email from club - NO MORE TICKETS ON SALE IN KOP - standing & wrong seat usage

[Greasy Chap Butty]

Read the club statement again:

"Both the council and SGSA have been in contact asking the club to intervene on matters of safety within the Kop before they take further action....

The club’s safety team has made numerous attempts to resolve the situation, including marked signage, terms of business and clearly displayed ground regulations, along with increased stewarding and safety procedures. It has now been agreed that no matchday tickets will be sold for the Kop stand for the foreseeable future to enable the club to review operations."

Ultimately, this wasn't the council's decision. This wasn't SGSA's decision. This was SUFC's decision.

Under pressure from the two bodies mentioned, maybe. But the club made this decision - nobody else.

They only made it because of their own total ineptitude in dealing with the original issue.

I know it's tempting to stick up for the club. An attack on United sometimes feels like a personal attack on me. But on this, they have made a total cock-up of the situation.

And that's not exactly out of character for them, is it?

What you on about?
Long post with a conclusion you've just made up.

 

[Greasy Chap Butty]

How many times....standing up is not the main issue

900 posts in. Some.people haven't clicked yet.

It's overcrowding
Not standing up.

 

[bladesmanluke]

Maybe it is the fans who don't sit in their allocated seats and/or block the gangways need to see the consequences of their decsion making

Do you sit lower down the Kop?

Would you kick off if someone who normally stands at the back, out of your way to be mindful of you and others who want to sit down, today stood up in front of you instead? I think you probably would. Of course you may not sit in the kop whatsoever, but my point is valid. Something needs to be done, quickly to accommodate the large number of people that want to stand up at our games. I agree with you in that they cannot continue to just congregate at the back 2 to a seat or in the gangways.

It needs sorting urgently or our already dying atmosphere will be dead for good. I'm even at the point now where if there was a million available for a loan signing in January, I would rather it be spent on rail seating in the Kop instead if we could get permission. The match day experience is more important to me than what league we're playing in.

 

[Cheesebored]

It needs sorting urgently or our already dying atmosphere will be dead for good. I'm even at the point now where if there was a million available for a loan signing in January, I would rather it be spent on rail seating in the Kop instead if we could get permission. The match day experience is more important to me than what league we're playing in.

This. You've got to laugh at the people criticising today's yoofs for wanting to be with their mates and create an atmosphere. Possibly the same people that fondly reminisce of the good old days of away fans scrapping on the Kop or ending up 30 yards and 2 barriers away from where you were stood after a goal. It was just good fun back then though wasn't it? Hands up, my eldest goes with his mates, not in his seat which is 2 blocks and 70 seats away, but stood enjoying himself at nobody else's expense. There's loads of others in his position. He's already said he'll not bother going if he's made to sit in a seat miles away from anyone he knows. Is this the way the club feels is a way of nurturing future support? I know it's not brought about by the club but they're the ones in a position to do something about it. It's already pretty sterile before this is enforced. For clarity, if someone is in a season ticket holders seat then IMO they should be ejected if they refuse to move.

 

[bartman]

Do you sit lower down the Kop?

Would you kick off if someone who normally stands at the back, out of your way to be mindful of you and others who want to sit down, today stood up in front of you instead? I think you probably would. Of course you may not sit in the kop whatsoever, but my point is valid. Something needs to be done, quickly to accommodate the large number of people that want to stand up at our games. I agree with you in that they cannot continue to just congregate at the back 2 to a seat or in the gangways.

It needs sorting urgently or our already dying atmosphere will be dead for good. I'm even at the point now where if there was a million available for a loan signing in January, I would rather it be spent on rail seating in the Kop instead if we could get permission. The match day experience is more important to me than what league we're playing in.

With rail seating, you are still allocated a space to stand. The issue of overcrowding and standing in gangways will still be an issue if fans dont sit or stand in their allocated space.
The minority could cause further restrictions which will affect the majority.

If they are sat or stood in their own seat why would they ha e to be mindful of me. There are plenty of seats free at the back of Gangway A if people want to stand

 

[Sheffsteel]

900 posts in. Some.people haven't clicked yet.

It's overcrowding
Not standing up.

