the minibus was stopped. In the melee the police arrested two lads (one a Committee Member) for "public order" offences. The previous arrest was a drunk and disorderly of a bloke who wouldn't stop backchatting the same horse officer who seemed the most aggressive.
The police made it clear that they would allow the demonstration but would not allow the road to be blocked.
The senior officer took a couple of us to one side and indicated that he felt the atmosphere was not peaceful. We had previously asked him to verify who was in the ground and who was not. The view being that if he verified they were already in then that would lower the temperature, but if they were not in then he should also tell us and get verification of who was expected. He said, not unreasonably, that he would be relying upon what he was told by the Club and also the message that he was getting was that the "Club" didn't know who was coming or not coming. We responded by saying that in that case we would remain for as long as we could.
Ultimately the officer said to us that he would not allow the owners to come to the ground as he felt that there was a safety issue all round. We said what did that mean and he said that he would turn their vehicle away from Anfield Road. We said all all that would do would be to see them sneak in somewhere else. He said no, the police monitored all approaches and would not allow them near.
We remained for another 15 minutes or so as the officer disappeared. Next thing is two lads who had been further up the road said a Black Range Rover had stopped and a police officer had got in and turned the car around while staying in it himself. One lad said he was 95% certain that Tom Hicks was in the car.
The crowd stayed a liitle longer (it was now 3.15pm) but we slowly dispersed on the following bases:
1. This is not a one off isolated protest;
2. We had made a very serious point to the Club about the owners no longer being welcome;
3. The police assurred us that the owners would not be allowed near the ground today, and on the basis that we would see if that happened (i.e. that both the police and Club could be believed) - if the police weren't truthful or the Club continued to lie then the next protest would not cooperate;
4. There was no doubt that the protest had made a mark.
Ultimately, I'd characterise the protest as "feisty" but definitely peaceful and non-violent. There were empty seats in the Directors' Box but we await feedback from all sources about who actually did or didn't get in.
We also await information about the three arrested lads who we were told were taken to Wavertree nick.
All in all, the ante has been upped and we'll be back next time we get a sniff that they intend to try and swan in to our ground.
---
Graham Smith
SoS Committee Member
This is the story of the day from an SOS perspective (I'll post this on other sites too if you don't mind).
By about 12.45pm we had each of the four entrances covered by about 10 or 15 people but the numbers grew throughout the afternoon. We had been contacted in the morning by the police who had got wind of some sort of protest (they mentioned websites so quite clearly, and understandably, they monitor what is posted). I have been the liaison with the Police so we indicated that there was to be a protest as we understood the owners where to attend. I was told in that conversation that the Club had said that none of the owners where to attend. The point was made that all the officer (who to be fair is extremely reasonable and fair as far as my dealings have been with him) was doing was repeating what he had been told. We made the point that everyone would look very stupid if it turned out that the Club were trying it on. The officer said he would be personally "very emabarrassed".
We then got credible reports from the people inside the Club at a senior level that Foster Gillett was going to attend. This clearly put a different slant on the misinformation that the police were receiving.
By about 1.45pm it was clear that we could not rely upon anything we were hearing so it was decided to concentrate upon the Shankly Gates entrance and everyone was whistled around to there. With onlookers and those taking part there were now a couple of hundred people.
The stewards were fine (only doing their jobs) but were starting to overstep their authority with stepping out of the gates and asking people to move back. At this stage there was only one officer deployed but shortly four police horses arrived and then a further couple after that. Then a minibus of police deployed by us as well.
If you know the Shankly Gates and Anfield Road there is a small pavement either side of the road by the entrance. We were penned to the right hand side as you look at the gates with horses next to us.
There were a couple of false alarms (Howard Webb's minibus got challenged at one point and a Carlsberg bus got stopped and emptied) but no one senior from the Club was able or prepared to say anything other than they had been told that neither of the owners were coming. Upon being challenged by us about the fact that there were credible sources saying that Foster Gillett was coming despoite them telling the police what they did the response was "he's not an owner, he's only a director". That didn't help the situation.
The crowd built until there was a shout that a silver people carrier had Foster Gillett in it (we had spotters up the road). At this point there was the only flashpoint of the afternoon, a couple of the horses pranced around a bit, one sitting on the car bonnet and the officers jumped in. One officer on a horse was pretty aggressive but the horse deployment itself was over the top and caused more problems than it solved. There was a surge from the pavement and the minibus was stopped. In the melee the police arrested two lads (one a Committee Member) for "public order" offences. The previous arrest was a drunk and disorderly of a bloke who wouldn't stop backchatting the same horse officer who seemed the most aggressive.
The police made it clear that they would allow the demonstration but would not allow the road to be blocked.
The senior officer took a couple of us to one side and indicated that he felt the atmosphere was not peaceful. We had previously asked him to verify who was in the ground and who was not. The view being that if he verified they were already in then that would lower the temperature, but if they were not in then he should also tell us and get verification of who was expected. He said, not unreasonably, that he would be relying upon what he was told by the Club and also the message that he was getting was that the "Club" didn't know who was coming or not coming. We responded by saying that in that case we would remain for as long as we could.
Ultimately the officer said to us that he would not allow the owners to come to the ground as he felt that there was a safety issue all round. We said what did that mean and he said that he would turn their vehicle away from Anfield Road. We said all all that would do would be to see them sneak in somewhere else. He said no, the police monitored all approaches and would not allow them near.
We remained for another 15 minutes or so as the officer disappeared. Next thing is two lads who had been further up the road said a Black Range Rover had stopped and a police officer had got in and turned the car around while staying in it himself. One lad said he was 95% certain that Tom Hicks was in the car.
The crowd stayed a liitle longer (it was now 3.15pm) but we slowly dispersed on the following bases:
1. This is not a one off isolated protest;
2. We had made a very serious point to the Club about the owners no longer being welcome;
3. The police assurred us that the owners would not be allowed near the ground today, and on the basis that we would see if that happened (i.e. that both the police and Club could be believed) - if the police weren't truthful or the Club continued to lie then the next protest would not cooperate;
4. There was no doubt that the protest had made a mark.
Ultimately, I'd characterise the protest as "feisty" but definitely peaceful and non-violent. There were empty seats in the Directors' Box but we await feedback from all sources about who actually did or didn't get in.
We also await information about the three arrested lads who we were told were taken to Wavertree nick.
All in all, the ante has been upped and we'll be back next time we get a sniff that they intend to try and swan in to our ground.
