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

[Dkc]

Isn't the kop around 70-80% st holders anyway? How is banning non st holders from the kop going to help?

People have stood up at the back of the kop since it became all seater 30--odd years ago, and there has never been anyone injured as far as I know. The nature of football and the kop rake makes it impossible to stay with your arse on your seat for the entire 90 minutes. If they force everyone to do it it will kill the atmosphere.

I was in the BL stand for the Birmingham game and people were standing at the back. They were also stood up at the back of the South Stand.

If anyone wants to go on the kop but can't get a ticket I suggest they go on the kop / John St corner stand, it's a decent view and you can easily join in with the chants from the kop.

 

[breeny]

You've never noticed the back rows of the kop all have people stood up as well as into the gangways..?

I personally don't view it as a problem but some obviously do.

It was like that before we moved about 3 years ago! It was never a problem to us because we sat at the front but it was clearly happening.

 

[steve26272]

So have I read this right Sheffield Council effectively stopping around 2.5 to 3k tickets being sold by SUFC denying us a fair bit of gate receipts?

Wonder if they are doing the same at Hillsborough which will almost certainly have similar issues?

The club need to grow a pair and tell them to stop interfering. No other Police forces / councils seem to routinely interfere like Sheffield/South Yorks with another football club or business. SUFC need to tell them to get on with more important issues.

So we are now being forced to have a few thousand empty seats every game?

Surprised the club don't take legal action as genuinely not sure what jurisdiction the council have. The health and safety thing seems bollocking. Other clubs have a line of stewards between away fans. We have ridiculous restrictions imposed and just accept it. We own the ground not the council not the police.

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.


As such……

The club’s safety team has made numerous attempts to resolve the situation……with increased stewarding and safety procedures. It has now been agreed…… to enable the club to review operations

So the sniff heads and throbbers that cant just sit in the seat they have been allocated have forced the club to loose £60k per game whilst they think of how else they can get through to them

Irrespective of whether we own the ground or not, if we can operate it in what they believe to be safe we can’t hold a match

I own my car but can’t drive it without a valid MOT

what really boils mi piss is the nobheads that think it’s ok to sit in someone else’s seat, then say shit like “well I’m sat here now” seen it happen to oap’s and blokes with kids, they ain’t gonna start so they have to find empty seats somewhere else with a shit view despite paying for their chosen seats possibly weeks in advance

For the simple ones

Buy a ticket
Sit in that seat

 

[Addison]

Seems like the Safety Officer and his team have completely lost control of the situation. We appointed a Crowd Safety Officer last year but we have been plagued with problems in the few home games this season. Bullying of disabled supporters, complaints about over zealous stewards creating safety bottlenecks on steps and now it seems a complete capitulation in dealing with a serious safety issue. No-one can argue against fans not being in designated seats. Yet they compound the matter further by also referring to standing which will increase tensions.

The Club is now faced with losing a significant amount of revenue. Questions have to be raised about the competence of those involved in Safety. The standard of stewarding has been a cheap option for years with ill equipped youngsters employed on minimum wages.

Why is it that the Club take the nuclear option now of not selling Kop match day tickets rather than issue a future threat of this action being taken if people do not comply, whilst trialing other solutions to resolve this. Unfortunately this only adds to the view that it is SAG who control the management and distribution of match day tickets, not SUFC.

Simply cutting your nose off to spite your face by stopping the sale of match day tickets will not solve the problem. Those congregating at the back unlawfully will still have to be dealt with effectively. Surely paying for Police to come inside the ground for a short time and improving the standard of stewarding is a more cost effective solution.

 

[Ainsley Harriott]

Call me a bedwetter but Why would you buy a ticket and go and sit in somebody elses seat ?


Why cant we just get a singing/standing section problem solved

Some yoofs buy tickets randomly on the kop but then go up to the back. I know, I've seen it myself. I've had a few mates do it. It's not cool, it's cunt. Don't get me wrong, I love a good random throw around, but it becomes a bit much when it's 3 to a seat.

Let's be clear here, this issue isn't caused by anyone 40+. If it is, it's the odd one that isn't going to add to the problem. This is an issue caused by teens and those in their early 20s, just exposed to ale and probably marching powder.

But for now, sit down, shut up, and do as you're told.

 

[ShockingBadBuy]

I've no problem with going mad over a goal, but when you're potentially endangering others with your celebrations (including the very old fellow just in front and to the left of us who has been knocked down and lost his glasses already this season) then it becomes an issue.

I'm guessing things like this are why they've taken the action they have.

