Woman ‘scared’ by Millwall fans shouting abuse, making sexual comments and smashing up train

A woman says she has been left ‘scared’ by Millwall fans who were shouting abuse, making sexual comments and smashing up a train.

After claiming that she was attacked by football fans, the female, who wants to stay anonymous, was left upset by the ordeal the played out over the weekend.

The incident came after Cardiff fell to a 1-0 Championship defeat against Millwall with their supporters alleged to have chucked stones at her and made sexual remarks.

The woman spoke out to WalesOnline, saying it occurred just before she boarded the 6.22pm Great Western Railway train from Cardiff Central to London Paddington.

“I got on the train platform and immediately saw what a busy platform it was with so many Millwall fans and lots of police officers,” she said to the news outlet. “I walked as far away as possible, waited for the train to arrive, and I got on the furthest-away carriage.”

Woman left ‘scared’ by football fans shouting abuse, smashing glass and ‘trashing’ train from Cardiffhttps://t.co/LBnAxuCaUK pic.twitter.com/SVITQCzqLP

— WalesOnline 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 (@WalesOnline) January 26, 2023

She claimed that while standing on the platform, one person shouted “show us your t*ts” at her and adds that when she got on the train, a member of staff approached her with a warning that a lot of football fans were on board, with police officers already on the train itself.

“They were doing all this stuff in the carriage, shouting ‘MILL’ every time,” she goes on to say. “Two of them came looking for the toilet but couldn’t find one so were knocking on the manager’s door shouting ‘what the f***’ and that sort of stuff.”

The woman, who was at the match as a neutral football fan, claimed that whilst on route, she saw fans smashing glass against the windows and jumping on tables and thought a number of them were visibly drunk, smelled of alcohol, and trashed the train with bottles and cans.

She said she also spoke to another fellow passenger who went down towards the end of the train crying, leaving her luggage behind after feeling intimidated and could getting it back until a member of staff retrieved it at Paddington. She told the female footie fan  that she had been pressured into moving from her pre-booked seat and “harassed” by Millwall fans.

One fan is said to have grabbed her and said “come sit on my lap”.

The woman claimed the train was “trashed” by the end of the journey to London, adding: “We were the last people to come off. As we were walking towards the Tube, you could see literally the entire train filled with bottles and rubbish everywhere.

“Obviously it makes you feel scared. It makes you feel not very protected, that even though they bring police on, there’s still that extent and that amount of violence and misogyny happening.”

“As a football fan, it just makes me feel quite upset that these are people who can ruin the sport and become what’s associated with football fans. The violence around games… as a woman it makes it feel like it’s not an environment for me. I have friends who are like ‘ugh, why do you go to football if it’s like that?’ But it’s not just that. I’ve been on trains with football supporters when I’ve gone to away games and this was much worse.

“Had something happened when we were in the middle of the train track, if they had become violent, I don’t know what the police would have done.

“I really think there’s a health and safety issue beyond them being horrible and make people cry, which was an issue in itself.”

Millwall at Cardiff City today #MILLWALL pic.twitter.com/PvhLFc8EzH

— FootballAwaydays (@Awaydays23) January 21, 2023

A spokesperson for Great Western Railway said: “We are concerned about the reports of football fans’ behaviour experienced by some of our customers on this train and have been in touch with the BTP to understand and assist them with any investigation.

“We would like to apologise to any customers who may have been caught up in this incident.”

A British Transport Police spokesperson said: “There is absolutely no place for football related anti-social behaviour on the railway network, and we take a zero tolerance approach to sexual harassment.

“Officers are now investigating what happened, which will include viewing CCTV footage, to establish exactly what happened.

“We would always encourage anyone who witnesses this type of behaviour to report it to an officer on their train or text us discreetly on 61016.

“We will always take you seriously.”

WalesOnline have got in contact with Millwall FC to make a comment on this matter.

Founded in May 2021, HerGameToo is a voluntary organisation ran by female football fans; who are committed to growing the campaign with the aim of fostering an ethos in football in which women are welcomed and respected equally. Alongside working full-time in their day jobs, the team dedicate their hours around this to support the progression of HerGameToo.

Here at HerGameToo, we see the value in everyone. We strive to be a catalyst for positive change and we are driven by the same ideas we initially founded our Non-Profit Organization upon: support, empowerment, and progress.

THEIR AIMS:

– Create awareness

– Educate

– Research

– Develop a strong sense of community

– Create regular content to champion women in football (players, staff AND fans)

– Create strong relationships with clubs

– Create strong relationships with club trusts and communities

– Have a presence at football grounds and sports bars to build a more welcoming environment for young girls and women

– Continue to campaign against sexism in football

– Continue to campaign against online abuse

#HerGameToo pic.twitter.com/tYPBJmuNQP

— Her Game Too (@HerGameToo) May 15, 2021

Within 24 hours, the above video had over one million views and received support from big names.

One of the first things the women did after the video had circulated was set up a survey to get the experiences of others.

They received almost 400 responses. A staggering 90% of the women surveyed had seen sexist abuse towards a woman in football online and over 60% had experienced it themselves.

The women decided that one of the next key steps was to get a reporting system in place. Female fans needed somewhere they could go with their experiences, somewhere they could trust it would be taken seriously and followed up.

So, they began approaching clubs about partnerships, advocating for reporting systems and ensuring the campaign has a presence in football stadiums.

The campaign now has a reporting system on their website where incidents of sexism at football can be raised: https://www.hergametoo.co.uk/report