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Away Fans at SOL Update


DonaldDownTheWing said:
We agreed that a net wouldn't have stopped everything that has been thrown this season. No more, no less, just exactly what it says.

The net that was brought to the meeting was like a football goal net. We have since got examples of nets from around europe and sent these to the club for consideration. FWIW, we wanted a net put in after Coventry.
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Then I suggest fans representatives insist this position - that they want a net - is represented in any summary of what was said about the meeting by the club.

The fact that only the agreement that a net would not stop EVERYTHING is obviously intended to imply that fans representatives agreed that a net was not a sufficient condition and therefore not a necessary condition for a solution.

Accepting an extended time period for net installation also seems to be to be highly dubious in the absence of evidence - especially given the extended period of time since the extent of the risk emerged as long ago as after the Coventry match.

What the club has come out with now seems to be designed to achieve

A) a defence when someone is injured by any object thrown from the upper tier that in banning coins and vapes, along with searching all away fans thoroughly, the club had gone as far as possible to control that risk

B) signalled their intention to move away fans to the lower bowl as a solution - exact position to be agreed

C) obstinately refused to implement a solution that would protect fans below from many objects - including bottles and pyros that have been smuggled into the ground in the past - presumably because of cost. Which I personally find scandalous.

D) created a situation in which away fans will be subject to excessive delay getting into the ground and therefore be likely to be provoked and annoyed creating ill will and bad behaviour. This will even include having coins taken from them and the more destructive element, at say Millwall and Cardiff for example, will still be at liberty to rip out seating and hurl it towards Sunderland fans below - and we cannot discount this as precisely this has already happened this season at Norwich.

E) finally I would have expected fans representatives to point out that, given the administrative chaos certain owners short sighted cost savings on experienced staff has created, the idea of a wholesale switch around of who sits where....well Mag observers will need a bloody big bag of popcorn.
 
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Hank Scorpio said:
The second it was announced the PC was opening next season, you could tell the aways were being moved.

Only a few weeks back I was told the family bit wouldn’t be touched, but it looks like the aways will be in the SEC and South Stand next season.
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Part of the east stand/SEC maybe, but its mad to think about putting away fans in the south stand, the place that generates the noise etc. huge mistake if that happens imo.
 
Hooley13 said:
Part of the east stand/SEC maybe, but its mad to think about putting away fans in the south stand, the place that generates the noise etc. huge mistake if that happens imo.
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It’s the SEC and blocks in the South Stand (basically the family zone) bud. It will mean that for a big cup game, further blocks in the South will need to be given up.

It will have some impact on the East Stand as I suspect the club will need to offer free relocation to fans close the SEC should they not wish to sit next to the away fans
 
seaham ftm said:
Nets and screens are tried and tested throughout Europe and could of been sorted years ago. You saying they won’t be approved doesn’t mean they won’t be. Keeping them up there and protecting fans below works for everyone as no one will be inconvenienced and pissed off by them moving.
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It doesn’t work best for everyone who wants the noise back though (in their opinion). I’d say there’s a 50/50 split on this. Plus throw in the likelihood that Perspex/ netting either wouldn’t be approved or fully effective.

Very complicated issue for the club to deal with. At least by doing it now there are spare seats in the lower bowl for all family zone members.
 
Mowgli said:
Club can't win on this though, what couls have been done years ago? You've got posters like @Hmmmmmm returns stating that they have to be moved and posters like yourself wanting them to stay up.

Unfortunately nets won't catch everything that's thrown and Perspex screens simply won't happen. The club aren't in a good position really, but I do understand they haven't helped themselves.

There's no clear and obvious fix that works for everyone.
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Purely my opinion, but things started to go wrong in league 1. The club wrongly decided to cash in on away fans and give stupid allocations to clubs (I think Luton were given something like 6,000).

This then created a ‘big day out’ style atmosphere and the day trippers started to act up. Mix this with a lack of security in the north stand, and it was a recipe for disaster.

The catalyst for this seasons’ problems was again the fault of the club. We all knew Coventrys support was full of wankers, but not only did they give them 1,000 tickets but then give them another 500 which went straight to general sale.
 
Hank Scorpio said:
Purely my opinion, but things started to go wrong in league 1. The club wrongly decided to cash in on away fans and give stupid allocations to clubs (I think Luton were given something like 6,000).

This then created a ‘big day out’ style atmosphere and the day trippers started to act up. Mix this with a lack of security in the north stand, and it was a recipe for disaster.

The catalyst for this seasons’ problems was again the fault of the club. We all knew Coventrys support was full of wankers, but not only did they give them 1,000 tickets but then give them another 500 which went straight to general sale.
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It’s not up to us to decide how other clubs sell their allocations. Teams are entitled to circa 3k I believe and can do as them as they wish just as we do.
NorthCountryBoy said:
It doesn’t work best for everyone who wants the noise back though (in their opinion). I’d say there’s a 50/50 split on this. Plus throw in the likelihood that Perspex/ netting either wouldn’t be approved or fully effective.

Very complicated issue for the club to deal with. At least by doing it now there are spare seats in the lower bowl for all family zone members.
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I know but I find it a disgrace how we’re bowing down to away teams chucking stuff to include inconvenience our own fans. It’s been an issue for 4 years and they’ve kicked it down the road until now.
 
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Hank Scorpio said:
Purely my opinion, but things started to go wrong in league 1. The club wrongly decided to cash in on away fans and give stupid allocations to clubs (I think Luton were given something like 6,000).

This then created a ‘big day out’ style atmosphere and the day trippers started to act up. Mix this with a lack of security in the north stand, and it was a recipe for disaster.

The catalyst for this seasons’ problems was again the fault of the club. We all knew Coventrys support was full of wankers, but not only did they give them 1,000 tickets but then give them another 500 which went straight to general sale.
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Steve Neil said 1500 was the least they could offer Coventry under EFL rules ,he would of liked to give them less . Obviously shouldn't of gone to General sale
 
seaham ftm said:
It’s not up to us to decide how other clubs sell their allocations. Teams are entitled to circa 3k I believe and can do as them as they wish just as we do.
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You’re right, teams can sell the tickets how they wish, but the minimum allocation is 2,000. We were wrongly giving big allocations and then not properly securing the north stand upper.

Just weeks after the first Coventry debacle, the club were still giving Pompey more tickets the week before the last game of the season.

I suppose the point I'm trying to make is, had the club not tried to cash in on the away fans and had kept the allocations relatively small, plus of course ensured there was proper security up there, we wouldn’t be in this mess.
 
Is it just me, or surely the answer is to put all the away fans in a lower block?
Obviously youd end up having to move some season ticket holders around, but its much harder to throw things up a tier than chuck them down.

Taking peoples coins off them at the turnstyles is going to cause mayhem
 
Roker Scoreboard said:
Reduce the away allocation to a thousand tops, only sell the back 10-15 rows and increase stewards and cctv in the North Upper.
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Probably the best solution. Also stick a few police up there also. The best behaved sets of fans can be gradually allowed more seats in future years.
 
Barboza dh9 said:
Steve Neil said 1500 was the least they could offer Coventry under EFL rules ,he would of liked to give them less . Obviously shouldn't of gone to General sale
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I was told it was the club that agreed the extra 500 a few days before the match, after the safety committee decided to limit their allocation to 1000. It’s worth remembering Coventry struggled to shift the initial allocation as well
 
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