• The forums will be unavailable for a few hours on Saturday 6th June, when they do return they will initially be in a degraded state with some features missing, but normal posting/reading will be possible. The main website will not be affected by these updates.
    New user registrations are currently disabled.
    Some other features of the forum are also currently disabled.

The Safety of Fans in the North Stand

There are many issues around putting a net up

I will list 4

1 - Fire safety - if you are stupid enough to throw things onto rival fans below you might set fire to the net.

2 - chucking things to stick on the net - I’ll leave it there.

3 - Attempting to climb the net

4 - Viewing quality - they aren’t great to look through.

Thats just off the top of my head - I’m sure there are many more.

Ok so using Sheff Utd's net as an example:

1. How many times has it been set alight? It's not within reach of anyone of you are suggesting people will use lighters etc.

2. Not sure how it matters or if it happens at all.

3. It's not in a position to climb (although even if it were it is easily policed)

4. It doesn't obstruct anyones view


Additional note: Club safety officer has done risk checks and research and wants a net. Owners don't.
 
Last edited:

Ok , but it’s how our ground looked.

And to the passing viewer, or isolated photo, it might not be obvious.

Not sure how old you are, but I was on here then, and I can recall the groundswell on here for moving them due to how crap it looked.
I'm 47 mate and remember it well. I probably supoorted the idea however, it ill look a lot worse if and when people in the North Stand stoo going due to concerns over the welfare of their families.
It needs sorting.
 
Does it really matter what the passing viewer thinks? Getting the atmosphere good for those of us who go should over-ride that.
Maybe some people have higher standards than others,
and those want to be proud of the fabric, the appearance and (yes) the atmosphere of our stadium too.
I'm 47 mate and remember it well. I probably supoorted the idea however, it ill look a lot worse if and when people in the North Stand stoo going due to concerns over the welfare of their families.
It needs sorting.
Then I think the proposed idea of away fans in part the north east lower with overflow up in the north east upper would work best.
No home fans below away fans.

However, if the stewards and police did their jobs properly we wouldn’t be having this discussion about nets or moving seats in the first place.
 
Last edited:
Ok so using Sheff Utd's net as an example:

1. How many times has it been set alight? It's not within reach of anyone of you are suggesting people will use lighters etc.

2. Not sure how it matters or if it happens at all.

3. It's not in a position to climb (although even if it were it is easily policed)

4. It doesn't obstruct anyones view


Additional note: Club safety officer has done risk checks and research and wants a net. Owners don't.
Fans want away fans moved

Who should be the most important people here?

1. Club safety officer

2. Owners

3. Fans

Just for clarity - the answer is 3.
 
My first sentence. The fans (home fans) don’t want stuff coming down on them from the North Stand Upper. They want them moved - not a net.

I'm in the north and I want a net. There's loads asking for nets. The south stand want a net so they don't have to move.

You posted a list of issues caused by a net and I've given a working example of how they aren't problems.

A net solves issues way faster than having to move home and away fans between games as well.

Not sure why you think there's only people who want fans moved.
 
My first sentence. The fans (home fans) don’t want stuff coming down on them from the North Stand Upper. They want them moved - not a net.
Which is all well and good. But the fans then don’t have to find solutions as to where they go. There has to be a practical alternative.
 
Ok so using Sheff Utd's net as an example:

1. How many times has it been set alight? It's not within reach of anyone of you are suggesting people will use lighters etc.
Maybe pyros would get lobbed onto it? Just playing devil's advocate like. They need to do summat and a net seems like the most obvious way forward.
 
The club aren't interested in that area..council property. Up to the council.
I know it is the council responsibility for the upkeep and maybe lighting, however it should still be policed appropriately as it is within the immediate vicinity of the ground and it has been a flashpoint for many years now with radgy away fans goading families and dads with their younguns .
Regard the lighting along the road on dark evenings , the club could easily turn the 5 aside pitches floodlights on for 1 hr after the game .
More than enough time for everyone to disperse and it wouldnt cost much .
The fact they don’t do either smacks of either penny pinching , couldn’t give a toss or both.
The Lack of nets to protect our fans seems to confirm it.
 
Last edited:
Maybe pyros would get lobbed onto it? Just playing devil's advocate like. They need to do summat and a net seems like the most obvious way forward.

Like they could at Sheff Utd. And again, the safety officer has done safety check and wants a net so it's not deemed a risk?

We've got the club safety officer advising the club to get a net and the club refusing.
 
Ok so using Sheff Utd's net as an example:

1. How many times has it been set alight? It's not within reach of anyone of you are suggesting people will use lighters etc.

2. Not sure how it matters or if it happens at all.

3. It's not in a position to climb (although even if it were it is easily policed)

4. It doesn't obstruct anyones view


Additional note: Club safety officer has done risk checks and research and wants a net. Owners don't.
A quick lawsuit when someone gets seriously hurt will change that
 
Like they could at Sheff Utd. And again, the safety officer has done safety check and wants a net so it's not deemed a risk?

We've got the club safety officer advising the club to get a net and the club refusing.
Can't imagine the one at brammal Lane is flammable? It's 2022, surely there's non flammable material around.

Besides, better the net has a pyro burning on it than the person it would have hit had the net not been there!
 
I'm in the North and I do think a net is the easiest and quickest fix, with maybe a project conducted into the relocation option over the longer term.

On another note, when I was at Brammal Lane earlier in the season, as well as seeing a fat policeman near the corner flag getting hit by something thrown from upstairs, I did notice that there was a couple of scorched holes on the netting. I guess that the net must have done its job of protecting the folks below and giving them time to shift, should the flare (?) have dropped through
 
Back
Top