LOCKED OUT OR LOCKED IN; WITH AND WITHOUT A KEY

We were locked out of our Walking Football pitch today. A small and unperfectly formed bunch of chaps and a young girl along with her dad, rocked up at 4pm but there was no key to unlock the astro. Did anyone consider playing on the little recreation area next to the ground? I think it was a bit humid, warm and perhaps a day off wouldn't go amiss; looking for excuses, surely not?

In January 2015 the away end at Kingfield the home of Woking FC in the Conference was put under unnecessary pressure. It could only hold 1,800 Bristol Rovers fans but Rovers had just come from the Football League and hence had a large following making the journey along the M4. Woking appeared unprepared for the onslaught and so hundreds of away fans were locked out of the Chris Lane Terrace. Result? No bad behaviour, some fed up Pirates but it was a 0-0 draw....so not much missed. Woking did make a public apology.

Salisbury City in 2014, Hull City FC in 2000 and Hull United AFC (2015) have all had rental disagreements with their ground owners in recent years and so have not been allowed to use the stadium until new arrangements have been made and debts paid. Coventry City experienced a similar lock out of the Ricoh, over their failure to pay ACL, the stadium owners, appropriate rent. We know what happened to them in 2013.

On a positive note, in 1917, the Munitionettes were women who worked in the armament factories and in the north-east of England and Ladies Football teams were playing cup matches, when due to the war, little serious football was played. So many were eager to see the spectacle that hundreds of "voyeurs" were locked out of the grounds. Bella Raey was a super star who made her name during this period.
http://baileyfootballblog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/bella-centre-forward.html

Dick Kerr introduced his Ladies team  (see below) that toured the country giving exhibition matches in the 1920s. On Boxing Day 1920, 54,000 went to Goodison to see the Ladies play and needless to say many were disappointed as the gates closed at capacity, leaving many chomping at the bit outside.

Alternatively the referee at a Turkish League game, Cagatay Sahan, failed to give Trabzonspor a penalty awhen the score was 2-2 at the end of an important match against rivals Gazientespor. He was encouraged by the police to stay in his changing room and not come out until it was safe. He stayed there for several hours until the trouble died down.

I have also been part of a fairly serious team that was kept by its manager in the away changing room for "too long" as he let his feelings felt about our performance on the pitch that afternoon. I know who felt better afterwards! The local caretaker wanted to clean it but couldn't get in.