1. Good morning,
Wrexham, and happy Sunday.
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2. Rob and Ryan have left town.
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3. It feels much quieter now,
doesn't it?
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4. Very much so.
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5. It's been a rather
remarkable week
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6. with Rob and Ryan in town,
but there was a sour note.
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7. Not only did the team
struggle on the pitch,
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8. but the Torquay match ended
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9. on a desperately
despondent note
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10. due to several acts of
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11. violence from our supporters.
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12. We just
don't want to see this.
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13. This club is getting more
and more high profile.
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14. We've got strong family
values.
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15. We can't have this being
ruined by mindless idiots.
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16. Well, there was
a couple of incidents
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17. that have happened
at the railway station.
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18. One gentleman,
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19. who is actually a Wrexham fan,
stood on the platform.
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20. Witnesses observed
a group of other Wrexham fans
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21. approaching
the railway station.
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22. They engaged in some verbals
with him.
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23. They were
shouting things over to him.
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24. They then come
over this bridge.
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25. On this side of the platform
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26. is where this all
was taking place.
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27. And then out of the 20,
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28. five, six, maybe seven, were
throwing punches towards me.
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29. Every day,
it's a-getting closer
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30. Going faster
than a roller coaster
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31. Love like yours
will surely come my way
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32. A-hey, a-hey-hey
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33. Every day,
it's a-getting faster
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34. Everyone said,
"Go ahead and ask her"
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35. Love like yours
will surely come my way
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36. A-hey, a-hey-hey
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37. Love like yours
will surely come my way
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38. This is what you become
a football fan for—
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39. these sort of occasions.
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40. Your club getting
the opportunity to perform
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41. when the stakes are high.
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42. It's nerve-racking,
but it's exciting.
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43. The teams have come out.
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44. You can hear the noise.
It's a fantastic crowd.
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45. You'll have what people call
"the happy clappers."
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46. - Oh!
- God!
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47. When things are going
really, really wrong,
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48. we'll still clap.
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49. And it's like,
just fuck off.
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50. You have moaning
supporters like me.
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51. The amount of times
I've turned around
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52. to say
"will you shut your mouth"
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53. 'cause I just can't bear it.
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54. Let's go, Wrexham!
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55. You get
incredibly passionate lads.
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56. You're probably right.
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57. You want it all?
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58. Then fight for it
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59. And every club has hooligans.
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60. - Fuck off!
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61. So obviously,
we had heard of hooliganism,
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62. or hooligans,
over the years,
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63. but we didn't really quite
understand what they were
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64. or really what that meant
until now.
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65. The word "hooligan"
popped up in the 1890s
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66. in London, two references
to the name.
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67. One was in a serial comics
publication called "Nuggets"
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68. that depicted an Irish family
living in London
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69. by the name Hooligans.
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70. The other was in
the London newspapers in 1894,
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71. referring to a street gang,
the Hooligan Boys,
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72. that was committing violent
crimes in South London,
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73. including one member
committing murder in 1898.
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74. It's believed
they named themselves
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75. after Patrick Hoolihan,
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76. an Irish criminal
who murdered a police officer.
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77. While hooliganism is global,
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78. it has often been called
the English disease.
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79. Every club has
unsanctioned groups
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80. of hooligan supporters
referred to as firms.
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81. Firms act
as unofficial club enforcers.
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82. They shout at,
pick fights,
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83. and chase down
opposing club supporters.
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84. They've been known
to use things like rocks,
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85. bricks, concrete slabs,
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86. iron bars, and bottles,
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87. as well as knives,
flare guns,
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88. and petrol bottles.
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89. Because of heavy
gun regulation in the UK,
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90. luckily,
there are very few firearms.
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91. But that doesn't mean
it's not brutal
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92. and sometimes deadly.
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93. While hooliganism
has been ever-present,
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94. it rose to popularity
in the '70s and '80s.
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95. The British economy was
reeling as it divested itself
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96. of its empire and felt a
crunch of global recession.
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97. Heavy industry
and blue-collar jobs
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98. were going overseas.
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99. In Wrexham,
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100. coal, steel,
and breweries went away.
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101. Young, bored, disaffected men
turned to violence.
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102. was what one might describe
as a lower working class
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103. council estate.
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104. These seem to be communities
categorized by...
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105. Jesus Christ.
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106. Not the sturdiest
that I've been on for this.
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107. He's all right, yeah.
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108. Yeah, he's a good lad.
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109. You can be honest.
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110. Are you sure?
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111. I grew up in Brymbo
in Wrexham.
