Red Faction

Imagine what they would be like with Raul Seats and be allowed to stand "properly"

The sounded excellent on the idiot box last night.

I love the passion they have and the display they did prior to the game was top draw.
 
That laughable letter from Sue Watson:

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Boro fans react angrily to 'stay quiet' order

BORO fans have been left speechless after they were handed letters from the club asking them to keep the noise down.
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BORO fans have been left speechless after they were handed letters from the club asking them to keep the noise down.



Fans in the Riverside Stadium’s south-east corner have been told “make as much noise as you like when we score, but this constant noise is driving fans mad”.


With Boro deep in the fight against relegation, this bizarre request could make for a very quiet Riverside - considering the team has not scored a premier league goal for more than eight hours of play.


Fans were so outraged when they were handed the letters before Saturday’s game against Wigan Athletic that many protested by turning their backs on the game.

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A facebook group calling for the resignation of the club’s safety manager Sue Watson had attracted 80 members by 9am this morning.


Today the club insisted it wanted fans to continue backing the team and apologised to anyone it has upset with the letter.



Fan Andrew Leigh, 46, has had a Boro season ticket since the club moved to the Riverside back in 1995, but says he is now having second thoughts about whether to renew his ticket next year.


He is a member of Red Faction - a group of former north stand fans, who approached the club last season about moving en-masse to the South-east corner in order to create a singing area.



Andrew
, from Middlesbrough, said: “Are they going to give us prompt cards to tell us when we can sing and when we can’t?



“You would think that given our current league position, the club would be wanting us to help rally the team and get behind them. This is a working class sport and it’s a passionate sport.


“When we were at Ayresome Park, if you weren’t at the game you used to be able to hear the crowd from the town centre. We need to bring back the Riverside Roar.”


The letter, handed out by stewards before kick-off, says complaints have been received by fans in the block 53a about “persistent standing and the constant banging and noise coming from the back of this stand”.:love:
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Fan Stephen Fenwick, 45, from Middlesbrough, has sat in the block for several years, and says the Red Faction’s decision to move into the block has rejuvenated the atmosphere.


He said: “The lads from Red Faction have come in and the atmosphere has improved so much. It’s made the games so much more enjoyable. They’re just trying to give the team a bit of life.


“It’s commonsense - they aren’t playing well, so surely we want to make more noise and create an atmosphere. If there are people in our block who don’t like the noise, can they not be moved to the west stand?


Another fan, Dom Campbell from Stokesley, said: “There’s only been one goal in nine games so we wouldn’t be making much noise ever would we?


“As fans we’re always being criticised for one thing or another. First it was booing, now it’s cheering on the team.”

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Boro legend Bernie Slaven thought the letter was a hoax when he was handed one at the ground.


“I thought it was a joke,” he said. “Do they want the place to be like a morgue?


“Perhaps the safety stewards should send the players a letter telling them to score.


“I understand totally the safety aspect and how important it is, but the Riverside has been dead and now the fans are making a noise, they are complaining.


“It is clear the fans are frustrated by the lack of goals and this letter is as much of a joke as the fan arrested for sleeping.”


Ex referee and Gazette columnist Jeff Winter thought the letter “unbelievable.”


“Obviously I appreciate the ground regulations and Middlesbrough more than most clubs do try to strictly adhere to them.


“But to suggest to fans not to make a noise is absolutely ludicrous.


“The problem with the Riverside has been a lack of atmosphere and on Saturday, the fans really got behind the team — albeit that the team were unable to capitalise on it.


“For Boro to get out of its current mess we need vocal encouragement from the fans.


“For fans who don’t like noise on Saturday afternoon I suggest they go down the library.”

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Meanwhile readers wrote on gazettelive about their shock and disappointment at receiving letters asking them to be quiet in the South East stand - especially in the light of the team’s recent results.


Boro have won just one league game in their last 16 matches. They have scored only once in the last nine league games. And it has been 495 minutes, or eight hours and 15 minutes, since Boro fans last saw their side score in the league.


Bill76
wrote on the gazettelive Boro forum: “The noise - what some of us call atmosphere should be encouraged.



“I think the fans have been great, despite performances, but this sort of thing will drive more people away.”


