What follows are notes taken during a June 29 meeting held at the Fidelity Investments Clubhouse at Gillette Stadium, wherein supporters of the New England Revolution discussed grievances with representatives from the club, league and security regarding incidents surrounding the June 18 home fixture against the Chicago Fire.The meeting was called after supporters addressed concerns with alleged heavy-handedness by Gillette Stadium’s security team, TeamOps, and officers of the Foxboro Police Department. The confrontation is rooted in TeamOps crackdown on profanity per club orders, particularly the “you suck, ***hole” chant uttered in unison during goal kicks taken by the opposing team’s goalkeeper.In the days following the game, a clear fallout between supporters and the club transpired online, with many complaints from affected fans being voiced on the Revolution’s Facebook wall.The author of these notes, Nathan Gower, takes sole responsibility of any and all claims made hereafter. Voice recorders were not permitted and thus all statements come from mental notes and fairly extensive written transcriptions of the meeting.If any named party feels misrepresented, blame no one but Nathan Gower. He in no way represents the club, the supporters groups, season-ticket holders, security, the press or the league. Hold no other party accountable for this document than him.He has tried to remain as factual as possible and has attempted to curb a bias that could stem from his status as a supporter of the New England Revolution.Direct quotes are in parentheses. All other statements are recounted from the aforementioned notes.If one feels misrepresented, Nathan Gower can be reached by e-mail at ngower@gmail.com The meeting opened with a brief statement from Chief Operating Officer Brian Bilello about why the meeting was taking place before a five-person panel on which he sat introduced themselves. In addition to the COO, the panel consisted of Major League Soccer’s Senior Director of Operations Evan Dabby, Revolution Director of Marketing and Supporters’ Liaison Cathal Conlon, TeamOps Director of Operations Kelly Way and Administrative Sergeant of the Foxborough Police Department Allan Haskell.Media representatives Frank Dell’Apa of the Boston Globe and Kyle McCarthy of the Boston Herald, along with a handful of independent Revs bloggers, were present.After each party introduced themselves, Bilello took the floor. He said that he “recognizes [Revs games are an] adult environment,” emphasizing the needlessness of the profanity in chants.Daniel Pievesky was the first supporter to respond, putting fault on the team for failing to communicate more effectively the undesirability of profane chants. He believes the team skipped several steps between alerting supporters’ groups of the club’s intolerance of “you suck ***hole” and the security crackdown that took place on June 18. While he acknowledged the presence of the joint-document drafted by the Midnight Riders and Rebellion, he made it known that this was not enough of a step before ejections or arrests would be made. He felt the Revolution should have been more communicable and gave fair warning that if the chant was done again, it would result in ejections.Adding to Pievsky’s statements, Rebellion leader Brendan Schimmel felt it unfair that it be the sole responsibility of supporters’ groups to police the Fort, which is a general admission section.Bilello, who was the most vocal of the five representatives throughout the meeting, seemed to be in some agreement on these two points.One supporter criticized the organization for failing to advertise this meeting more effectively, claiming had she not had friends in supporters groups, she likely would not have been aware the meeting was taking place.When questions reverted to the supporters, one person asked for a rundown of the incident from TeamOps perspective. According to Kelly Way, there was one complaint issued by a season ticket holder outside the Fort in the first half. Way then dispatched TeamOps members at the concourse above the Fort into the section to monitor the situation. During halftime, she spoke with Cathal Conlon, who asked to speak with the supporters prior to TeamOps taking action. She noted subsequent complaints came in the second half per the stadium’s text-message complaint system.Conlon believed he had two options: he could negotiate with supporters or TeamOps could eject supporters. He felt his attempt to negotiate escalated the situation.Brendan Schimmel again took the floor, this time addressing difficulties with “outsiders,” or fans that have neither membership with supporters groups or season tickets, as a consistent player in the history of negative relations with security and the Fort. He claimed these fans, who he acknowledged as attending at most a handful of games a year, are the responsible party for many of the club’s issues regarding June 18. Haskell did say, in response, that members of the Fort are generally helpful in pointing out cases of underage drinking, smoke bombs, and smuggling alcohol for example. He highlighted Pievsky’s comments on a lack of communication with supporters outside organized groups or the Fort, some of whom would later come forth and reemphasize this point, as significant. He added that two months is not enough time to eliminate a chant that has existed for years.Suggestions were made by other supporters to send e-mails to season ticket holders, place fliers in cup holders and utilize the scoreboards/monitors at each end of the stadium.A female member of Rev Army believed, “TeamOps are trying to kill a sparrow with a cannon,” citing previous mistreatment by TeamOps. She noted a “palpable presence” of TeamOps throughout her history as a