Agree...took me a while to realise this

and I suppose stopping constant standing is a very easy way to sort out the overcrowding issue
as the culprits are instantly identified and will look stupid when everyone around them is sat down
(picture a scene from musical chairs, 4 seats but 5 people ha ha)

I sit at the front of the Kop and we stand up for goals (obviously), corners, sendings off, even longish periods of great action.
I assume the club want those at the back of the Kop to be similar, so they are free to stand, just not every second of the game.

 

[Greenwich Blade]

Everybody who stands with their mates should look upon the seating arrangements as an opportunity to meet people and make new friends. Then at half-time the club can distribute acoustic guitars with song-sheets, and everyone can join together in a touching rendition of Kumbaya.

 

[Charlieblade]

All seater stadiums, even with rail seating/safe standing if allowed, is here to stay. No getting away from that fact.

This issue will end with the compulsory closure of the entire Kop. I say this as one who grew up with open tterraced standing back in the sixties, when the barriers were about 10/15 terraces apart, and placed at neck height for me at the time!

It’s called progress. We don’t have to like it, but the only benefit would be enforced closure of the Kop, giving the club no option, but to level it, and re-build it.

Has atmosphere or personal wishes ever overcome fairly basic health and safety, since H&S became a thing?
Debate all you want, and our opinions don’t even enter the equation. It will come to everywhere sooner or later. It’s just the way of things today.

Create an atmosphere at the back of the Kop, and we will be pioneers of new all seater, safe standing stadiums before any other club in the country.

 

[Dkc]

Didn't look like everyone was sitting down at the top of the Kop on Sky. Also 2700 Burnley fans were stood for the entire game.

 

[bartman]

Didn't look like everyone was sitting down at the top of the Kop on Sky. Also 2700 Burnley fans were stood for the entire game.

Once again, standing up isnt the problem

 

[Dkc]

Once again, standing up isnt the problem

Once again, the email from the club referred to persistant standing as one of the issues

 

[bartman]

Once again, the email from the club referred to persistant standing as one of the issues

This main issue is standing in gangways and standing 2/3 to a seat . The club will accept standing if fans are at their own seats

 

[S64 Blade]

900 posts in. Some.people haven't clicked yet.

It's overcrowding
Not standing up.

Despite the post from the club saying reason (1) it being persistent standing and (2) not being in the right seat.

Why not just say the latter?

 

[bartman]

Despite the post from the club saying reason (1) it being persistent standing and (2) not being in the right seat.

Why not just say the latter?

Persistent standing. Not standing in general.

 

[HighfieldBlade]

Have we all been taught our lesson now Or does this ban on Kop matchday ticket purchases continue indefinitely? Can I buy a Kop ticket for Huddersfield?

 

[Dkc]

Have we all been taught our lesson now Or does this ban on Kop matchday ticket purchases continue indefinitely? Can I buy a Kop ticket for Huddersfield?

Yes. Everyone behaved themselves today and remained seated in their correct place for the full 90 minutes. Huddersfield tickets go on general sale next week. Probably.

 

[HighfieldBlade]

Yes. Everyone behaved themselves today and remained seated in their correct place for the full 90 minutes. Huddersfield tickets go on general sale next week. Probably.

Good

 

[CityInPeace]

Reading this thread is interesting as a fan of another club. Well okay I read 1st 10 pages then skipped to here.

Surprised you don't have Safe Standing or plans for it for one. Overzealous Council or SAG acting as a deterrent- or just no appetite among your hierarchy.

The discrepancies between different grounds and by extension Local Authorities are also interesting to see. Leeds is a good example.

We have some kind of Safe Standing at Ashton Gate but it's nowhere near enough tbh. 1,500 maybe out of a capacity of 27,000 seems too low. Powers that be, again Local Council in August 2019 sought to clamp down on persistent standing at the back of the Dolman and South Stand. Didn't go well, TV game too- when stewards tried to intervene lots more stood and chanted "We're all standing over here!" As far as I can tell, views weren't being blocked and it was literally the back couple of rows.