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112. It's a little village,
about ten minutes from town,
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113. up in the hills really.
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114. I grew up there with
my mum, dad, and my sister.
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115. It was nice, 'cause
it was quite quiet up there.
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116. There was never any trouble
or anything like that.
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117. I used to have friends
across the road
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118. that we used to play outside.
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119. There was a field down the road
where we used to play football.
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120. I was a bit of a tomboy
back in my day.
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121. But then I turned
into a teenager,
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122. and I went the girly way,
I suppose.
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123. My dad's in a band called
James, and he's the drummer.
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124. They were pretty popular
in America in the '90s,
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125. so when I was younger,
he used to take me on tour,
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126. and festivals, to
recording studios, and stuff.
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127. I wanted to be a tour manager,
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128. I think,
'cause I loved being on tour.
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129. I just wanted to do it forever,
and I knew obviously,
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130. eventually,
Dad won't be touring anymore,
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131. so I just didn't
want it to end.
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132. detective constable
fast-track.
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133. So you just got fast-tracked
to detective.
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134. You didn't have to be—
not a police officer first.
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135. So I thought
I would give it a go.
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136. Didn't think I'd ever
have a chance at getting it.
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137. I just thought
I'd put my name down.
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138. And I got the job.
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139. I couldn't wait.
I was so excited.
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140. Like, I'd watch England
on the sofa
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141. or Wales on the sofa
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142. and put it on
every three or four years,
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143. but I wouldn't travel
on a Tuesday night
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144. to do it in the freezing cold.
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145. I'm just not that excited
about the club.
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146. I'm dating a Wrexham supporter.
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147. He's crazy about Wrexham,
but I just don't understand
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148. how he's so crazy
about a football club.
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149. The police were there, and
they were blocking the fans
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150. from getting to the away fans.
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151. I was sitting my car
waiting for the police to pass
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152. 'cause we couldn't leave the
car park until they'd gone.
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153. And next thing, I just see
Jonny running down the road,
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154. and I just thought,
what an idiot.
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155. But you're banned.
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156. Why?
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157. So you're gonna keep
buying the season ticket
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158. on the off-chance
they're gonna go up?
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159. Yeah.
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160. Come on!
Idiot.
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161. Swung in right
for the great wall.
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162. And it's 1-all.
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163. Fucking hell!
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164. Hooliganism
has been responsible
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165. for some very dark moments
in football.
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166. One of them involved two of
the oldest firms in the world,
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167. Glasgow Celtic
and Glasgow Rangers.
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168. Their rivalry is based
on religious sectarianism
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169. and interregional divide.
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170. Their stadiums are only
seven miles from each other.
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171. The Celtic supports are
primarily Scottish Catholics,
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172. and the Ranger supporters
are Scottish Protestant.
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173. This religious
and interregional divide
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174. was the catalyst for the
1980 Scottish Cup Finals riot
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175. that was seen
by millions on TV
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176. and triggered the ban
of alcohol at Scottish games
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177. moving forward.
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178. Another historically
tragic incident
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179. was on May 29, 1985,
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180. when Liverpool met the Italian
football club, Juventus,
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181. in the European Final
at Heysel Stadium in Belgium.
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182. At the moment,
we don't know.
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183. We're just going on reports
that are coming in.
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184. At about 7:00 p.m.,
before the game even started,
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185. the barrier between
sections X and Z broke down.
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186. Stadium and police forces
were overwhelmed.
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187. Crumbling
insufficient infrastructure
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188. and under-resourced policing
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189. combined with the
worst elements of hooliganism
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190. and produced a tragedy
that saw 39 fans killed
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191. and 600 injured.
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192. It's
the most disgraceful scenes
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193. I've seen
at a soccer game live.
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194. After the 1985
Heysel Stadium disaster,
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195. Prime Minister
Margaret Thatcher
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196. set up a war cabinet
to combat hooliganism.
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197. Parliament subsequently passed
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198. the Football Spectators Act
of 1989
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199. and the Football Disorder Act
of 2000.
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200. Laws such as these
have helped,
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201. but wherever you find
young men with time,
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202. poor economic prospects,
and a love of football,
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203. you'll find hooliganism,
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204. which is why you find a heavy
police presence at every match
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205. and entire sections
of empty seats
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206. that separate opposing fans.
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207. But even that
can't stop everything.
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208. And after two years
of a pandemic
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209. and economic uncertainty,
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210. the question is,
will it make a comeback?
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211. Would I say it's
on the rise again? Possibly.