Supertony wrote: “The attendances have dropped recently, because the club just is not performing.


“I will support the Boro, and Southgate through thick and thin, but the club is slipping away, the way the fans are now being treated is an absolute farce, we are the lifeblood of this club.”


“Why are the club not taking extreme measures to ensure the Riverside is as packed as possible, and making as much noise as possible? Instead fans are being told to calm down.


“Passion, spirit, and belief is what will keep us in this division, OUR support is needed so much right now.”

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Sanddancer wrote: “They should be encouraging us to make atmosphere, not discouraging it.”


Fan Peter Holton, who wrote about the letter on Gazette Boro columnist Anthony Vickers’ blog, described it as “disgraceful.


He said: “After receiving one of those disgraceful ‘please be quiet and sit down’ letters, I have to ask if it is Boro’s intention to make the place so quiet and boring that hundreds of people will nod off and then the club will be able to have them all arrested and fined.


“The powers that be are turning Middlesbrough FC into a small time charlie, laughing stock club.”

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A Middlesbrough spokesman said: "We want to make it absolutely clear, as Sue says in her letter, that Middlesbrough FC encourages the fans to back the team with passionate and noisy support.



"The fans' backing is absolutely essential and we would never discourage passionate support.


"Sue's letter was a result of a number of fans moving from the North Stand to Block 53a to create a louder atmosphere in that area. Unfortunately, other supporters who have sat in that area for some years have been upset by those new to the block constantly standing and banging on the plastic sheeting at the back of the stand.


"We have been consulting with supporter groups in the area and indeed held a meeting with them on Friday with the aim of achieving the best atmosphere for all fans.


"The letter was designed to ask those fans new to Block 53a to continue to back the team with passion and noise but do have respect for their fellow fans too.


"We do understand the strength of feeling on this issue and we do accept the letter could easily have been misunderstood. We apologise to any supporters who have therefore been understandably annoyed.


"The club's fans have been excellent throughout what has been a difficult season and we are going to need their support and backing throughout the remainder of the season. We thank the fans for their ongoing support of the team."


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[First published October 2018]

Red Faction's 10-year journey from the Riverside naughty step to Middlesbrough matchday pride of place

Boro's self-styled 'ultra' group have gone from being swamped by suspicious stewards to becoming the beating heart of the Riverside

It has been a long road from the Riverside naughty step to pride of place for Middlesbrough’s Red Faction.

This month’s home encounter with Derby County will mark the tenth anniversary of the stalwart supporters’ group.

They will celebrate it with flags and drums, colour and noise and with another set-piece banner unfurled from their now well established singing section in the South Stand, a vibrant, vocal zone that has become the atmospheric heartbeat of the stadium.

It is all a far cry from the dark days when the fledgling Faction was in isolation up in the South East corner, surrounded by a hi-viz army of stoney-faced security briefed to keep their infectious exuberance in quarantine.

Back then the self-styled ‘ultras’ were regarded with suspicion, searched and man-marked and seen as a potential public order problem.

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Red Faction back in their South East corner days (Image: Ian Cooper)

Now they are on first name terms with friendly stewards, meet regularly with club officials, finish off their banners in the concourse and are given a free hand to bring the noise.

James Woodgate has been a dedicated member of the Teesside tifosi for eight years and helped outline the evolution of a group of leather lunged loyalists that it is hard to ignore.

He first took his place in the noisy corner when morale was flatlining at Middlesbrough after relegation from the top flight.

“When I first started with Red Faction the atmosphere at the Riverside was flat, really flat,” recalled James, 23, from Tollesby.

“Gordon Strachan’s era was the lowest I’d ever known and it was just sad. The buzz had died.

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Red Faction's 'We Shall Overcome' display


“I’d first started going as a kid during the glory days of the Premier League and the UEFA Cup nights and noisy sell-out crowds.

“As a kid you don’t know anything different so that was what I expected was normal. That was what I was missing. I was looking for the same kind of excitement of being in a crowd that was really up for it.

“That is where the Red Faction came from, a group of people who all wanted that same thing, who wanted to get back to that kind of amazing feeling at a match and who were willing to do something about it.

“My first game with the group up in that corner was when I was just 15. It was a derby game against Newcastle.