Not heard anything post Covid, but in respect of Safe Standing our location is weird, at the corner of the stand just 3 blocks...Singing Section evolved into Safe Standing but you'd think they would be central and or for interaction, closer to the away fans like at a range of grounds- Reading for example have their singing section and home fans in the same stand behind the goal, divided by stewards. Ours are well away from sway fans, in a corner, 3 blocks.

Our local authority, SAG etc are very opaque and secretive too. Dunno if it's similar in Sheffield. I understand Licensing Requirements etc, people have put in FOIs in respect of ours which have been batted back, hiding behind things. Completely wrong, public body! Operational issues yeah sure but more general decision making process, completely wrong.

 

[reedy63]

No problem at all yesterday I was standing in front of my seat, I am a season ticket holder at the back of the kop. all rows in front of me at least ten rows. all stood up and are season ticket holders. If the so-called authorities decide to close the kop. it will cause a massive problem. season ticket holders and I will protest in the car park.
The club would have to give refunds.so I hope common sense prevails.

 

[CityInPeace]

It wouldn't be too much hassle for all those coppers outside with video cameras doing nowt to just make a presence on the crowded gangways.

The thing about that is, as I understand it police are paid for within the footprint of a stadium.

In Layman's terms, it would probably cost a club, in this instance Sheffield United more for that. Whether it's a good investment no idea but within the footprint of the stadium has a bearing on cost etc.

 

[CityInPeace]

my understanding is that safe standing will not be allowed unless the club prove that the ground is safe. So until everyone follows the rules, and stays at their own seats, the ground is not deemed safe and so they will not allow safe standing areas. I suppose it’s a case of be good boys and you get a lollipop, or get to stand up all game.

The other side of the coin is that, if Safe Standing was put in place for a club, all other areas would be expected to be all seater only with rigorous enforcement.

A Bristol City fan was quite heavily involved in campaigning for Safe Standing so I know a bit about it.

 

[alcoblade]

With rail seating, you are still allocated a space to stand. The issue of overcrowding and standing in gangways will still be an issue if fans dont sit or stand in their allocated space.
The minority could cause further restrictions which will affect the majority.

If they are sat or stood in their own seat why would they ha e to be mindful of me. There are plenty of seats free at the back of Gangway A if people want to stand

Rail seating will clear out those who are hell bent on sitting in areas where fans of just about every other football club actually stand.

 

[CityInPeace]

Went to see Hertha at the Olympic stadium in Berlin. Go in past the ticket point and you can buy food and drink which you carry in to your seat. 2 pint plastic glasses. You pay 2e for the 'glass' and get it back after. Seated but a bit more room than BDTBL. Not really much spillage. I suspect the section with the ultras doesn't sell booze though!

I doubt we'd ever have a situation where you could drink on the Kop or in the away end.

German fan experience is among the best these days, seems quite fan-centred IMO.

That reminds me, when I was in Rome in 2017, took in Roma v Inter. They seemed to be selling pints or alcohol anyway possibly in plastic bottles or plastic cups not just able to take to the seat but in the STAND itself!

Mind you this option disappeared after half time! Had a few though so it was okay.

 

[John Cutsbushes]

I sit in the South Stand, but bought a ticket for the Kop so I could stand in the Gangway, flare in hand
Fuck Sheffield Council

 

[JJBlade]

To be honest I'm nearly 60 and my view is that the bulk or all the Kop should always be standing, it's a important part of football and improves the atmosphere.

Always thought there should be free choice, people who want to stand stand, people who want to sit sit....then everyone is happy.
Surely standing can't be a problem as it's never been a problem to date, so makes no sense.

However as mentioned earlier having people gathering around the gangways is a technical serious no no, if there was a heart attack then it's essential they can get to the fella asap. Also squeezing extra people into a limited number of seats is also potentially an accident waiting to happen.

My view is that some Authorities are concerned that standing encourages rowdy behaviour which can then spill over to anti social behaviour and in fairness they might be right. Think that's why some Blades don't want to see standing (no matter how safe) return.

They are also assuming that the problems are being caused by those that purchase tickets match by match and our season ticket holders are all angels

But I've seen it myself. If I purchase a seat I don't care about being sat on my own, but if three mates want to go as well, we can't sit together because we can only buy one ticket each. It's pathetic when around 4000 tickets are unsold every game.

