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The Safety of Fans in the North Stand


KathyBatesHammer said:
I sometimes miss sitting in the SWC and having that atmosphere with the away fans in the SS.

But its better how it is for now IMO.

1. Not many clubs sell out their allocation so looks shit with a half full SS.

2. When were at it its a much better atmosphere with the entire lower bowl being SAFC.

The club just need to take some responsibilty and sort some netting out.
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Imo mate, I think the SOL had a much better atmosphere when the away lot were in SS.

Plus I think most allocations will now be sold out in this league, so no issues about being half empty.

The ground was designed the way it was to house the away fans. I would put them back but it's only my opinion.
 
JaFlan86 said:
Imo mate, I think the SOL had a much better atmosphere when the away lot were in SS.

Plus I think most allocations will now be sold out in this league, so no issues about being half empty.

The ground was designed the way it was to house the away fans. I would put them back but it's only my opinion.
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Wouldn’t work to put them in the SS without moving the family bit as it wouldn’t be right having them right next to aways for both inside and outside ground, so you might as well move the family and have the aways there and next to the most vocal part of our home support
 
Tony_in_London said:
Ok so you think empty seats looks poor on TV?

Well imagine this

Look North music starts and serious looking Mag news reader intones “Sunderland Football club were today ordered to pay £1.2 million pounds compensation to the family of eight year old Jordan Rogers after he sustained a life changing traumatic brain injury after being hit on the head by a beer bottle thrown from the upper tier of the Sunderland stadium. The judge increased the award as this occurred after a series of similar incidents and it appeared the club had failed to act on the advice of Safety Officers and fans representatives. Nobody at Sunderland was available for comment so we go over now to the Al Qaeda Stadium to discuss the issue of fan safety in football grounds with Amanda Stavely”

That a good look?
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Yeah change it all because we will look bad compared to the mags. You could say change it because it’s the right thing to do instead of how it comes across.
 
RAW-dave said:
Yeah change it all because we will look bad compared to the mags. You could say change it because it’s the right thing to do instead of how it comes across.
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Agree wholeheartedly we should change things because it is the right thing to do

And for that the starting point has to be fan and employee safety first and foremost

The point I was making though is that those who insist on judging things according to how they might look superficially, had better take a moment to think about how this will look if, god forbid one of these bottles, flares, vapes etc should cause serious injury to someone sitting below in the North Stand

That is before the Board and senior members of staff are systematically chopped up in any subsequent ruling.

I still wonder who on earth is advising the club to handle things this way
 
Tony_in_London said:
Agree wholeheartedly we should change things because it is the right thing to do

And for that the starting point has to be fan and employee safety first and foremost

The point I was making though is that those who insist on judging things according to how they might look superficially, had better take a moment to think about how this will look if, god forbid one of these bottles, flares, vapes etc should cause serious injury to someone sitting below in the North Stand

That is before the Board and senior members of staff are systematically chopped up in any subsequent ruling.

I still wonder who on earth is advising the club to handle things this way
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They’re 2/3 forrin mega rich marra. They probably don’t think UK H&S applies to them.
 
garyeaststand said:
Wouldn’t work to put them in the SS without moving the family bit as it wouldn’t be right having them right next to aways for both inside and outside ground, so you might as well move the family and have the aways there and next to the most vocal part of our home support
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Out of interest, we're you around in the days when away support was in the SS?

If we can move the away support, which is a far greater security/policing operation that moving 'family' support then I'd welcome it.

Anyone tell me why this change.was made? I.e was the Police having to many issues with the original design of the ground to implement such a change?
 
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JaFlan86 said:
Out of interest, we're you around in the days when away support was in the SS?

If we can move the away support, which is a far greater security/policing operation that moving 'family' support then I'd welcome it.

Anyone tell me why this change.was made? I.e was the Police having to many issues with the original design of the ground to implement such a change?
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change was made because the empty seats by the vast majority of away fans looked embarrassing on tv
 
hank williams said:
change was made because the empty seats by the vast majority of away fans looked embarrassing on tv
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It was Martin O'Neill's idea if I recall - he seemed to suggest it would give us more of a home advantage. That hardly worked out for him or us..

I preferred the away fans in the lower bowl, it created a better atmosphere with the back and forth and added an edge to the atmosphere that just isn't there any more. Bar the odd game, the atmosphere is pretty flat at the SOL these days.
 
Rizla said:
It was Martin O'Neill's idea if I recall - he seemed to suggest it would give us more of a home advantage. That hardly worked out for him or us..

I preferred the away fans in the lower bowl, it created a better atmosphere with the back and forth and added an edge to the atmosphere that just isn't there any more. Bar the odd game, the atmosphere is pretty flat at the SOL these days.
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This is what I always remember, it was Martin O'Neil that pushed for it
 
Rizla said:
It was Martin O'Neill's idea if I recall - he seemed to suggest it would give us more of a home advantage. That hardly worked out for him or us..

I preferred the away fans in the lower bowl, it created a better atmosphere with the back and forth and added an edge to the atmosphere that just isn't there any more. Bar the odd game, the atmosphere is pretty flat at the SOL these days.
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it was shite man. the entire stadium was regularly outsang by the away end. you had 2000ish in the swc returning some noise but for the most part you away followings dominating the atmosphere. thing is, for those in the east and north stand that constitutes 'atmosphere'
 
hank williams said:
change was made because the empty seats by the vast majority of away fans looked embarrassing on tv
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Absolute fiction
tunstallhill said:
it was shite man. the entire stadium was regularly outsang by the away end. you had 2000ish in the swc returning some noise but for the most part you away followings dominating the atmosphere. thing is, for those in the east and north stand that constitutes 'atmosphere'
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Shite also
 
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tunstallhill said:
it was shite man. the entire stadium was regularly outsang by the away end. you had 2000ish in the swc returning some noise but for the most part you away followings dominating the atmosphere. thing is, for those in the east and north stand that constitutes 'atmosphere'
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I don't recall it like that. If we were losing then yes, but that goes for every ground in the country.
 
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DonaldDownTheWing said:
You asked why it was changed a few posts ago and are telling people they’re wrong?

You either know or you don’t.
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I do know. I was there throught it all.

You don't design a multi million pound stadium and change the away wnd because of empty seats.

We've had plenty empty seats in the home end over the years ,but you don't see them opening the Premier concourse, higher up and away out of sight.

Probs on a wind up I'd imagine?
 
JaFlan86 said:
Out of interest, we're you around in the days when away support was in the SS?

If we can move the away support, which is a far greater security/policing operation that moving 'family' support then I'd welcome it.

Anyone tell me why this change.was made? I.e was the Police having to many issues with the original design of the ground to implement such a change?
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Safety Advisory Group were concerned about the potential and actual trouble outside the South end of the stadium. Arrests for violence were relatively high with fans meeting at certain points, Stokoe statue and Sheepfolds. It was Short that brought about the fact that SoL looked half empty when viewed on tv.
 
JaFlan86 said:
Out of interest, we're you around in the days when away support was in the SS?

If we can move the away support, which is a far greater security/policing operation that moving 'family' support then I'd welcome it.

Anyone tell me why this change.was made? I.e was the Police having to many issues with the original design of the ground to implement such a change?
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I started out in the SWC when stadium opened great atmosphere next to the away fans but it did help as the team just rolled people over most of the time, I think it was down to Ellis short after seeing us up in the gods at the mags
 
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