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

[FB98]

OK, so you say 17 in 15 seats isn't a problem. What about when it's 20 in 4 seats, as it is at the back of gangway D on the kop these days. And these aren't ST holders trying to get in their seats, these are "lads" who think it's fine to force 4x the capacity cos "I wanna stand wiv my mates innit?"

Do any of them give a shit when my 64 year old dad is getting landed on from behind by these "lads" whenever we score? My dad paid for his seat, he's perfectly happy to stand all game, and go nuts when we score. What he shouldn't be subjected to is the "LIMBS" brigade throwing themselves everywhere, arms and legs flailing, for the sake of an instagram video.

I agree with this to a degree but it certainly isn't like that around us. As I say, the issue exists because people who want to sit down sit 8 rows from the back & there isn't enough rows for people to stand before people start demanding they sit down. Which results in the 7 standing rows being too congested.

Best solution safe standing as has been mentioned many times.

Second best would be to stop automatic renewals one year & asking people who want to sit down/not make any noise to stop buying tickets in the most atmospheric area of the ground. Leeds have two full stands & corners with everyone on their feet, we can't even have 8 rows on the KOP. It's ridiculous & a big part of the reason for our under par atmosphere

 

[JackSUFC]

Really safe standing should be put in there. i dont understand why it hasnt been even brought up, as it would change nothing bar it being "safer" & it would keep the atmosphere because they are the core of our support they gets the rest of the ground going

You have the manager of the first team recently asking the fans to improve the atmosphere but the club don’t appear interested in putting the measures in place to help out.

 

[ForgeBlade]

I agree with this to a degree but it certainly isn't like that around us. As I say, the issue exists because people who want to sit down sit 8 rows from the back & there isn't enough rows for people to stand before people start demanding they sit down. Which results in the 7 standing rows being too congested.

Best solution safe standing as has been mentioned many times.

Second best would be to stop automatic renewals one year & asking people who want to sit down/not make any noise to stop buying tickets in the most atmospheric area of the ground. Leeds have two full stands & corners with everyone on their feet, we can't even have 8 rows on the KOP

Doesn't really address my point though does it? We've been there for 20+ years, always happy to stand. Nobody has ever told us to "siddarn." We should be free to do what we want, in the seats we paid for.

We're probably 8-9 rows from the back. We stand, we're happy to stand. We should not be subjected to abuse and shit from people who think they have a right to treat us like shit. I know for a fact that another dad/son combo, who have been there for years, are considering moving away next season because of the behaviour of the "I'm going to stand with my mates whatever" brigade.

 

[robbiez666]

Second best would be to stop automatic renewals one year & asking people who want to sit down/not make any noise to stop buying tickets in the most atmospheric area of the ground.

You do realise it's against the regulations to stand in an all-seater stadium for any length of time? The club can't ask people that.

As for safe standing, isn't that £500,000 we don't have?

 

[Moan? Nope-I saw Longhorn]

Why do you have to stand up to make a noise? It's always baffled me that one

Depends which orifice is being utilised
I’ve always found lifting a leg adds to the overall effect

 

[metalblade]

So everyone on the kop has to move for a few people who can't bend their knees and make a noise while sat down mmmmkay

 

[west_yorks_blade]

This thread is developing a pyro pros and cons vibe.

I expect the ‘what’s wrong with flares’ lobby also think that standing in emergency exits or other people’s seats is absolutely fine.

Common denominator is being a selfish twat.

 

[FB98]

Doesn't really address my point though does it? We've been there for 20+ years, always happy to stand. Nobody has ever told us to "siddarn." We should be free to do what we want, in the seats we paid for.

We're probably 8-9 rows from the back. We stand, we're happy to stand. We should not be subjected to abuse and shit from people who think they have a right to treat us like shit. I know for a fact that another dad/son combo, who have been there for years, are considering moving away next season because of the behaviour of the "I'm going to stand with my mates whatever" brigade.

I don't disagree with what you're saying so I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be addressing. My mates stand within the season ticket area we have & so don't get in anyone elses way.

I agree that what you are saying is an issue. I just stated why imo it happens & solutions to the issue. While ever there isn't enough space for folk to stand, people will overfill the area that is standing, whether they should or shouldn't. So somehow we need to expand the standing area.

Almost every other club I can think of has a much bigger area than we do. Infact alot of clubs have a full stand.

 

[FB98]

So everyone on the kop has to move for a few people who can't bend their knees and make a noise while sat down mmmmkay

Nope, not everyone on the KOP. Why you'd buy a ticket 8 rows from the back & demand those infront of you sit down when there's 33000 places to choose from though is beyond me. Those are the people I'd call selfish personally.

 

[Moan? Nope-I saw Longhorn]

They aren't hurting literally anyone. We have 15 season tickets all stood up. When there's 17 of us stood in 15 seats nobody even notices.
The council are creating a problem where there isn't one & the section where we are is the only real atmosphere in the whole ground, so people being stood making noise round us makes a huge difference to the atmosphere & according to Hecky, the team.

