The militant reputation that precedes Clapton CFC fans caused Brentford security to sweat
~ Yann Dey-Helle, from Dialectik Football ~
On September 29, the Clapton CFC women’s team – which plays in the 6th tier – travelled to Brentford for a championship match. The players had the honour of playing at the Gtech Community Stadium, a modern venue accustomed to the matches of the Brentford FC men’s professional team… and the ‘safety’ standards that go with it.
Clapton fans are in no rush to see their team reach the Premier League one day. The women’s team gave them a taste of the stewards’ zeal and the security rigidity that reigns in these stadiums, particularly in terms of banners, flags, and other classic entertainment equipment such as drums. The Brigata Ultra’ Clapton was thus expelled from the stadium before the start of the match. The reason? Banners that contravened, according to the club’s security, the rules in force prohibiting “offensive” content.
The ultra collective explains that they had contacted Brentford FC in advance and complied with their demands. Things started to go wrong as soon as they were searched at the entrance, as Brigata Ultra’ Clapton recounts: “We were immediately told that it was impossible to bring our banners inside, because only Brentford banners were allowed. […] The situation turned to the limit of the absurd when we were told that the banner Another Football is Possible was not allowed because it could have “multiple interpretations”, including an “offensive meaning”.
“You treat the fans like shit”
After a period of negotiation, Brentford FC’s services had initially only banned a flag denouncing police brutality and a banner “Truth for Denis”, dedicated to Denis Bergamini, a Cosenza footballer who died 35 years ago. Reason for refusal: Denis was a man, and it was a women’s match. It was finally a banner in tribute to Federico Aldrovandi, killed by the police in Italy in September 2005, which would cause their exclusion from the stadium. After authorising it, Brentford FC considered that Aldro’s face was a “political” message.
The militant reputation that precedes Clapton CFC fans has caused Brentford security to sweat. The exclusion of Brigata Ultra’ Clapton did not prevent a section of the other supporters from briefly displaying two banners inside the stadium reading “Love CCFC, Love Gaza”, in support of the Palestinian people. Security quickly intervened to have them removed. The Clapton Punks denounced this climate with a word for Brentford: “you may have a fancy and beautiful stadium, but you treat the fans like shit”.
This trip to the southwest of the capital will not leave an unforgettable memory for CCFC supporters. Those who were able to attend the match still left their mark by singing from the first to the last minute, despite their team’s 7-0 defeat. A confrontation with the absurd security reality of modern football that will make Brigata Ultra Clapton say: “Another football is possible. But not at Brentford!”. It is being built far, very far from the sanitised stadiums where even freedom of expression is a chimera.