In the event of a major incident—let’s say the old fellow bangs his head on the concrete and dies—if the club are seen to have ignored overcrowding, and let people stand wherever they want, it’s likely that their relevant insurance policy would be void, and that the club would be wide open to legal action.

This has crossed my mind now and then at away games in the last couple of years. I suspect it will have been pretty prominent in whatever discussions have happened recently at Board level.

 

[Linz]

Seems like the Safety Officer and his team have completely lost control of the situation. We appointed a Crowd Safety Officer last year but we have been plagued with problems in the few home games this season. Bullying of disabled supporters, complaints about over zealous stewards creating safety bottlenecks on steps and now it seems a complete capitulation in dealing with a serious safety issue. No-one can argue against fans not being in designated seats. Yet they compound the matter further by also referring to standing which will increase tensions.

Your first paragraph perfectly illustrates the issues - be seen to do something about fans not sitting in the seats allocated or entering the ground via the correct turnstile and be accused of bullying and being over zealous...

 

[Ainsley Harriott]

This could be a nice simple test. Email swfc/SAG/SYP/Council and complain about the same issue at Hillsbrough.

You sit on the kop but are often forced to miss large sections due to persistent standing and are often forged from your seat due to people congregating where they're not wanted.

Enough people do it and complain, the same actions SHOULD be suggested or made over there as well.

And anyway, what kind of bell end complains about persistent standing on the kop?

 

[Dkc]

Fans hit back at Burnley after issuing update on persistent standing - Fan Banter

Fans have decided to hit back at Burnley after issuing an update on persistent standing during their home matches throughout 2022/23. The club needs all the support it can get right now, but an unlikely attempt to follow the rules and regulations hasn’t boded well with some of the fanbase. After...

fanbanter.co.uk

These are the Stadium of Light changes SAFC and QPR fans need to be aware of

Sunderland AFC are to introduce several changes to the matchday experience at the Stadium of Light in the Roker End and also the North Stand.

www.sunderlandecho.com

Seems to be something of an issue elsewhere as well. I also remember 10/15 years ago Man U being threatened with closure of parts of Old Trafford.

I’m fairness to the club and authorities it really hasn’t come out of nowhere. This must have been an issue for at least the past 5 years or so in this part of the ground, if not more. More and more people standing at the top of a gangway every week as the crowd is at near capacity and something has to give.

As mentioned above the club don’t make the rules and the same logic that people apply to player contract negotiations (i.e “tell ‘em to fuck off”) isn’t going to work here if they want to keep selling tickets.

Likewise the local authority are damned if they do and damned if they don’t. Suppose a serious accident occurs - they will be first to cop for the blame.

I have serious gripes with the Saftey Advisory group needlessly moving kick offs, coupled with SY Police heavy handed approach but with this I feel more inclined to say ‘fair enough’. If the Odeon was letting people stand in the aisles every week during a film or a pub was letting treble the number of people they have a safety certificate for and setting fireworks off indoors you’d expect the local licensing authority to have their say on the matter.

All that said this is a known issue and a proper consultation with fans on safe standing might have gone a long way to mitigate this.

According to that Burnley letter fans are allowed to stand "for short durations in periods of play where it could be deemed unnatural to remain seated."

This seems to imply that if it's an exciting match you are allowed to stand up more. If we're in the 85th minute and surging forward to find a winning goal, for example, are you allowed to stand then?

If you obey the rules to the letter, you'd be forced to stay seated when we get a winning goal.

 

[Working Class Hero]

I have stood at the back of the kop for decades and don't recall anyone ever having an issue with the stander-uppers (even the ones with tickets elsewhere), or there being any safety problems. This just feels like the council inventing a problem where there isn't one.

Easily resolved by a safe standing section, but we all know the council would stop that as well.

 

[Ainsley Harriott]

Why cant we just get a singing/standing section problem solved

People rip the piss out of the idea even though logically speaking, it would lead to these issues not happening. So for all the piss taking Ricky got for suggesting and trying it, here we are. All now having to sit the fuck down or have the stand closed.

 

[biggiesablade]

Same people who moan about swearing at matches causing this shit. Young ens are gunna act young it's their prerogative. People hit 30 odd and moan about same stuff they used to do at same age.

