eelpie wrote:Dear all

I wondered if anyone is able to help regarding an incident that took place after last night’s game.

As I was walking back after the game to my car (in the Marfleet Lane area) with my wife, we passed a couple of lads (aged around 20) on the intersection of Marfleet Lane, Marfleet Avenue and the walkway towards Craven Park itself. I noticed one of them was wearing last year’s Hull KR home shirt with “Dave 17” on the back, and was holding a stone (about the size of a squash ball, or slightly larger) in his hand, clearly looking a bit suspicious.

Once we had passed the lads by about 20 yards or so, “Dave 17” had followed me and hit me from behind on the jaw with his fist/forearm. I was reeling from this and my wife grabbed his arm and asked him what he had done this for. He said nothing and walked back to where we first saw him.

We hurried back towards the car and, as our backs were turned, he threw the stone at us, which fortunately missed us hitting a nearby container at some speed, before making his way back down the walkway with his mate. This would have caused serious damage had it connected. Once we were sure we were out of harm’s way we were able to drive off – I wasn’t too bad but for a bit of bleeding and swelling, my wife was very shaken up by it all. The incident would appear to have been pre-meditated without provocation with the possible exception of the jersey I was wearing.

We have since discovered that the guy in question also confronted some friends of ours who had also parked nearby and returned to their car about 5 minutes before we did (again identifiable by the "Dave 17" shirt), they were told to "get back to Wigan, you Wigan monkeys" or words to that effect. Fortunately there were more people in this group and they were not subjected to any physical attacks.

The incident has been reported to Humberside Police (contact reference C759 29/06/2009). The guy in question was around 5 foot 6 and of slim build, wearing a baseball cap, however the most identifiable thing about him was the Rovers shirt as mentioned above.

I have been following Wigan and RL in general for the best part of 20 years, and this is the first such incident that has happened to me. This was my fourth visit to Craven Park (including the cup win over Warrington in 2006) and I have always enjoyed the trips over there whether in victory or defeat. I do not wish to drag the name of the Hull KR club through the mud but rather hope that this individual can be identified and action taken against him, for the good of the club and of Rugby League.

Mike Smith, general manager at Hull KR has been informed, and I was most encouraged by his statement that should the offender be identified that he would be banned from Craven Park for life. I would urge anyone with any information to contact either myself, Humberside Police or Mike Smith at Hull KR.

Thanks in advance for your co-operation.

Ste (eelpie)

eelpie wrote:Hi everyone

Thanks to you all for your responses, I understand there is also some discussion on the other Rovers forum.

My opinion has not changed, that the overriding majority of Rovers fans are great people as those who have posted on this thread undoubtedly are. I look forward to many more visits to CP - although admittedly I may reconsider where I park my car in future....

The responses so far are not only consistent with each other, but with my own experiences and those of some friends of mine who were in the area a few minutes previously.

If people can contact the club with their side of the story it will definitely help, or a steward if they see this guy at a game in future.

eelpie wrote:Hi everyone

Thanks to you all for your responses, I understand there is also some discussion on the other Rovers forum.

My opinion has not changed, that the overriding majority of Rovers fans are great people as those who have posted on this thread undoubtedly are. I look forward to many more visits to CP - although admittedly I may reconsider where I park my car in future....The responses so far are not only consistent with each other, but with my own experiences and those of some friends of mine who were in the area a few minutes previously.

If people can contact the club with their side of the story it will definitely help, or a steward if they see this guy at a game in future.

barton baird wrote:This type of incident really saddens me.Unfortunatly every club has these numbskulls.It is a sad reflection on a person when all he seems to want is aggravation against a fellow human being,simply because he is wearing a shirt from another club.What does the berk expect from a person from Wigan or wherever.
I am all for banter and pi$$ taking,but a line has to be drawn somewhere.
I hope the incident hasn`t put off the couple from coming to Hull again.

Chang wrote:We were following this dikhed past soccer sensations and he was having verbals with stewards and rovers fans as well when he was told to cool it, he did not seem to care who he was having a dig at just wanted to have a dig by the look of it.