“It was the day of the Trophy Virgin banner. It was brilliant. It was funny. The reaction from Boro fans and the Geordies was incredible. People still talk and laugh about it now.

“From then on it was the only place I wanted to be for a match.”

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Boro fans hold up a banner in a match against Newcastle in 2010 (Image: PA)

The embryonic group was in flux at the time. They had been formed following a split from the more traditional Twe12th Man - themselves still doing more than their fair share at the Riverside and on the road - and there was a period of spiky seclusion and antagonism with other fans as they found their feet.

They were at odds with the club and there was frequent friction with stewards and the top brass. And there were cyber skirmishes too with some supporters cynical at their aims or dismissive - alarmed even - at their styling, scarves over faces and aggressive stances in moody photos.

But from uncertain and sketchy roots Red Faction has grown into a much admired part of the matchday mix, loud and proud and with a strong ethos and a shrewd sense of football theatre. And it wasn’t an easy journey.

“The founding members of Red Faction had been part of the original Twe12th Man group which was formed to generate a bit more atmosphere but they had split away over a difference of opinion over how to go about it,” explained James.


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Celebrating the Carling Cup winning team

“By the time I joined those original guys had moved on and it was a just a group of young lads left with the name, 15, 16, 17 and 18-year-olds who just wanted to go to the game and have fun, create a bit of noise and come away from a match having enjoyed it.

“We wanted to do our bit, to support the team no matter what the result and it was hard at times because in those first few years the Riverside was flat.

“To be honest, I don’t think we really knew what we were doing or where we were going with the group back then but we all knew we wanted to do something, to make something happen.”

James, who works for Middlesbrough Council in the Children's and Adolescents Mental Health Services team, admits it was a tough time.

The group then were viewed as potential trouble by the club top brass and were man-marked by stewards.

There was friction and sanctions, stand-offs and occasional bans for standing and arguing back.

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Moving to the Riverside beat (Image: Peter Reimann)

And there was an ongoing message board war of words with some other sections of supporters, many of who thought they had brought the heavy-handed attention on themselves with their ‘ultra’ iconography and sometimes spiky statements.

“Back then, when we were in the corner, things were strained at times,” he recalled. “We were always surrounded by stewards.

“We got searched. You had to show your ticket five or six times to get to your seat. If you stood up a steward was straight over to make you sit down.

“We were being demonised and treated as if we were one step away from being hooligans and that was hard and very unfair on young lads just wanting to support their team. And we were getting a lot of stick from some other fans too.

“So there was a bit of friction - although maybe we didn’t help ourselves at times with some of the edgy ‘ultra’ stuff.


Highs and lows of Red Faction

February 2009: Fans in the South East Corner are handed letters claiming their "constant noise" is driving other supporters mad

August 2014: There's widespread praise following a banner protesting about Channel 4's Benefits Street being filmed in Stockton

August 2015: Members of the group are handed 'temporary' stadium bans for what the club terms "increasingly inappropriate behaviour"

November 2016: Local hero Stewy Downing praises the South Stand 140th anniversary display, saying the players were taken aback by the atmosphere

February 2017: Red Faction join the new Middlesbrough Supporters Forum - taking a seat on the panel meeting regularly with club representatives




“We were all young and daft, brash and cocky, and maybe there was a bit too much posturing that rubbed people up the wrong way.

“Maybe we were too defensive and didn’t explain ourselves properly on some issues.

“But were are all older now and more mature. We go about things in a better way. We are better organised and more confident.

“And the club now understand who we are and what we are about. They are more relaxed about us now. We are in a good place.”

Middlesbrough v Chelsea in the 5th round of the FA Cup at the Riverside. Fans reaction from the game. The Red faction show their support27/2/13 Pic Doug Moody

Red Faction in 2013 (Image: Doug Moody)

That place is centre-stage in the South Stand and with licence to generate as much noise and colour as they like.

For the start of the 2013-14 season the stadium was reconfigured. Away fans were moved into the East Stand freeing up what had often been empty acres behind the goal in the South Stand. Red Faction were offered the opportunity to move over and create a new kop.

“We jumped at the chance,” gushed James, a former Teesside University journalism student.