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212. These days,
most incidents tend to occur
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213. at prearranged locations
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214. as opposed
to the matches themselves.
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215. They are preplanned.
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216. I think a lot of the
issues that we tend to get,
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217. at Wrexham,
at this level,
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218. is what we call
spontaneous disorder.
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219. So initially,
we had bottles and coins
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220. coming from this area,
so here to here.
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221. And then, when Torquay scored
their goal late in the game,
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222. we also had some bottles
and drinks thrown
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223. from this section, so
above them in this area here.
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224. As soon as we have identified
all the individuals,
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225. the club will be
issuing interim bans
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226. and revoking
any season tickets
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227. pending an investigation
by the police.
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228. We were not
made aware of that
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229. until after we had gotten back
to the States.
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230. And obviously
that's not something
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231. we would ever condone
or tolerate,
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232. and we took
the necessary actions.
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233. It was just a shame
that it happened.
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234. I think
it's highly regrettable
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235. that
a very small minority of fans
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236. resort to the types of behavior
that are driven by—
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237. you know,
are driven by emotion,
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238. and some acts of lawlessness,
really.
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239. Of course, pre-COVID
and pre-takeover,
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240. our crowds here at Wrexham
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241. were somewhere between
3,000 and 5,000
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242. depending on how the team
was performing on the pitch.
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243. Now that we do have
these new high-profile owners,
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244. the crowd has
pretty much doubled.
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245. You know, so we're just
under 10,000 week in, week out,
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246. which is fantastic to see,
great for the club,
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247. but unfortunately, you know,
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248. that element of people
who wanna cause problems
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249. seems to have also
been attracted with it.
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250. Let's keep that going.
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251. Let's not spoil it.
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252. There's no place
for violence anywhere.
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253. Bread, if you want it.
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254. How long will this take?
10 minutes.
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255. I don't see what
the fascination is with it.
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256. Why would you want to get hurt?
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257. And why would you want to hurt
someone else over football?
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258. I don't understand.
I don't get it at all.
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259. Yeah.
- What were you thinking?
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260. Yeah.
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261. It affects
the relationship because
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262. we're arguing about it,
he's lying to me.
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263. I'm always checking up on him
when he's there
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264. 'cause I'm thinking,
what's he doing?
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265. I don't—which ones—
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266. I just hope
he'll start behaving himself
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267. when his ban's lifted
so we can be
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268. a bit more
of a normal couple.
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269. Well, there you go, guys.
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270. Oh,
thank you very much.
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271. Well, it wasn't just me.
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272. It was Steph as well, really.
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273. - I helped her.
- Oh, thank you.
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274. They don't want to change.
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275. If they're only changing
for you,
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276. then they're never
gonna properly change.
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277. They need to want
to change themselves, I think,
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278. or do it for themselves.
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279. If he's like,
"Oh, I'll change.
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280. If we had a kid,
I'd be different."
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281. Well, I'm not taking the chance
to have a child
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282. just on the off-chance
you might change.
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283. Yeah, I'm looking to do
a career change myself
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284. to go into the police.
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285. I got offered the job
as a detective.
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286. And it was hard work.
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287. There were so many tests
and interviews.
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288. And I didn't think
I'd ever get the job.
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289. And I got the job.
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290. I can't carry on like this.
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291. I just don't want a boyfriend
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292. that's getting in trouble
with the police,
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293. and I just find it
embarrassing.
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294. I genuinely don't think
he ever thinks I'll leave.
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295. If he gets in trouble
with the police again,
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296. then that will—
that'll be—that'll be it.
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297. We'll win games.
We'll lose games.
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298. I understand those
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299. absolutely heartbreaking rules
of football.
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300. But the real battle here
is not on the pitch.
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301. It's in the town.
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302. We pride ourselves here
on welcoming visitors,
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303. um, and people coming here
having good—
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304. great experience
at the town center,
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305. good experience at the ground,
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306. you know, win or lose,
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307. shake hands at the end
and you carry on, you know?
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308. And if we're unable
to improve things
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309. for the people of Wrexham,
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310. if we're unable to inspire
them to a better future,
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311. that's a real loss
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312. 'cause that's a human loss.
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313. And it could be felt
for generations.
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314. You don't get
another chance at it
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315. next Saturday or next Tuesday.
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316. Here they come,
the mighty champions
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317. Raise your voices
to the anthem
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318. Marching like
a mighty army
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319. Wrexham is the name
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320. Fearless in devotion
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321. Fight, fight!
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322. Rising to promotion
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323. Fight, fight!
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