Shrimpsvoices

Seems like so many issues today. Starting to think our stadium design is part of the problem though. Things to look at:

Barrier to the pitch. Is there a reason for these to be open? For wheelchair users in an emergency? Makes it far too easy to get on the pitch.

Away stand stairs. Does the central staircase need to be open or used more as a fire exit? Having space at the front to gather also causes problems.

Dugouts. Being sat basically with the fans obviously caused problems today. Needs more of a barrier to prevent incidents.

Single road in and out. Caused a bottleneck today. Bolton fans should have been kept in to allow home fans to disperse.

Anything else?

The design of the stadium has been a problem from the get go. The area behind the away end is simply too small and probably unsafe.
After all the issues today, yes the away fans should of been held back to allow safe exit. The atmosphere was toxic by this point.
I'd question the stewarding, keen to pick up on the little things but when a serious issue occurs they are less than useless.
Plus when do we get our roof behind the home end?

Why not cover or partially cover the dugouts to prevent these (alleged) incidents occurring , I’m sure it can be done without disturbing the view from the seats behind .

Yes, need to cover the dugouts. I think some enjoy interacting with the managers but I'd say it's distracting for ours and as we found today, could be used against us by crafty opposition.

Whatever went on yesterday needs sorting as soon as possible.

We have just built our gates up to a viable level and we need everyone to renew their season tickets with hopefully some more.

The sponsorship of the club which is at record levels is in jeopardy if this sort of incident is repeated.

I thought planning permission had been applied for to move that wall at the back of the away stand. If granted that needs doing ASAP and then the stand can have a further level added to make it identical with the home stand and maybe put steps to the rear rather than have those stairs that the yobs run down when the away team scores.

Maybe Entry and Exit to the away stand should be by a new stairway built onto the side of the stand and the current stairway removed and the walk way extended by a metre at the front of the stand to the new stairway. This could make the encroachment onto the field less accessible and easier for matchday stewards to control.

I understood that planning permission had been applied for to extend the perimeter wall at the rear of the stand but it would appear that no action to carry out the alterations has started, assuming that planning has been approved.

The problem is that fans can leave the stand and gather in the area behind the net. It happens every time we have a good away following. The design is asking for bother but how do you rectify it without moving a whole stand? It is the legacy of the botch it merchants.

BerlinWaller wrote:The problem is that fans can leave the stand and gather in the area behind the net. It happens every time we have a good away following. The design is asking for bother but how do you rectify it without moving a whole stand? It is the legacy of the botch it merchants.

Could the club install a metal fence, the same height as the current sponsorship boards, in between the stand and the sponsor boards to give another barrier for pitch encroachment? This would give an area for police and stewards to stand.

I’ve attached the Spurs idea below for a visual aid. We see these sort of double barriers at many away ends we go to when our allocation is pitchside.