“Moving from the corner to the South Stand has been brilliant for us. Things are 100% better.

“We were limited up there. It was a smaller area and we were hemmed in by a seat layout that isn’t ideal for displays.

“Being in the South Stand is far better. It is behind the goal and square on. You have far more visual impact. There is a far bigger space to set things out and far more people can get involved with the display.

“We can do massive displays now. We have moved from strength to strength.”

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Red Faction showed their support for Cyrus Christie after racist abuse online (Image: Katie Lunn)

While Red Faction have steadfastly maintained their independence the move cemented a new spirit of co-operation with the club.

“When we moved, the club said they were ready to trust us but we had to use our common sense and police ourselves. And we’ve done that. We are passionate but we don’t step over the line. We’ve got too much to lose.

“If there’s an issue anywhere in that stand people always point the finger but it has been nothing to do with us. The club know that.

“Everyone has learned to trust each other and work together and that is great because it means we can get on with what we do.

“We meet with Yvonne Ferguson (Boro’s head of supporter services) regularly. We let the club know what we are planning when it comes to displays and they are always happy to work with us.”

And it is the variety and regularity of the ever more eye-catching displays that Red Faction will be best known for.

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Red Faction's Save our Steel banner (Image: Doug Moody)

They have celebrated historic landmarks like Boro’s 140th birthday and have lauded ‘our hero’ Tony Mowbray and the Carling Cup winning team.

They have celebrated the heritage of Teesside as a whole. They have boasted that ‘We Built The World’ and backed the steelworkers when Redcar was dealt a devastating blow.

And they have sent out short, sharp messages to the outside world, such as the rebuke that ‘poverty is not entertainment’ when Benefits Street brought their voyeuristic vehicle to Stockton.

But while Red Faction are not shy in taking a position on big issues, James insists they are not a political grouping.

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Boro fans' group Red Faction protested against Benefits Street

“We have a strong ethos and we are fiercely proud of Boro but we are not overtly political. We are not left or right. We are not party political. We just stand for supporting the team and defending the town.

“I know people say you should ‘keep politics out of football’ but how can you? Football is the working class game. And Teesside is a working class area. There’s no getting away from that.

“We are proud of Middlesbrough, proud of Teesside and we are willing to stand up for what is right.

Boro fans stage anti-racist march

Boro fans, including those from Red Faction, staged an anti-racist march

“For instance, the Benefit Street thing, we just didn’t like seeing the are a being portrayed in a negative light on national television and thought we should say so.

“And we organised an anti-racism march after the Koran ripping at Birmingham. Again, we just thought that was the right thing to do to show that one incident didn’t represent Boro fans.”

The most vivid and memorable marks left by the group though will be in their impressively eye-catching banners.

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Red Faction's display on the last day of the 2014-15 season

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Red Faction's display before the Bournemouth match

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Red Faction's banner against Wolves last season

Sometimes the sheer size is barely believable. Sometimes the art work is complex and intricate. Every time they are hundreds of man hours in the making.

“We put a lot of work into them,” admitted James. “A lot of hours go into the designing and painting and a lot of time and effort go into raising the money.

“And it is all self funded. We have turned down money from the club because we think what we do should always come from the fans.

“Some fan groups have done that - taken money from clubs - and that is their choice but we want to do it ourselves

“We raise the money from selling our merchandise, scarves and badges and stickers, and from crowd sourcing.

“Some of the really big banners like the 140 one we have raised money through Just Giving pages.

“We put some in from our own pocket. Mainly though, Boro fans give us money. It is brilliant when someone gives you a tenner or twenty quid because we hope they represent how all the fans feel. We couldn’t do it without ordinary fans chipping in.”

The artwork has become increasingly sophisticated and ambitious and it seems nothing is beyond their scope or imagination.

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Middlesbrough's Red Faction warming up prior to the Sheffield United match (Image: Focus Images Limited)

“We are getting quite good at them now,” laughed James, as he explained the creative process. “We’ve learnt along the way what works and what doesn’t.

“It’s trial and error. When you look back at photos of the early banners you can see how far we have come.

“There is no set formula. Sometimes we pick a standout game or particular occasion and work towards that and then bounce ideas around as a group and a design will gradually emerge and get tweaked collectively.