Aye
Well apart from the 15 folk behind you’s that now have to stand up
And the 15 folk behind them…..

Hecky will also likely soon be saying that the team will be (hugely) affected if the kop is closed , or even reduced in capacity

 

[georgebernardshaw]

My group of mates have 15 season tickets in the area that stands up yeah?

So what does it say on the ticket, maybe a seat number? You’re au fait with the use of seats?

 

[sheepbridge]

Fortunately some people want to stand up & make an atmosphere. Those who don't need to stop buying tickets 8 rows from the back of thr KOP. Amazing that the minority who actually do create a slither of atmosphere are the ones that get the stick. We need these people at the back of the KOP.

Unfortunately, the club doesn’t have unreserved seating or a designated standing and singing area. Perhaps those in the seats don’t actually want to move seats. They probably chose them for a reason and want to sit there with family and friends, not be moved to another area of the ground, almost certainly split up and with inferior views just because a load of younger fans think they have a right to go there instead.

I understand where you are coming from, when I first attended games with my mates many years ago I stood on the kop and sang, but that is because I could back then, but not now. Overcrowding and trouble between fans is bound to draw attention and if it contravenes our safety certificate eventually something is likely to be done about it, which seems to be the situation we are now in.

If it continues and there really is a risk the stand could be closed then it could start to get quite ugly, I can’t imagine those on the Kop that could lose attending matches because a very small minority want to take over the back rows will accept that gracefully.

I would be all for a standing area on the Kop, absolutely, but as others have said, that needs to be done in consultation with the licensing authorities and the club, which at the moment looks like becoming less likely, not more. Just sticking two fingers up and saying we’ll do it anyway isn’t going to help at all.

 

[FB98]

Aye
Well apart from the 15 folk behind you’s that now have to stand up
And the 15 folk behind them…..

Hecky will also likely soon be saying that the team will be (hugely) affected if the kop is closed , or even reduced in capacity

Well being as they start standing 7 rows infront of us in my gangway that's a strange take.
Literally everyone behind us wants to stand. Hence why they chose Gangway G of the KOP. Common sense really, want to sit down pick one of the other 33000 seats

 

[SB_90]

its extremely boring to say you have to follow rules, because people go for "freedom" but unfortunately sitting in your allocated seat is something we all have do to. because wasnt it in seinfield "a rule is a rule, & without rules there’s chaos" because when we go we like to think of ourselves as a collective. well we have to be that collective & think of each other dont be selfish. we have all paid our money & nobodies match deserves to be ruined over somebody elses

we all need to think of the consequences of our actions

 

[Moan? Nope-I saw Longhorn]

Nope, not everyone on the KOP. Why you'd buy a ticket 8 rows from the back & demand those infront of you sit down when there's 33000 places to choose from though is beyond me. Those are the people I'd call selfish personally.

Perhaps they anticipated a (relatively) decent view not the back of some plum’s crust ?

Why didn’t you (x15) buy season tickets on the back row?

 

[FB98]

Unfortunately, the club doesn’t have unreserved seating or a designated standing and singing area. Perhaps those in the seats don’t actually want to move seats. They probably chose them for a reason and want to sit there with family and friends, not be moved to another area of the ground, almost certainly split up and with inferior views just because a load of younger fans think they have a right to go there instead.

I understand where you are coming from, when I first attended games with my mates many years ago I stood on the kop and sang, but that is because I could back then, but not now. Overcrowding and trouble between fans is bound to draw attention and if it contravenes our safety certificate eventually something is likely to be done about it, which seems to be the situation we are now in.

If it continues and there really is a risk the stand could be closed then it could start to get quite ugly, I can’t imagine those on the Kop that could lose attending matches because a very small minority want to take over the back rows will accept that gracefully.

I would be all for a standing area on the Kop, absolutely, but as others have said, that needs to be done in consultation with the licensing authorities and the club, which at the moment looks like becoming less likely, not more. Just sticking two fingers up and saying we’ll do it anyway isn’t going to help at all.

It's a fair reply mate but if people like us can't claim ANY area of the ground to congregate they'd be no atmosphere at all. So the club need to work with us on this if the team consider atmosphere as important as Hecky regularly states they do.

 

[JackSUFC]

You do realise it's against the regulations to stand in an all-seater stadium for any length of time?

It is, you’re right. Doesn’t stop it happening in practically every ground up and down the country though.

Look at Leeds for example. Both ends behind the goals at Elland Road all stand for 90 minutes without safe standing facilities.

When was the last time you saw an away following sat during a match, us included?

Looking forward to seeing every council in the country put measures in place against their local clubs following today’s announcement.

 

[FB98]

Perhaps they anticipated a (relatively) decent view not the back of some plum’s crust ?

Why didn’t you (x15) buy season tickets on the back row?

We bought in section already standing. This clearly needs to expand, hence the over congestion in the areas which do.

 

[Edgar Allan Poo]

#prayforricky

I suggest we form a non singing section or failing that at least sing 'sit down if you hate sitting down' by way of protest.

