Johnny Monster Says

Courtesy Johnnie Monster The Southsiders

Southsiders unhappy with their treatment by the Whitecaps
The Southsiders have a long tradition of vociferous, boisterous sometimes controversial support of the Whitecaps at Swangard Stadium. Matters apparently came to a head at the Atlanta game on Wednesday August 27th which gave rise to the following post in the Voyageurs chat forum and an email to Hillary Campbell, Director, Event Management for the Vancouver Whitecaps FC. The Voyageurs poster goes by the pseudonym ‘Johnnie Monster’ in the chat forum.

Dear Hillary,

It’s been brought to my attention that you are the person to whom I should be addressing my concerns about the game day experience at Swangard.

There is a very nasty situation brewing here where the club’s most loyal supporters feel like they are being thrown under the bus by the front office. In my view, the recent (and not so recent) actions of the club and Limited Edition Security are choking the enjoyment out of the fans who care about this team the most.

Bob Lenarduzzi has made frequent references in the media to the amazing fan support in Toronto, and how it would be great to have every match sold out just like they do back east. The Whitecaps organization will NEVER achieve that goal by continuing on its present path.

I can appreciate you’ve got a difficult job to do, and there are probably a lot of issues going on behind the scenes which the fans are not fully aware of. I’d therefore ask you to help me mend these fences.

This should be a banner year for the Whitecaps: we’re top of the league with a new coach and excellent new signings. We’ve also got an MLS bid with Steve Nash on board, a pending move to BC Place and a new stadium on the horizon.

If ever there was a time for the club to shore up the fan support, it’s now but the opportunities to do this are being buried under resistance and opposition with each passing game. What used to be an enjoyable escape from the daily grind is rapidly turning into a stressful, frustrating and demoralizing experience.

Here’s a little history for you to give you a sense of where I’m coming from:

I have been attending 86ers / Whitecaps matches since the late 1980s. I’ve rarely missed a home game since 1999, which is when the Southsiders first began to congregate behind the southern goal. Back then there weren’t any fences separating us from the pitch, just a few ad boards. At each match we sang our hearts out, we drank our beers and we went home thrilled that there was finally place where real soccer fans could go and enjoy themselves much in the same way as Europe. The players seemed to enjoy the support too ­ what we were doing in 1999 was virtually unheard of in North America.

Be sure to ask Bob about a fellow named Darren Tilley. Right now he’s the coach of the Rochester Rhinos. but back then, he was a footballer the 86ers signed from the UK. He appreciated the support so much, he brought a case of beer over to the fans in the middle of a game!

Bob sang our praises in the media, and he used many TV appearances to encourage fans to come out and enjoy the Southside experience. Over the next few seasons the Southside beer garden crowds started to grow from about two dozen to 200 per match.

Around 2001, fencing was erected to separate us from the pitch. Given the increasing crowd numbers, I don’t think any Southsiders would have a problem with that.

Security was also posted at the Southside entrance to check for ID. Nobody under 19 was permitted into the area and as a result, complaints from parents about foul language were virtually non-existent.

Port-A-Potties were also brought into the Southside at that time. This was a good move by the club for a couple of reasons it assisted with confining the salty language to the Southside area, and it meant parents didn’t have to worry about their kids encountering obnoxious drunks in the main washrooms.

But look what happened in 2003:

- The 19+ beer garden was reconfigured as an all-ages general admission area
- The Port-A-Potties were removed
- Garbage cans were removed/relocated to accommodate extra bleachers
- The fencing was moved back
- Advertising boards were moved away from the reach of fans who used them to make noise
- Soccer moms had security harassing us to sit down, shut up, and mind the children’s ears

After a flurry of e-mails and phone calls, Bob came down to talk to us in the Southside at least twice that I remember. He acknowledged that we were a valuable component of the club’s support, and the experience for visiting goalkeepers was unique to the league.

Bob arranged a meeting for us with Rick Ramsbottom and Rachel Lewis at Moxies downtown. At that meeting, we came to a consensus with Rick and Rachel as per the following:

1. The Southside is first and foremost a BEER GARDEN, and it is not the best place for children to be roaming about under any circumstances.

2. That said, security would allow teens to enter the area. Both security and Southsiders alike would politely inform parents with small kids that the area was not the best place for young ears.

3. The club recognized that the Southsiders’ choice to not occupy seats benefits the club, as the club can obviously sell more tickets. Therefore, if a parent with kids had a complaint about the Southside, they would be politely encouraged by security to sit in their designated seat as it was the club’s preference to not have us recreate what we do in the Grandstand or bleachers.

4. The creation of the Southside season ticket came about directly as a result of this meeting. It meant that in the event of a dispute with parents or security, Southsiders could show that they are the only people in attendance whose ticket actually authorizes them to sit/stand in the Southside area. All others have designated seat numbers elsewhere.

Two things we asked for at that meeting did not materialize:

a) we asked for the original number of garbage cans to be reinstated;
b) we asked for signage to be posted at the Southside entrance warning parents about the language.

The club’s current problem with beer cups littering the pitch is the direct result of the removal / relocation of the garbage cans.

