Sunderland supporters unfairly banned by their club have launched a petition appealing to chairman Niall Quinn to overturn the club’s policy on suspending potentially innocent fans.
The principal aims of the petition are:
- To respectfully request that Sunderland Association Football Club, through Chairman Niall Quinn, re-examines and repeals the club's unfair policy on banning "any supporter who has been arrested on suspicion of involvement in football related disorder, either at, on the way to or returning from any fixture involving SAFC".
- For Sunderland Football Club to reserve any action on implementing supporter bans until such a time that fans accused of football-related disorder have been given the opportunity to prove their innocence in a court of law through the fair and proper legal process.
- To establish the principle that football supporters, like other members of society, are innocent until proven guilty.
- For Niall Quinn, a man greatly respected in football for having the best interests of supporters at heart, to listen to Sunderland fans on this issue and take action to remedy the situation.
- To enforce point seven of SAFC's own Terms and Conditions, issued with Season Cards, which states that only card holders "found guilty" of acting in a manner the Club considers detrimental to the Club's interests "will have their season card confiscated and be banned from attending future games involving Sunderland AFC.”
- Given that regulation seven has been improperly applied, regulation eight (“No refunds will be issued for season cards under any circumstances”) should not be valid and all fans banned under this policy should be immediately refunded in full for any games missed.
This petition has been created following an approach to the Football Supporters' Federation by a group of Sunderland fans arrested, but not charged, for their involvement at an incident that took place at Newcastle Central Station on 8th August between supporters returning from the Hearts pre-season friendly and Northumbria Police.
These supporters have continually maintained that they are innocent of any crime and were shocked and outraged to receive notice that they have been banned from attending games at the Stadium of Light around 28th November, nearly three months after the event.
This is despite the fact that not one person has been charged with any offence and that Sunderland’s own safety officer, Paul Weir, has admitted to fans that many will see no further action from Northumbria Police.
A spokesperson for the group, who does not want to be named while the criminal investigation is ongoing, said:
“Please listen Niall: ever since you came to our club you have shown a level of respect and understanding towards fans that is unmatched by any player or chairman in this country.
“Many of us caught up in the Central Station incident have repeatedly protested our innocence – we are teachers and civil servants, medics and office workers, all of us committed Sunderland fans. We are not hooligans.
“We understand that we have a fight on our hands to clear our names with Northumbria Police, but we neither expect nor wish to fight Sunderland Football Club as well.
“When you took over as Chairman you asked the fans to put the past actions of the club behind us and back what you were trying to do, and we did. Now we ask you in that same spirit, give us the chance to clear our names before you turn your back on us.
“We have supported the team through the bad times and the Club has no right to find us guilty until proven innocent and to ban us, without refund or right of appeal, now that things are starting to go well on the field.
“Whoever is in charge, Sunderland Football Club belongs first and foremost to us, the fans, and we urge all Sunderland supporters, and concerned fans of other clubs, to sign our petition – next time, it could be you.
“The petition respectfully requests our Chairman, Niall Quinn, to overturn this unfair club policy and reinstate all fans pending the result of proper legal action.”
Dr Malcolm Clarke, Chair of the Football Supporters’ Federation, and a Stoke City fan, added:
“We are seeing more and more clubs treating fans in this way, receive similar complaints from supporters up and down the country and are delighted that these Sunderland supporters are prepared to take a stand. We will help them in whatever ways we can.
“I have little doubt that the protest will attract the support and solidarity of fans the length and breadth of the country, many of whom suffer exactly the same problems at their own clubs.
“We sincerely hope Mr Quinn will listen to his team’s supporters on this issue. Sunderland’s Chairman has an excellent reputation as a man who truly values his team’s supporters. If he can’t see that this policy is deplorable then we might as well all just give up and go home.”
This petition is organised by the Football Supporters' Federation and supported by:
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