Anybody trapped in the Leppings Lane bottleneck?

[bladesmanluke]

I was one of the first out. It wasn’t kicking off and then all of a sudden it did. The police knew this would happen. 40 foot of pathetic barrier and then nothing. They probably want this to happen so for one they can get stuck in and secondly so they can justify them all getting overtime. Pricks

 

[United Aren't Back.]

I was one of the first out. It wasn’t kicking off and then all of a sudden it did. The police knew this would happen. 40 foot of pathetic barrier and then nothing. They probably want this to happen so for one they can get stuck in and secondly so they can justify them all getting overtime. Pricks

Not sure they want to get stuck in.
They stand around looking at each other while fights go on .

 

[nopigfansintown]

 

[wizadry]

Maybe we can all move there before the next derby.

I don’t live anywhere near Walkley.

 

[nopigfansintown]

I don’t live anywhere near Walkley.

Ok. Clearly a lot of people had to take a different route to make there way home. It doesn't mean that they wanted to get involved in this. Congratulations on being part of the minority who found a trouble free, economical way home.

 

[wizadry]

Ok. Clearly a lot of people had to take a different route to make there way home. It doesn't mean that they wanted to get involved in this. Congratulations on being part of the minority who found a trouble free, economical way home.

I don’t know why you’re being sarcastic but we saw the Blades fans waiting behind to get together at the end, now I’m sorry but that’s only going to go one way as there was ample time to walk out and get on your way home or to the boozer in our case and that was after cheering our 0-0 ironically and giving the lads and Wilder a clap at the end.

Trust me, I’ve been there and our own fans don’t help themselves at times. We have a fan base who can handle themselves without the need to get Women, children and general people who don’t want to be involved in the middle of it all.

 

[Freddie]

There'll always be some trouble in these derbies. It's damage limitation for the police. But to allow that situation at the end of the game despite being so heavily staffed was unnecessary and downright negligent.

There must be so many coppers who are better qualified to plan these operations than the people who actually do.

It won't be long until somebody is killed in one of these 'sitting duck' situations by a heavy object hitting their head.

It was unreal. Almost wish I'd sat in the South Stand with them as originally planned.

It wasn't just a mix of Wednesday and United fans exiting at the same time. It was the whole Blades end walking into hundreds of their hyped up pwoppa nawty boys at the LL end of the North Stand. With our idiots up for it as aswell.

Straight into a crush with limited space. Stuff flying everywhere and the potential for random objects landing on you. Nowhere else to go but one way, or retreat tactically. Ridiculous.

I kept to the left wall and squeezed through, leaving the 'fun' behind me. Not nice seeing decent fans and families from both sides in distress.

But hey, well done SYP. Great football policing. A crush on LL, who'd have thought.

 

[Davalon]

The only surprise is that some people are still surprised at how inept SYP are at policing football matches.

The bottle neck outside Leppings Lane was nothing short of farcical. Nobody will convince me therwise that they just look to invite trouble.

 

[Bladesman]

SYP want to give themselves a reason not police football matches in Sheffield.

That said they are still happy charging the most in the country to police a fucking derby match in the meantime.

 

[wizadry]

The only surprise is that some people are still surprised at how inept SYP are at policing football matches.

The bottle neck outside Leppings Lane was nothing short of farcical. Nobody will convince me therwise that they just look to invite trouble.

They do look to invite it but if you really tried hard enough then you can, most of the time, avoid it.

 

[Killamarshblades]

SYP are very poor, cant really question that. Was talking to a couple of the Sunderland coppers who were down working last night and they laughed about how badly planned it all was, especially escorting the normal United fans from the tram down (holding them several times) whilst about 50 of United's firm walked past.

Agree with Wizadry above, our fans helped cause a lot of the problems last night (along with Pigs and SYP). There was a group hanging back for it, some were out on the street waiting. A group of Pig fans had been chased all over town in the afternoon so there was bound to be something at the end of the game.