supporter, calling TeamOps tactics intimidatory. She recalled one incident when three people, including herself, were surrounded by five TeamOps officials and three police officers.Regarding this complaint, Kelly Way said that TeamOps staff are dispatched in tandems, which may have been why she seemed “surrounded.” Way further stated that the tandem dispatch is standard operating procedure by TeamOps at all events.Brendan Schimmel told of a personal complaint with TeamOps on June 18 that took place after the game. While waiting to ensure the flags were picked up by a representative from the stadium, he said he was treated with disrespect by a member of TeamOps who was not receptive to his claim that he was there to wait for the flags to be picked up. He then spoke of his experience with the military, understanding the difficulties that come with crowd control, understanding that it is “not fun.” He spoke of communication he has had with people from other security groups who view TeamOps in a negative light, and that they “don’t have a customer service mindset, but an intimidation mindset.”In response, Kelly Way said, “We do a lot of things right, but we don’t do everything right.”At this point, a season ticket holder who does not sit in the Fort and is not a member of any supporters group complained about inconsistent standards. She said the excitement of the Fort is what encouraged her to convert to a season ticket holder after having purchased multiple four-game packages. She says she witnessed the “you suck asshole” chant used by individuals in “the morgue,” a term used to reference fans outside the Fort, but did not witness any enforcement against those responsible for using it. She believed there was a “lack of communication” to people outside the Fort and believes the enforcement against profanity was specifically directed at the Fort. Furthermore, she called for “fair and consistent communication” outside the Fort in the future, considering she had received no communication from the club in this specific instance.Brian Bilello admitted he and Cathal Conlon should have sent an e-mail to all season ticket holders within the Fort, but also said that there had been no complaints made from the woman’s section, which would explain the inaction on security’s end.Kelly Way, in response to the allegations of inconsistent standards at other events held at Gillette, said that Patriots games are more stringently enforced than Revs games.Brian Bilello did place some fault on the supporters, believing they had not done all they could to communicate the undesirability of “you suck ***hole.” In response to Bilello’s accusation that the supporters “did not do enough,” Brendan Schimmel said it “is not our job, we’re not on the payroll.” Midnight Riders president Fran Harrington also chimed in, citing the many ways he and Brendan worked together to get the word to their respective groups and that, “we did about all we could.”At this point, a season ticket holder expressed that even if the supporters groups had done all they could, he still would not have received the message. He is not a member of either group and said that “the only people who have my name, my address, and my e-mail are you guys,” referencing the New England Revolution. He later told of his history of attending games in stadiums throughout Europe for nearly twenty-five years, many in his home country of Germany, and said the mentality of security towards Revs fans is more aggressive than in those countries, where the fans are far more violent. He said that as soon as police intervene in a situation, it escalates, and that TeamOps have a history of escalating situations with Revolution supporters.Seeing the trend in finger-pointing, Bilello reiterated that he and Conlon could have done more to communicate to a wider base than just the supporters groups. He wants a “culture of cooperation.”Midnight Rider Garrett Quinn then asked Way and Haskell if they “understood soccer supporters’ culture” and if there were any specific training programs in place on how to deal with them?Way said that she and TeamOps approach soccer as they do every other event, “we want people to have a good time” and that until complaints are made about behavior that “impacts one’s ability to have fun,” they are generally lenient. When the question was reiterated by Quinn, Way said that she “recognizes support [in the Fort] is louder than the rest of the stadium.”Rev Army member Nora Murphy shared a story of her being accidentally pushed from behind by a supporter and grabbing the shirt of a TeamOps staff member to catch her fall, but upon doing so was threatened with arrest. The staff member was in the area in response to a report, but was not responding to anything Murphy was involved in. She said there is a history of “guilt by association” for anyone around an reported incident area.In regards to the claims of inconsistency in standards, Bilello responded that there are standards, but there is a line between what can and cannot be realistically put into place. The club and security try to treat the Fort as equals, but cited instances where they have gone out of their way to encourage the Fort is treated with respect, namely in consistent staffing of learned TeamOps staff in front of the Fort so that newer staff members are not thrown into a unique and difficult situation to control.In response, a supporter said that the organization needs to let everyone know where the line is and not employ certain people, i.e. supporters groups, with the task of communicating these standards.Bilello again stated that the organization could have better communicated the message to people outside the Fort. He avoided the question of why June 18 was so heavily enforced in relation to the