 

[Moan? Nope-I saw Longhorn]

We bought in section already standing. This clearly needs to expand, hence the over congestion in the areas which do.

Well clearly not everyone is “already standing” otherwise you wouldn’t be chuntering
Has it crossed your mind that some folk may not be physically able to stand for any duration ?

 

[Moan? Nope-I saw Longhorn]

I suggest we form a non singing section or failing that at least sing 'sit down if you hate sitting down' by way of protest.

Already got the none singing section (s)

Well apart from when it’s the National Anthem
Betty Empire RIP

 

[Proper Blade]

There were 30,000 at the Lane on Saturday. With all of the seats we've netted off, that's an effective sell-out. But it also means the club have sold thousands of restricted view tickets on the Kop - at the same price as normal tickets - which are literally behind a massive pole. So it makes sense that people don't fancy paying £32 to sit behind a pole. I don't blame them for that. It's the club's fault for treating these ridiculously shit seats like normal tickets. That is probably a big reason for the overcrowding at the back.

So now we have this overcrowding issue at the back of the Kop. People have gone and stood at the back of the Kop for a as long as I can remember, but plenty on here saying it has gotten worse in the last few seasons. OK.

But the club approached this by employing unexplained ticket checks at the back of Gangways H and G (?). There were reports from fans of aggressive, heavy-handed bouncers trying to turf them out of their seat. Again, the club never explained their approach publicly, just went about it in this underhanded, ineffective, cackhanded way. As others have said, it did absolutely nothing to address the situation and just riled fans up.

Now they're saying the Kop might be closed off of it continues. And now they have chosen - not been forced - CHOSEN not to sell tickets there. Rather than introducing an effective police presence and strict ticket checks, they've now backed themselves into a corner with their ridiculous approach to - in my mind - something which is NOT a major security or safety issue. It is easily fixed by employing the measures I just mentioned.

They've now riled fans up even more and are going to be losing hundreds of thousands of pounds a week in the process.

Of course, the incredibly obvious solution to all of this is to introduce a safe standing area at the back of the Kop. Fans would be allocated a ticket IN THAT AREA (no specific seat) and your overcrowding/standing issues disappear overnight.

But the club have shown absolutely no appetite towards safe standing. It seems they're not even entertaining the idea. We're now in a tiny minority of clubs in the country who haven't approached safe standing with an open mind and won't even conduct a feasibility study, for example.

Almost every aspect of this situation has been caused by backwards, head in the sand thinking from the bunch of absolute incompetents that run our club and council. The atmosphere in the ground is absolutely dreadful, it's getting worse and the club are now actively employing measures that will make it even worse. Idiots, idiots, idiots.

 

[FB98]

Well clearly not everyone is “already standing” otherwise you wouldn’t be chuntering
Has it crossed your mind that some folk may not be physically able to stand for any duration ?

They are in my section? But clearly this section needs to expand so everyone can have a space who wants to stand up.

Yes, that has crossed my mind. I would suggest these people don't sit in the back 10 rows of the KOP & choose one of the other 33000 seats. I wouldn't buy on the front row of the John Street & stand up.
It's common sense really.

 

[Bert]

We bought in section already standing. This clearly needs to expand, hence the over congestion in the areas which do.

How would you be if 30 bone heads also decided that they wanted to stand in your row?

 

[prince albert]

My group of mates have 15 season tickets in the area that stands up yeah?

So what happens when you rock up to find all your season ticket seats have been occupied before you get there ?
Beat by Bert

 

[Rodley]

People have been standing on the back rows of the Kop since the 90s. If people are blocking gangways just send some stewards up and clear it out.

The fact that the club is being forced to restrict ticket sales and is being threatened with closing the whole stand is disproportionare nonsense. If SAG or SYPD want to tackle an actual issue which has a meaningful bearing on the matchday experience they’d resolve the mess of policing of away fans on Bramall Lane. Or get a grip of people bringing drugs into the grounds.

 

[FB98]

So what happens when you rock up to find all your season ticket seats have been occupied before you get there ?

How would you be if 30 bone heads also decided that they wanted to stand in your row?

This is why the section of people standing needs to expand, so everyone wanting to stand up can buy a seat rather than cram into the standing section which is evidently too small as I've now said many times

 

[Edgar Allan Poo]

Why do you have to stand up to make a noise? It's always baffled me that one

Sitting down is for eating your tea, watching the telly and having a shit and sometimes all three at once.

 

[robbiez666]

It is, you’re right. Doesn’t stop it happening in practically every ground up and down the country though.

Look at Leeds for example. Both ends behind the goals at Elland Road all stand for 90 minutes without safe standing facilities.

When was the last time you saw an away following sat during a match, us included?

Looking forward to seeing every council in the country put measures in place against their local clubs following today’s announcement.

The suggestion was to basically ask fans if they wanted to stand, in so many words. We'd get closed down.

Obviously, fans stand in every ground. But there's a difference between 'wave' standing (when something exciting is happening) and standing up for the whole game.

 

[SB_90]

to be fair ive dont see anything wrong with kop seats