Similarly i stayed and clapped the team off and got to the exit by the bridge (where all the trouble happened) as the first firework went off and the first punches were thrown, but got home for 10 back in Ecclesall as just walked on by. Feel for those caught up in it though. Sadly its par for the course at their place the last 4/5 times we played them. We all know its not going to be pleasant

 

[biggey blade]

Would like to know which copper this was also. As mentioned in a previous post was shoved by a copper and he then lifted his baton to me didn't strike but definitely looked like he wanted to. Which set my pulse racing and caused an argument with said copper really wouldn't be suprised if it was the same copper that did this. But once again SYP get away with brutality and fucking horrendous organising and still get a pat on the back well done SYP.

 

[SW12 to S12 to S18]

Did anyone see the drones they were going to use? They must have got some great footage from them.
Doubt if they’ll use it to learn from though.

 

[JimW1889]

SYP are very poor, cant really question that. Was talking to a couple of the Sunderland coppers who were down working last night and they laughed about how badly planned it all was, especially escorting the normal United fans from the tram down (holding them several times) whilst about 50 of United's firm walked past.

Agree with Wizadry above, our fans helped cause a lot of the problems last night (along with Pigs and SYP). There was a group hanging back for it, some were out on the street waiting. A group of Pig fans had been chased all over town in the afternoon so there was bound to be something at the end of the game.

Similarly i stayed and clapped the team off and got to the exit by the bridge (where all the trouble happened) as the first firework went off and the first punches were thrown, but got home for 10 back in Ecclesall as just walked on by. Feel for those caught up in it though. Sadly its par for the course at their place the last 4/5 times we played them. We all know its not going to be pleasant

Mostly did the same, it was about 10 minutes before I was out past the turnstiles anyway as I was sat/stood pretty much as close to their main stand as you could be. Saw the firecracker being thrown then a few bottles/coins from both. After getting past an absolutely stupid bottleneck by staying as left as possible, once I was past that I didn't really feel in danger, I walked back alone amongst weds fans to hillsborough corner. Something was kicking off on one of the trams but walked past it as I'm not an idiot who wants to get involved or gawp. I do feel for those caught up in it who don't want to be, but it mostly seems like idiots from both sides who want to stand around in stone island and gesture at each other.

I'd say it was poorly managed by SYP and exacerbated by idiots from both sides. That fencing seperating those leaving their stand from LL was laughable.

 

[Smirth]

I always think you can avoid trouble at football matches by just being sensible and alert to danger, last night however there was no escaping it and that really is unacceptable.

The firework that flew over the fence went straight over my head and struck a woman on the side of her head before exploding. This happened almost exactly as I joined the crowd of people trying to get out as I did stay behind in the stadium for 10 minutes. I retreated to the line of stewards and asked a police officer where I should go to get out of the crowd and he just looked at me blankly and didn’t even respond. Thankfully I managed to get to the wall leading up to the bottle neck so at least I could see anything which was being thrown over the fence.

I’ve never felt in danger at a football match before last night, and what’s worse was it was so avoidable if they hadn’t let both fans out at once, or if they didn’t let home fans leave by the exit which leads to Leppings Lane. It’s really not difficult to get your head around.

Thankfully from what I saw no one seemed critically hurt and that’s really lucky, because with fireworks and glass bottles being thrown blindly in to crowds, it’s not inconceivable that someone could have been permanently scarred, blinded or worse.

I’m not going to be going to Hillsborough again after this experience. It’s a huge accident just waiting to happen.

 

[nopigfansintown]

I don’t know why you’re being sarcastic but we saw the Blades fans waiting behind to get together at the end, now I’m sorry but that’s only going to go one way as there was ample time to walk out and get on your way home or to the boozer in our case and that was after cheering our 0-0 ironically and giving the lads and Wilder a clap at the end.

Trust me, I’ve been there and our own fans don’t help themselves at times. We have a fan base who can handle themselves without the need to get Women, children and general people who don’t want to be involved in the middle of it all.

There wasn't ample time to do anything - as the thousands of people trapped in the bottleneck clearly demonstrates. These people weren't asking for it either, which seems to be the implication in your post. And many people - myself included - had to go this way to get home. If the Wednesday fans aren't waiting at the end behind the police (all male btw) the bottleneck doesn't happen. The fans of both teams who were trapped together (men, women and children) behaved impeccably given the dire situation.