 

[bertieblade]

Sheffield united have always been victimised by the council, it goes back to the days of brearley wanting to expand the ground yet the council refused planning. Wednesday with their massive support will have similar problems yet I very much doubt that they have received a similar directive

 

[west_yorks_blade]

Yeah, I think that’s me done now. I’ve already had a moan on another thread about how difficult it’s become to get tickets for gigs and football, fucking around with apps and websites that don’t work properly. The “hooliganism” that’s started to re-appear over the last few years is a bit depressing, I don’t want to have to argue with a bunch of 6’5” teenagers because they’re sat in my seat or chucking shit around and I’m finding I don’t really want to go anymore. So, unless things change, I can’t see myself going to the Lane again for the foreseeable future and perhaps not even away games in London. I’d rather put the money into my pension and retire a bit earlier than arse about on a computer trying to get tickets, end up stood next to some bunch of arseholes and get filmed by the plod for just being there whilst there’s a full on fight going off down the road, queue for overpriced “food” and miss half the second half….

Pensions are going right down the shitter.
Better to spend the money at Ladbrokes or buy coke with it and join the teenagers.

 

[Deadbat]

But without the licence granted by the Council, we can't hold football matches.

Not aware of this ever happening anywhere else though...that is my point.

WBA had sections shut down as the ground was not safe but it's only at SUFC (and SWFC who had sections shut) as far as I am aware where a council has imposed something like this.

I've never heard of a council anywhere in the country stopping football matches being held at a stadium? Has anyone else?

Sheffield Councils priority, in a dilapidated tiwn centre that is decades behind every other major UK city for shopping/amenities, is on a few hundred standing up at a football ground?

Just seems pathetic.

 

[HarryHaslam]

Surely this happens at every ground in the league, think it boils down to the council in Sheffield basically.

 

[Dnblade]

Same people who moan about swearing at matches causing this shit. Young ens are gunna act young it's their prerogative. People hit 30 odd and moan about same stuff they used to do at same age.

We could always bring back the EDS play pen at the front corner of the Kop..stick 'em in there out of the way, and let them enjoy themselves.

 

[Muttley]

Do we all have to sit down to sing GCB? Stay glued to our seats when we score?

 

[Rodley]

Email your local councillor and complain. If enough people do it they’ll stand up and take notice.

 

[Dkc]

Do we all have to sit down to sing GCB? Stay glued to our seats when we scoe?

According to the letter, yes we do

 

[Deadbat]

It literally says that in the statement

As a football club, Sheffield United work under a safety certificate, issued by Sheffield City Council. Additionally, in accordance with the Football Spectators Act 1989 Act, The Sports Grounds Safety Authority (SGSA), the UK Government’s advisor on safety at sports grounds, is responsible for issuing and ensuring compliance with licences to admit spectators to sports grounds to watch designated football matches.

That might be the case but as I have said before imagine how it would look to the Football world if it says 'Sheffield United are now having to play at Oakwell as the council has shut the ground due to a few hundred people standing up on the back of their Kop.'

Would that really happen?

I'm just surprised United have not taken legal action or are not challenging this? Maybe they have tried. They will be losing 3k of potential seats/gate receipts for the rest of the season.

If they have just we accepted this, then the reality is from everyone's comments on twitter, people are not going to sit down so it means it seems inevitable they will soon close sections and maybe eventually the whole Kop as this is not going to change.

I don't like the fact the club seem to just accept the Council's ludicrous decisions. Those saying we have no choice then the reality is this could be the pre cursor for the council closing the Kop and 8k season tickets having to be relocated to 4k available seats meaning 4k won't be able to go and the club will have to reimburse.

I get Sheffield Council can make whatever decisions they like if we have to operate under a safety certificate to hold games but I am disappointed the club seem to be just accepting it. If they don't have a choice in it then be prepared for the Lane to have its capacity reduced significantly in the near future as it looks like they will do that based on today's farcical decision.

 

[Deadbat]

Email your local councillor and complain. If enough people do it they’ll stand up and take notice.

You can't stand up. You have to sit

 

[S64 Blade]

Surely this happens at every ground in the league, think it boils down to the council in Sheffield basically.

The whole stand behind both of the goals at Leeds stand, all game.

 

[ForgeBlade]

Don't really know what to make of this. Me and my mates have season tickets on the Kop and we've always stood at the back of gangway E, but mine is the only ticket where my seat is actually situated where we stand. Me dad also joins us back there whenever he gets a ticket.

That makes it sounds like we're part of the problem and there's probably an argument to be made there. However, we've done this in the same spot for over ten years now and overcrowding has never really been an issue, with the possible exception of the big and important games where it's to be expected.

