Beginner First time I've been chucked out of the outside of a football ground

Ramalama

Ramalama

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I've been posting on a message board of my local Championship Club a while now and be fore this season started I thought it would be good to do a stadium guide of the matches coming up, along with a bit of video of the outside of the ground beforehand, and then a few pics of inside the stadium, panoramics etc., before the teams came out, to add in after we've played there.
OK so far so good, My job takes me all over the country, and so far I've done about 10 Championship grounds with no problems, and I started thinking that I'd expand it at some point to all the stadiums, and when I had, say fifty per cent of grounds covered, I'd put them into some kind of website.
So with that in mind, I've been working in Southampton today and thought I'd go round to St Mary's and do a few wide angle photos and a bit of video, time lapses of the outside of the stadium. Obviously with a DSLR and video a tripod is needed so I was carting that round firing off some shots when someone from security came over to me and asked what I was filming for. I explained what I was doing and she told me that if I didn't have prior permission from their media office I wasn't allowed to do any filming outside the ground.
I'd never expected this so my reaction was to laugh at her and tell her she was being ridiculous, but she was adamant that I wasn't allowed to film outside the ground, so I picked up my tripod and camera and left.
To me that seems a totally over the top attitude, are football clubs really that precious?
 
Ramalama said:
I
To me that seems a totally over the top attitude, are football clubs really that precious?
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lets tar them all with the same brush eh.. you did 10 no problem and one a problem but decide to ask if football clubs are that precious? you didn't ask if football clubs are OK and welcoming from the 10 you did..

perhaps you meant to ask. are southampton football club that precious? well it would seem so :)
 
Their was a bit on channel 4 news the other day about certain Prem clubs,banning reporter from their grounds,if they asked any sort of awkward question,and acting a bit like bully :(
 
Did you get in touch with any of the clubs before shooting? Whilst legally not obliged to if you were shooting from public land (I believe?), I would have out of courtesy. From my experience clubs just want to know what the hell you're doing and where the pics are going. If you were on private land at Southampton they have every right to ask you to leave. If you had contacted the media office and showed them what you were doing, they might have allowed you access, either way even if they said no, you'd have got the same reaction as just turning up.

If I were you I'd just give the media office a call or email before you go to give them a heads up. If your pics are any good there is a slim chance they might want to buy one too! :-)
 
Because a lot of football clubs are very protective over their 'brand'. Whether you or I understand that or agree, what's the point in 'laughing' at a security guard? The average person with a camera phone will take a pic on a game day or whatever, but you were there with professional (tripod, non consumer grade camera at least) equipment, so I'm not surprised they asked you what you were doing. Try going up to any high street shop or someones house and filming their front window, I reckon a few would come out and ask what you were doing. :-)

I agree with you that some clubs go too far, but when a damaging article in a newspaper or on a website can potentially cost a lot of money to a club I can understand they want to regulate their media output.

Were you on private land when you were shooting?
 
Ramalama said:
:) The question could have been 'are all Prem clubs that precious', 10 Championship clubs no problem, first Prem club and kicked off site. :coat:
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Its still just one club no matter what division :) and lets face it.. southampton have the worse possible history of any club when it comes to photogrpahers..

Just GOOGLE this -- "southampton ban photographers"
 
Ramalama said:
I've been posting on a message board of my local Championship Club a while now and be fore this season started I thought it would be good to do a stadium guide of the matches coming up, along with a bit of video of the outside of the ground beforehand, and then a few pics of inside the stadium, panoramics etc., before the teams came out, to add in after we've played there.
OK so far so good, My job takes me all over the country, and so far I've done about 10 Championship grounds with no problems, and I started thinking that I'd expand it at some point to all the stadiums, and when I had, say fifty per cent of grounds covered, I'd put them into some kind of website.
So with that in mind, I've been working in Southampton today and thought I'd go round to St Mary's and do a few wide angle photos and a bit of video, time lapses of the outside of the stadium. Obviously with a DSLR and video a tripod is needed so I was carting that round firing off some shots when someone from security came over to me and asked what I was filming for. I explained what I was doing and she told me that if I didn't have prior permission from their media office I wasn't allowed to do any filming outside the ground.
I'd never expected this so my reaction was to laugh at her and tell her she was being ridiculous, but she was adamant that I wasn't allowed to film outside the ground, so I picked up my tripod and camera and left.
To me that seems a totally over the top attitude, are football clubs really that precious?
Click to expand...

If you were on public land then they can't stop you taking pictures/video - If you were on their land (car park etc.) then they are perfectly entitled to tell you to 'GET OFF OUR LAND'
 
If you go anywhere near most footy grounds (or pretty much any other large building or institution) with a 'proper' camera and a tripod, it's only going to be a matter of time before you get challenged by a steward or security. A fact of life nowadays, I'm afraid. Most security staff are going to take the view that it's safer for them to say 'no' and get you off their particular patch asap.
Even if you think the law's on your side and you're not actually getting in anyone's way, you're on a hiding to nothing arguing with someone in a hi-vis jacket. Smile politely, apologise and move on IMHO...
 
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