“Sometimes someone will get a light bulb moment and suggest an idea that feels right and everyone will just go with it.

“We have a few people who know what they are doing when it comes to design and that helps the process.

“And we are quite well organised now. We have good contacts with suppliers. We know how long things take and cost.

“And the club are really helpful. We tell them what we are planning and they let us use the concourse to lay a banner out and work on it in place which makes things a lot easier for us rather than making it outside and transporting it in.”

Red Faction are a tight knit group with a strong bond that comes through the shared experience of a decade.

But James insists they are not a clique or exclusive and they are open to both new ideas and fresh blood.

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Simple and superb

“It is a great group to be involved with,” he said. “We are a band of brothers. We are like a family, everyone pulls together and helps each other out.

“But we are not exclusive. There was a time when we maybe rounded the wagons a bit but we are far more open now. We want people to get involved. We want to get bigger and stronger. We want to do more and that needs the numbers.

“We’ve got a group of 40 lads now from all over Teesside who really want to make a difference on a matchday.

“And we are a bit more visible outside the ground too. We do charity nights for Teesside Hospice. We have done fund-raising football matches. We have a rep on the Middlesbrough Supporters Forum. We are part of the community.”

For James the Red Faction journey has been a fantastic experience that has deepened his love for the club.

And at the end of the day that is what it comes down to: the club. The football. The matchday buzz.

And there is no doubt when that buzz was most intense. Like many fans he points to promotion as the pinnacle.


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That game, a 1-1 end of term draw that sealed a place in the Premier League for Aitor Karanka’s side was ironically a day when the noise and colour of the Red Faction were not needed, a game when every stand was pulsating with barely contained passion.

“For me the personal highlight has been the Brighton game where we sealed promotion: the atmosphere was incredible,” he recalled.

“The noise and the passion and the intensity from every supporter in every stand was just amazing.

“There was no way Brighton could win that day. It was brilliant.

“For me that shows exactly what Middlesbrough can do. If we are united as a team and a crowd then this club is unstoppable.

“That is the ultimate aim for Red Faction, to bring a bit of that intensity to every game.”
 
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I think they’re great, BUT

the loudest chants of the evening were “come on Boro” snd “Boro Boro Boro”

… as they’re songs that the whole ground joins in with, snd you don’t need a red faction hymn sheet for.

Why do they never start singing any of the traditional songs that have been sung on our terraces for 50 years? This isn’t the Bundesliga
 
I think they’re great, BUT

the loudest chants of the evening were “come on Boro” snd “Boro Boro Boro”

… as they’re songs that the whole ground joins in with, snd you don’t need a red faction hymn sheet for.

Why do they never start singing any of the traditional songs that have been sung on our terraces for 50 years? This isn’t the Bundesliga
They do... it's just 90 minutes of only 'traditional songs' constant would die out after about 10 seconds.
 
Only thing I felt marred them slightly last night was the homophic "town full of rentboys" chant.

It needs phasing out, it was one of their quieter chants so I assume at least some of them were aware of the rightful backlash against the chant across England.
 
Only thing I felt marred them slightly last night was the homophic "town full of rentboys" chant.

It needs phasing out, it was one of their quieter chants so I assume at least some of them were aware of the rightful backlash against the chant across England.
To be fair you can't attribute every chant in the south to red faction, especially when it is fully open.
 
I think they’re great, BUT

the loudest chants of the evening were “come on Boro” snd “Boro Boro Boro”

… as they’re songs that the whole ground joins in with, snd you don’t need a red faction hymn sheet for.

Why do they never start singing any of the traditional songs that have been sung on our terraces for 50 years? This isn’t the Bundesliga
Listen a little more intently next time - or come get a seat in the South Stand(y)
 
Heres a "Greatest Hits" Mix for anyone interested:

[If anyone offended by the one rude word about sky sports - please ignore]
 

She was the one who had tickets removed from Boro fans that had been stopped by sniffer dogs at Leeds. They had their tickets taken off them, and refused entry despite having done nothing. When her name was dragged through the press (again) she offered the Boro fans who had been ill treated two tickets as reparation.
Two tickets to a Leeds match.
The stupid woman is a light as a ragmans balloon.
 
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