This season, our area has been horrendously overcrowded due to a large influx of younger supporters who seem to have come from nowhere. This lot don't seem to care if there's quite clearly no room for them to stand - they simply barge in and plonk themselves absolutely anywhere they can, even if it means penning people in behind them or completely obstructing the views of others. Furthermore, these young 'uns feel compelled to throw themselves about and swing their arms if we score a goal, meaning people falling over seats and knocking others over. I've no problem with going mad over a goal, but when you're potentially endangering others with your celebrations (including the very old fellow just in front and to the left of us who has been knocked down and lost his glasses already this season) then it becomes an issue.

I'm guessing things like this are why they've taken the action they have. As I say, I can't really complain too much because I attend the match with a gang of people who don't sit in their allocated seats. But it's a great shame to punish those who've never caused the issues and I don't think folk will be happy with this at all.

Hecky has said how much of a difference the fans can make when we make the noise. That ain't made by people sat down and being well behaved. There's a balance to be struck which I'd argue has been fine until this season when, at least where we are, people are squeezing into areas where there's quite clearly no room. I believe we may be moving stands for next season for the reasons outlined above.

Good post, and the paragraph I've highlighted is, for me, the crux of the issue. I also stand at the back of the kop, close to a gangway, and we've all stood there for all of the 20 years I've had my seat. The main issue that has (in my opinion) led to this isn't people standing in their allocated seats, it's the huge crowds of people forcing 10 people into the space of 5 seats, blocking the gangways themselves etc. There has been a significant increase in this over the last 2-3 seasons.

 

[Rodley]

None of this when Boris and Liz were in charge……

Just seen a mugshot of my nearest steward on the WEF website.

 

[S64 Blade]

That might be the case but as I have said before imagine how it would look to the Football world if it says 'Sheffield United are now having to play at Oakwell as the council has shut the ground due to a few hundred people standing up on the back of their Kop.'

Would that really happen?

I'm just surprised United have not taken legal action or are not challenging this? Maybe they have tried. They will be losing 3k of potential seats/gate receipts for the rest of the season.

If they have just we accepted this, then the reality is from everyone's comments on twitter, people are not going to sit down so it means it seems inevitable they will soon close sections and maybe eventually the whole Kop as this is not going to change.

I don't like the fact the club seem to just accept the Council's ludicrous decisions. Those saying we have no choice then the reality is this could be the pre cursor for the council closing the Kop and 8k season tickets having to be relocated to 4k available seats meaning 4k won't be able to go and the club will have to reimburse.

I get Sheffield Council can make whatever decisions they like if we have to operate under a safety certificate to hold games but I am disappointed the club seem to be just accepting it. If they don't have a choice in it then be prepared for the Lane to have its capacity reduced significantly in the near future as it looks like they will do that based on today's farcical decision.

It feels like they have just accepted it, as there has been no forewarning about the ceasing of match day ticket sales.

 

[Muttley]

And what about the old fella a few seats along with the smallest, weakest of bladders getting up for a piss every 5 minutes? We all have to stand up and let him pass.

 

[JackSUFC]

Masterclass in how to alienate paying customers. First it was killing off the G & H blocks, now this.

 

[Rodley]

That might be the case but as I have said before imagine how it would look to the Football world if it says 'Sheffield United are now having to play at Oakwell as the council has shut the ground due to a few hundred people standing up on the back of their Kop.'

Would that really happen?

I'm just surprised United have not taken legal action or are not challenging this? Maybe they have tried. They will be losing 3k of potential seats/gate receipts for the rest of the season.

If they have just we accepted this, then the reality is from everyone's comments on twitter, people are not going to sit down so it means it seems inevitable they will soon close sections and maybe eventually the whole Kop as this is not going to change.

I don't like the fact the club seem to just accept the Council's ludicrous decisions. Those saying we have no choice then the reality is this could be the pre cursor for the council closing the Kop and 8k season tickets having to be relocated to 4k available seats meaning 4k won't be able to go and the club will have to reimburse.

I get Sheffield Council can make whatever decisions they like if we have to operate under a safety certificate to hold games but I am disappointed the club seem to be just accepting it. If they don't have a choice in it then be prepared for the Lane to have its capacity reduced significantly in the near future as it looks like they will do that based on today's farcical decision.

As someone has posted above, they stand behind both goals for 90 minutes at Elland Road.

 

[Whiston Blade]

And what about the old fella a few seats along with the smallest, weakest of bladders getting up for a piss every 5 minutes? We all have to stand up and let him pass.

He's got to climb over everyone. Don't like it? Let him piss all over you..