Prior to 2003, there were several cans spread out across the width of the Southside area within “tossing distance” of the fence. That meant that people could quickly discard their trash without giving up their spot to watch the game. When extra bleachers were added to the Southside, the cans were moved quite a distance from the fence. Most people then opted to drop their cups on the ground in front of them rather than forfeit their spot.

Given that the Southsiders were already feeling somewhat jilted by the club, the “beer cup toss” quickly caught on as a form of protest against the shabby treatment the supporters were getting. Five years later, you have the same problem because the club refuses to implement the simplest of solutions.

So let’s fast forward to 2008:

FENCING: The Southside fencing has been creeping further and further back from the goal line with each passing game. Why is this happening? Under whose direction? Is there a concern we are not aware of, or does this relate to the beer cups? This is only adding to tensions between Southsiders, the club and security. Is it any wonder why the fence was picked up and moved by fans a couple of matches ago?

CHILDREN: I have never in my life seen so many children running around the Southside as I have this year. Let me remind you that this area is a BEER GARDEN. Signage must be posted about the languageŠ it is a simple course of action that could diffuse soooo many potential problems between Southsiders, parents and security.

SECURITY: It is abundantly clear that some (not all) of the guards provided by Limited Edition Security are poorly trained, and their interaction with supporters has been needlessly confrontational. To put it bluntly, their people skills are terrible. Game in, game out, their actions are only adding fuel to the fire of an already tense situation. Cases in point:

Four matches ago, a guard confronted several Southsiders over their use of foul language, as children were in the area. Since this particular guard was not familiar to us we assumed he was not aware of what the Southside area was, nor the arrangement we reached with Rick Ramsbottom and Rachel Lewis in 2003. We tried explaining the situation to him politely, and we showed him our ³Southside² ticket stubs. This guard persisted in perpetuating the argument with us, threatened some of us with expulsion and smugly declared “I’ve known Bob Lenarduzzi for 17 years!” Naturally this led to even more foul language than before.

Two matches ago I witnessed one incident where a security guard rushed over and confronted a Southsider for allegedly throwing a cup onto the pitch. The Southsider in question had been standing with his arms folded the entire time. The actual culprit was an eight year old kid standing about 10 spots down fence line. When we tried to explain this to the guard, we were threatened with expulsion if “we” continued throwing items onto the field. We once again pointed out that the people in the immediate area were obeying the rules. The security guard persisted in arguing with us, effectively perpetuating the situation for five minutes longer than it needed to.

Last night’s match was bordering on the ridiculous:

- The fence was moved further back than it has ever been

- Upon our arrival in the area before the match, guards were immediately threatening us with expulsion over beer cups, streamers and harassing the ball handlers (which we¹ve never done).

- Guards were lurking about peering over the shoulders of Southsiders who had not been causing any kind of trouble whatsoever. It was clear they were fishing for excuses to confront these fans, but their reasons for doing so were completely irrational.

- Guards were threatening specific Southsiders at one end of the field with expulsion over beer cups while ignoring the scores of cups piling up further down the fence line. If there’s going to be rules, at least apply them consistently!

- One guard rudely hustled a group of five elderly gentlemen out of the vicinity of the Southside beer tent for safety reasons I can only aspire to imagine. They were not impeding customer traffic in any way. One poor old timer sadly remarked, “Jeez. I didn’t realize we were being so rowdy.”

I have heard second or third hand that this new concern for the ball handlers is the result of actions by the Timbers Army visiting from Portland. If this is the case, why are Vancouver’s supporters being punished for it and lectured about it?

Further, I see that you posted signage at the Southside entrance warning about the ball handler issue. Why then has it been so difficult to convince the club to use those same signs to warn parents about the language?

The lifeblood of any sports franchise flows from its loyal supporters. We are the ones who buy the tickets and merchandise over and over again. Why the club is presently biting the hand that feeds it is beyond my comprehension.

The game day experience issues I’ve mentioned in this e-mail are not the only disappointments this season.

The failed promise of an international friendly was bad enough. The refunds we were promised which never materialized was just plain insulting. I recognize those are not problems you can personally address, but I raise those points to illustrate that this year has been a season full of PREVENTABLE frustrations.

When you add the senseless harassment by security into the equation, it amounts to serious kick in the teeth for all of us true supporters. It leaves us asking the question:

Why is the front office making it so difficult to support this club?

Put the fence back, ease up on the streamers and tell security to BACK OFF.

Post the warning signs about the language, and you¹ll neutralize complaints from parents. KIDS DON’T BELONG IN A BEER GARDEN!

Give us some trash cans closer to the fence, and you’ll probably see an improvement as per the beer cups too. Better yet, put the cans on the *match side* of the fence. Dress them up or conceal them with advertising and the TV cameras will be none the wiser. It’s a revenue opportunity that the club is overlooking.

A final word: many of the Southsiders have been actively lobbying for the new stadium on the club’s behalf. We have stood by this club through its darkest days, standing in the pouring rain while the soccer moms and kiddies stayed at home.

If we’re not going to be welcomed with open arms, please let us know in advance and we’ll be sure to cancel our season tickets. I’m sure Seattle’s MLS club or the Victoria Highlanders will be pleased to have our support.

Johnnie Monster
The Southsiders