rest of the season.Midnight Rider Sarah Smith cited instances of TeamOps escalating rather than deescalating situations through the years. She referenced past cases of harsh language in fans’ native tongues being used by supporters of foreign clubs and countries during friendlies, or when players from their home countries draw support during league play. She was told by TeamOps that they were unable to enforce because, as she said TeamOps told her, “they don’t speak English.” She added a story of an instance when she was accosted of being drunk and disorderly, despite claiming sobriety.Rebellion member Ruben Paz asked Haskell if the officer who was recorded using profanity at a supporter who had been arrested or taken into protective custody was reprimanded? Haskell responded that he had been, citing his actions as “indefensible and unprofessional.” When asked if that officer’s name or the nature of his reprimand were public record, the sergeant said no. Paz then asked Way if an apology would be issued to Monty Rodrigues, who was on the capo stand for the second half when the majority of the commotion took place. Her one-word response was “no.”Bilello then spoke again, saying he wants “leadership from the Fort” to the rest of the stadium.In response, Brendan Schimmel again claimed inconsistency. He addressed Midnight Rider Nathan Gower’s point that one week, as traveling fans to Red Bull Arena, the supporters were praised by the club, but the following week they were reprimanded for the same actions. He praised Red Bull Arena’s security for how they handled supporters that day, citing soccer-specific training. Schimmel furthered his frustration by saying that despite being a leader of a supporters group, he really has no sway within the Fort on game day. He claimed he holds no visual recognition that he is leader of the Rebellion, and referenced his earlier story regarding flags. He reiterated that putting the responsibility of policing the Fort on leaders of the supporters groups was unfair. He said that in the stands, the leaders look no different than any other. He called for “clear and consistent guidelines” that would be communicated in as many forms as possible by the club.Nathan Gower cited a personal instance in response to Bilello’s earlier claim that if an incident goes unreported, TeamOps can do nothing to enforce against it. He said that he spoke directly with Cathal Conlon during the game and with Sunil Gulati and Brian Bilello through e-mail after the game regarding homophobic chants in the Fort. He claims that despite speaking to Cathal directly, his grievance was not communicated to TeamOps. According to him, e-mail communication was a one-way street.A supporter then asked what plans were from here regarding the Fort? Kelly Way responded by saying this meeting is the first step. She said that she is hearing complaints tonight and will meet with her staff at a later date. From there TeamOps will make plans for the future.Brian Smith, a leading figure in Rev Army, spoke of a previous incident with a profane word on Rev Army scarves that caused members of Rev Army to be removed from the stadium. He was “told we need to leave” and to “get the ******** out,” by members of TeamOps and the Foxborough Police Department, but was never told specifically what for. He was told after the fact the reasons why he was asked to leave the stadium. He also said there was an official complaint filed, but there was no follow up, mirroring other complaints of inconsistency. He said he “wasn’t buying” the claim from club representatives that this is the first time security has been aggressive to fans. Brian Bilello skirted the question.Steven Erickson, a member of the Rebellion, spoke of a history of maltreatment towards the Fort by TeamOps and a lack of communication from the Revolution, highlighting that June 18 was part of a trend and not a standalone case. He pressed the need for TeamOps to educate themselves on the soccer culture of the Fort.Again, Bilello agreed that the team did not effectively communicate their displeasure regarding profanity with all supporters, both in and outside the Fort.Brendan Schimmel attempted to propose very clearly what he expects from the Revolution going forward: clearer communication, more knowledgable security and greater accountability.Haskell clarified that one arrest and three protective custodies were made on June 18, one of which had happened prior to the incident. Brendan Schimmel expressed his displeasure with the term protective custody as he felt “if someone is held until 6:00am, it’s an arrest.”In regards to bans, Brian Bilello said that letters of disinvite have been issues to the four individuals either arrested or placed in protective custody, but no additional letters of disinvite were sent. Kelly Way added that if a disinvited party were to complete an alcohol awareness class, paid for by that individual, a letter of disinvite could be appealed.Cathal Conlon said that a meeting would take place “first thing tomorrow” when a supporter asked what the next step would be. On this end, Fran Harrington asked for transparency from TeamOps and the organization to all fans, not just the supporters groups. Brian Bilello responded that he would bounce ideas off supporters groups, but seemed to suggest transparency down the road is a priority.Another supporter reiterated the lack of communication to the rest of the stadium and to fans outside supporters groups.A supporter suggested three meetings take place throughout the season: one prior, one during, and one after the season. Bilello seemed to agree.The nearly two-hour meeting was closed by Brian Bilello. The five representatives seemed open to individual discussions after the official forum concluded.