 

[S64 Blade]

My sentiments really just echo those of others. The bottleneck coming out was ridiculous, as was 'the fence', as was the decision to let everyone out at the same time on to Leppings Lane. Why the hell is doing that safer than letting everyone out on to Bramall Lane, where there are no real bottlenecks (and Bramall Lane isn't great to police). Where's the infamous 'Wall of Steel'?

Luckily we managed to avoid any objects hitting us and got on the tram straightaway (despite the Police blocking the doors). There was a bit of aggro at the tram stop, so was glad to get out of there to be honest.

That whole side of the ground is an absolute disgrace. The concourse before the game was dangerously full (don't recall it being like that before?). If it can't be managed properly, it shouldn't be open.

 

[Davalon]

I always think you can avoid trouble at football matches by just being sensible and alert to danger, last night however there was no escaping it and that really is unacceptable.

The firework that flew over the fence went straight over my head and struck a woman on the side of her head before exploding. This happened almost exactly as I joined the crowd of people trying to get out as I did stay behind in the stadium for 10 minutes. I retreated to the line of stewards and asked a police officer where I should go to get out of the crowd and he just looked at me blankly and didn’t even respond. Thankfully I managed to get to the wall leading up to the bottle neck so at least I could see anything which was being thrown over the fence.

I’ve never felt in danger at a football match before last night, and what’s worse was it was so avoidable if they hadn’t let both fans out at once, or if they didn’t let home fans leave by the exit which leads to Leppings Lane. It’s really not difficult to get your head around.

Thankfully from what I saw no one seemed critically hurt and that’s really lucky, because with fireworks and glass bottles being thrown blindly in to crowds, it’s not inconceivable that someone could have been permanently scarred, blinded or worse.

I’m not going to be going to Hillsborough again after this experience. It’s a huge accident just waiting to happen.

I've been to every derby at the Sty since 89 bar one, but for some reason last night more than ever highlighted to me how unsuitable that away end is for dealing capacity crowds.

There were near crushes on the upper tier concourse and toilets, and outside was nothing short of disgraceful.

The place wants fucking condemning.

 

[Davalon]

That whole side of the ground is an absolute disgrace. The concourse before the game was dangerously full (don't recall it being like that before?). If it can be managed right, it shouldn't be open.

Totally agree. See my post above.

 

[nopigfansintown]

I always think you can avoid trouble at football matches by just being sensible and alert to danger, last night however there was no escaping it and that really is unacceptable.

The firework that flew over the fence went straight over my head and struck a woman on the side of her head before exploding. This happened almost exactly as I joined the crowd of people trying to get out as I did stay behind in the stadium for 10 minutes. I retreated to the line of stewards and asked a police officer where I should go to get out of the crowd and he just looked at me blankly and didn’t even respond. Thankfully I managed to get to the wall leading up to the bottle neck so at least I could see anything which was being thrown over the fence.

I’ve never felt in danger at a football match before last night, and what’s worse was it was so avoidable if they hadn’t let both fans out at once, or if they didn’t let home fans leave by the exit which leads to Leppings Lane. It’s really not difficult to get your head around.

Thankfully from what I saw no one seemed critically hurt and that’s really lucky, because with fireworks and glass bottles being thrown blindly in to crowds, it’s not inconceivable that someone could have been permanently scarred, blinded or worse.

I’m not going to be going to Hillsborough again after this experience. It’s a huge accident just waiting to happen.

This. I've been to A and E with a messed up ear (can't hear anything), and will be having an xray later today. Did anybody get any videos of the fireworks or bangers that were thrown mid flight? It's nice to know that I deserved it at least.

 

[Blade for Sale]

I always think you can avoid trouble at football matches by just being sensible and alert to danger, last night however there was no escaping it and that really is unacceptable.

The firework that flew over the fence went straight over my head and struck a woman on the side of her head before exploding. This happened almost exactly as I joined the crowd of people trying to get out as I did stay behind in the stadium for 10 minutes. I retreated to the line of stewards and asked a police officer where I should go to get out of the crowd and he just looked at me blankly and didn’t even respond. Thankfully I managed to get to the wall leading up to the bottle neck so at least I could see anything which was being thrown over the fence.

I’ve never felt in danger at a football match before last night, and what’s worse was it was so avoidable if they hadn’t let both fans out at once, or if they didn’t let home fans leave by the exit which leads to Leppings Lane. It’s really not difficult to get your head around.