So some fans buy tickets scattered about all over the kop and then find a spot to congregate together, and all because they couldn't buy seats together.

It happens at every stadium in the country, stadiums that are full can't stop the problem, but stadiums that have plenty of spare seats should sell them to groups of people instead of one ticket per person only

 

[Gerritforud]

They are also assuming that the problems are being caused by those that purchase tickets match by match and our season ticket holders are all angels

But I've seen it myself. If I purchase a seat I don't care about being sat on my own, but if three mates want to go as well, we can't sit together because we can only buy one ticket each. It's pathetic when around 4000 tickets are unsold every game.

So some fans buy tickets scattered about all over the kop and then find a spot to congregate together, and all because they couldn't buy seats together.

It happens at every stadium in the country, stadiums that are full can't stop the problem, but stadiums that have plenty of spare seats should sell them to groups of people instead of one ticket per person only

You can buy seats by the exact row and number. The ticket website has allowed this for years. Put you and your mate's customer numbers in, and you can buy more than one ticket together. So you have no excuse.

 

[TJB.]

Not sure whether it was just because people listened to what the club had said or that the usual suspects who were causing issues around us could no longer get tickets (or a mix of both), but yesterday was miles better. Plenty of space for us lot and a few spare seats in front too. Could've had a fucking picnic laid out where there was previously no room to swing a mouse.

Whilst the new policy is far from ideal and does punish a lot of people for the actions of a few, based on what I saw and experienced yesterday, it worked a treat. And the atmosphere was absolutely cracking, so it had no negative effect on that either. On that basis there's not much incentive to reverse owt for now.

 

[Addison]

"At the previous away game at Sunderland, we had chaos outside due to the lack of turnstiles. Here, the problems were inside. With many Burnley fans opting not to go to their allocated seats, we had jammed gangways throughout and a stewarding team unwilling to do anything about it. Had anyone needed emergency assistance during the game, it would have been virtually impossible to get that help to the person in need."

Extract from a Burnley fans report of yesterdays match. Will SAG now consider restricting away fans bearing in mind the whole of the 2,700 allocation were also persistently standing for the full 90 minutes. Safety regulations can not be implemented in isolation in one part of the ground, it applies to all areas. SAG lurkers take note.

 

[Bennyand the Blades]

The more I read from those who want to stand up for a couple of hours, the more I despair,
If I wanted to go to the Theatre, or the pictures I wouldn't expect the people in front of me to stand up all through the show with their mates. and why the hell would people with seats want to stand up for 2 hours anyway? You want to talk to your mates do it at half time.
Really it beggars all belief. and why are they so eager to stand at the back?
I've been going to the lane since 1957 and stood on the Kop with my mates back then, great times, but it changed. because the supporters changed, it became for some just a reason for gang warfare and hooliganism, and believe me somewhere as steep as the Kop (remember Hillsburger) is really not the place for standing if you have those kind of people at the top, and it will happen....
So, if it is really so important for some to stand for a couple of hours, I'd convert the strip in front of the John St stand and let's just see how many of the stand-up brigade turn up then .. ...

 

[bladesmanluke]

The more I read from those who want to stand up for a couple of hours, the more I despair,
If I wanted to go to the Theatre, or the pictures I wouldn't expect the people in front of me to stand up all through the show with their mates. and why the hell would people with seats want to stand up for 2 hours anyway? You want to talk to your mates do it at half time.
Really it beggars all belief. and why are they so eager to stand at the back?
I've been going to the lane since 1957 and stood on the Kop with my mates back then, great times, but it changed. because the supporters changed, it became for some just a reason for gang warfare and hooliganism, and believe me somewhere as steep as the Kop (remember Hillsburger) is really not the place for standing if you have those kind of people at the top, and it will happen....
So, if it is really so important for some to stand for a couple of hours, I'd convert the strip in front of the John St stand and let's just see how many of the stand-up brigade turn up then .. ...

What a bizarre take.

Stood up and enjoyed it when you were younger, but can't understand why the younger generation would want to do the same and get behind the team today.