Where has the Drummer Man Gone

Jpr · Post by **Jpr** » 08 Oct 2019, 09:09

On the last few home games the persons who plays the Drum has not been there, Are thay ok? as the atmosphere with out the drummer is not so good. Please come back

and get the support back on track.

Jpr · Post by **Jpr** » 08 Oct 2019, 10:23

Sorry should have been

not

Post by **Louis** » 08 Oct 2019, 10:49

Beats me.

:P

Sorry couldn't resist.

grockle · Post by **grockle** » 08 Oct 2019, 11:02

Drumming up support :~D

brooker · Post by **brooker** » 08 Oct 2019, 11:59

They've been given season long bans for running on the pitch the last game of last season. As such they've removed their drum from the Popside.

Let's hope the club change their mind, the atmosphere has been so flat this season.

standupsitdown · Post by **standupsitdown** » 08 Oct 2019, 12:27

brooker wrote: 08 Oct 2019, 11:59 They've been given season long bans for running on the pitch the last game of last season. As such they've removed their drum from the Popside.

Let's hope the club change their mind, the atmosphere has been so flat this season.

Do you know if this is a club ban or a Football Banning Order imposed by the courts.
If the former the club should overturn it.
I don't recall anyone running on the pitch during the final game.

brooker · Post by **brooker** » 08 Oct 2019, 13:10

It's a ban from Plainmoor as far as I know, they're still free to attend away games.

They were stupid, as the tannoy did repeatedly announce consequences for people who entered the pitch, but if there were 200 others then the club would have taken a very different and far more lenient policy. Also, they were advised by a very friendly steward on the Popside that if they ran on but came straight back off again then they'd be fine. He's a popular steward and a lovely guy, but wasn't in a position to offer that advice.

To make things worse, shortly after being banned, Louis (drummer) was contacted by the clubs new fans liaison officer to ask if the club could take his drum on away trips! This is why he decided to remove it altogether.

It's only 10 people who have been banned, but they are regularly the 10 people who start the chants and get the whole Popside going. The atmosphere genuinely has been worse without them this season, and even in the games that we've won the flat atmosphere might still discourage casual fans attending Plainmoor. There's also friends of theirs who are not banned but are now refusing to attend Plainmoor and so our vocal support is being further reduced.

The club acts as though they can ban fans for a length of time, and then afterwards these fans will rush back to the Popside full of gratitude. Unfortunately this might not be the case, as some of the banned party and their friends have already started finding other ways to spend their Saturdays, (joining local clubs etc).

I'm not overly friends with them, although did occasionally chat with some of them in the Union before games. Sometimes they can be a bit boisterous, and possibly push things too far, but all in all anyone who stands in the centre of the Popside would tell you that they're nice lads for the most part, and avid fans of the club. They recently set up the flags fund for the new flags on the Pop, and put a lot of their own money in. They attended games home and away, and have now been banned to the detriment of anybody who enjoyed the Popside's vocal and atmospheric support.

Minneapolisgull · Post by **Minneapolisgull** » 08 Oct 2019, 14:04

So is this how it went down...
"hey do not run on the pitch you will get banned"
Drummer boy " but I play the drums on the popside"
Stewards " I know but you really cannot run on the pitch You will get banned"
Repeat 10 times...
Drummer boy decides to run on pitch....(has to be a really bad decision) The only thing I can think of is playing the drums as made him hard of hearing and he did not hear all the instructions telling him not to go on the pitch)…
3 months later Torquay fans. com
Why is drummer boy not allowed in Plainmoor
Banned for running on the pitch
Followed by usual lambasting of Torquay Utd decision making..... Not the lambasting of clown who ran on the pitch after repeatedly being told not to!!!
Football fans!!! You cannot make this stuff up!!!!

brooker · Post by **brooker** » 08 Oct 2019, 14:18

I get your point Minneapolis, and despite my rant do think that to a certain extent they had it coming. It has really affected the atmosphere though, and it's for that selfish reason that I'm hoping that the club quietly let them back in at some point in the near future.

There's thousands of people up and down he country who run on the pitch for the last game of the season, even when their team end up in mid table! I don't really get the point of it, but do think that it's the kind of offence that the club could let slide.

I don't even think that Louis the drummer actually even entered the pitch.

standupsitdown · Post by **standupsitdown** » 08 Oct 2019, 14:27

There’s a big difference between running on the pitch after your club has been promoted on the last day of the season and running on to interrupt a match. A year ban seems rather over the top for the latter.

When do I and most of the crowd serve our bans for the Bryn the Police Dog Crewe game?

brucie · Post by **brucie** » 08 Oct 2019, 14:48

Get real - there is no difference at all, the rules are the same.

stefano · Post by **stefano** » 08 Oct 2019, 15:03

standupsitdown wrote: 08 Oct 2019, 14:27 When do I and most of the crowd serve our bans for the Bryn the Police Dog Crewe game?

I was there and most of the crowd including me did not go on the pitch. There are always a few idiots in every crowd, though I appreciate that it is easy at the end of a season to get carried away with enthusiasm / joy / relief etc. Were the rules as strict at the time of the Crewe game? It was a long time ago and I don't think they were. Now the rules are strict and more importantly they are not only known by all football fans but are repeated in matchday programmes and over the tannoy as a reminder. At the last game of the season there must have been at least 6 tannoy announcements telling fans not to encroach on to the pitch at the end of the game. People who did go on to the pitch knew full well that they were breaching a clear rule and also knew full well that they could be banned for doing so. It is completely possible to be jubilant and joyful on the terraces. I have managed it all my life. Well, perhaps not always jubilant and joyful every year - it is Torquay United after all!

wivelgull · Post by **wivelgull** » 08 Oct 2019, 15:16

No, I'm afraid you are all wrong (except brucie). The reason is that he is protesting the absence of Gilbert. But - wait a minute! I've just realised how to solve the problem....employ the drummer boy as a drum-banging GILBERT!

Teigngull · Post by **Teigngull** » 08 Oct 2019, 16:22

I'm sure in the covenant applied to Plainmoor by the Cary estate that in theory anyone at any time can walk across the plainmoor playing surface at any time without fear of reprisals, there again I did read this in a book by Laura Joint published in the 90's.
I may be wrong but I may be right

grockle · Post by **grockle** » 08 Oct 2019, 16:37

When I started going to Plainmoor in the 70's, it was common practice to go onto the pitch at the end of the game. It was a quicker way to get to the exits! This ban seems completely farcical, and completely over the top for the perceived offence! IF it was felt necessary, to set an example, surely the punishment could have been suspended, or at most been limited to 1 game.

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