Thankfully from what I saw no one seemed critically hurt and that’s really lucky, because with fireworks and glass bottles being thrown blindly in to crowds, it’s not inconceivable that someone could have been permanently scarred, blinded or worse.

I’m not going to be going to Hillsborough again after this experience. It’s a huge accident just waiting to happen.

The huge accident happened 30 years ago. It's the fact that, despite being slammed from pillar to post ever since the findings of the enquiry were published, SYP and SWFC have learnt ABSOLUTELY FUCKING NOTHING about how to manage a large crowd at that shithole of a stadium. Our local rag, indeed the national press, should be all over this. One is not holding one's breath.

 

[Maidenhead]

Did anyone see the drones they were going to use? They must have got some great footage from them.
Doubt if they’ll use it to learn from though.

I think they were too busy filming a Barnsley couple having sex in their back garden

 

[Bladesman]

Hardly being moved on by the rozzers. Blades fans were being kept back so those muppets could fuck off home.

The rozzers there just watch and collect the broken chair. What pathetic wank stains SYP are.

 

[S64 Blade]

So the guy filming was hit by two coins and a bottle, yet he didn't flinch once, or think to move from the highly unlucky spot? Not saying people weren't throwing things as I'm certain they were, but I do smell bullshit to a certain extent.

 

[Topplayersleave]

Amazing that our fans somehow managed to hit another random child with a firework...….Lying bitch

 

[wizadry]

There wasn't ample time to do anything - as the thousands of people trapped in the bottleneck clearly demonstrates. These people weren't asking for it either, which seems to be the implication in your post. And many people - myself included - had to go this way to get home. If the Wednesday fans aren't waiting at the end behind the police (all male btw) the bottleneck doesn't happen. The fans of both teams who were trapped together (men, women and children) behaved impeccably given the dire situation.

I stayed behind at the end for about 10 minutes, I walked out and heard two bangers or whatever they were and just carried on walking with nothing going on, coppers forcefully telling people to move on that’s why I thought there was ample time but perhaps I’m wrong?

Look, we all know the coppers are wank at policing our games so I’m not sure why it comes as a shock to anyone when something goes tits up.

You seem very defensible on this subject, it’s as though something happened to you which if it did I hope you’re ok, seriously and I hope the Blades who were round you stuck by you as I know I would’ve done.

 

[wizadry]

This. I've been to A and E with a messed up ear (can't hear anything), and will be having an xray later today. Did anybody get any videos of the fireworks or bangers that were thrown mid flight? It's nice to know that I deserved it at least.

I’m sorry to hear this and hope you’re ok but who’s suggesting you deserved it?

 

[nopigfansintown]

Progress?

 

[Karaoke Blade]

Mostly did the same, it was about 10 minutes before I was out past the turnstiles anyway as I was sat/stood pretty much as close to their main stand as you could be. Saw the firecracker being thrown then a few bottles/coins from both. After getting past an absolutely stupid bottleneck by staying as left as possible, once I was past that I didn't really feel in danger, I walked back alone amongst weds fans to hillsborough corner. Something was kicking off on one of the trams but walked past it as I'm not an idiot who wants to get involved or gawp. I do feel for those caught up in it who don't want to be, but it mostly seems like idiots from both sides who want to stand around in stone island and gesture at each other.

I'd say it was poorly managed by SYP and exacerbated by idiots from both sides. That fencing seperating those leaving their stand from LL was laughable.

My experience to a tee. The lack of separation/police presence at the main exit on to the street was ripe for trouble. Yet further up the road there were coppers lined up chatting away to each other.

 

[nopigfansintown]

South Yorkshire Police hope to hold monthly meetings with supporters and club officials.

The force said it could lead to a change in the way matches are policed.

The move was planned before last night's Steel City derby between Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield United which saw six people arrested.

Police have come under fire on social media for their handling of disorder at the game.

Speaking in February, Chief Insp Phil Barraclough said the force want to get people together to help improve relationships and explain planning decisions before games.

"We recognise that we need to improve our communication to football supporters across the county.

"We'd like to hear the views of the supporters groups and the football clubs as well."