The following is correspondence between myself and the FA - if we can (when we get there!!) organise a standing section nothing will be done to force us to sit down...
Dear Sir/madam,
Once again I'm observing persistent standing at a top flight football match. Re: the FA cup final at Wembley both sets of supporters behind both goals stood without any attempt to mHake them sit down.
Will you please address this problem by creating standing areas or making all fans sit down during matches, not just fans of lesser supported clubs. As a Sheffield United supporter who attended the play off final at Wembley the stewards were much more 'pro active' at making supporters sit down.
Regards
Mr Simon Breen
Dear Simon,
Thank you for taking the time to contact us, as it is only through receiving valuable communication that we are able to review our processes, procedures and service levels, to ensure that we are able to provide all our visitors with a safe and memorable event day experience.
Regarding your comments concerning supporter's standing, our Crowd Safety Team proactively manages issues of persistent standing with the priority being the safety of all visitors. With the nature of large sections of the crowd constantly standing, and at times with such large numbers involved, it is often safer to observe them as they stand while still ensuring that all emergency exits and gangways are clear, and also ensuring that the behaviour of the crowd is maintained.
For clarification, our crowd safety team will certainly enforce the Wembley Stadium ground regulations within the Stadium provided it is safe to do so in the circumstances, and would emphasise that any decision on the appropriate course of action is made giving primary consideration to public safety and prevention of disorder, which naturally are our priority. Ejection of supporters was not considered to be an appropriate response by our crowd safety team, as it could have escalated what was (from a safety perspective) a manageable situation.
To further explain, the paramount concern of our Crowd Safety Team is with the safety of all visitors. Despite the efforts of our crowd safety team to discourage persistent standing, a number of spectators chose to remain standing in contravention of the Wembley Stadium ground regulations. We certainly did not turn a blind eye to the spectators who remained standing, rather our team observed and monitored crowd behaviour throughout the event. We take the same approach with respect to all of our ground regulations, and will take action where they are being breached provided that such action does not put our visitors or staff at additional risk or provoke disorder.
Please be assured that our primary objective is the safety of our visitors and staff.
Kind regards
Tracey
Tracey Bates | Customer Relations Assistant
Communications
The FA Group
Dear Sir/madam,
Once again I'm observing persistent standing at a top flight football match. Re: the FA cup final at Wembley both sets of supporters behind both goals stood without any attempt to mHake them sit down.
Will you please address this problem by creating standing areas or making all fans sit down during matches, not just fans of lesser supported clubs. As a Sheffield United supporter who attended the play off final at Wembley the stewards were much more 'pro active' at making supporters sit down.
Regards
Mr Simon Breen
Dear Simon,
Thank you for taking the time to contact us, as it is only through receiving valuable communication that we are able to review our processes, procedures and service levels, to ensure that we are able to provide all our visitors with a safe and memorable event day experience.
Regarding your comments concerning supporter's standing, our Crowd Safety Team proactively manages issues of persistent standing with the priority being the safety of all visitors. With the nature of large sections of the crowd constantly standing, and at times with such large numbers involved, it is often safer to observe them as they stand while still ensuring that all emergency exits and gangways are clear, and also ensuring that the behaviour of the crowd is maintained.
For clarification, our crowd safety team will certainly enforce the Wembley Stadium ground regulations within the Stadium provided it is safe to do so in the circumstances, and would emphasise that any decision on the appropriate course of action is made giving primary consideration to public safety and prevention of disorder, which naturally are our priority. Ejection of supporters was not considered to be an appropriate response by our crowd safety team, as it could have escalated what was (from a safety perspective) a manageable situation.
To further explain, the paramount concern of our Crowd Safety Team is with the safety of all visitors. Despite the efforts of our crowd safety team to discourage persistent standing, a number of spectators chose to remain standing in contravention of the Wembley Stadium ground regulations. We certainly did not turn a blind eye to the spectators who remained standing, rather our team observed and monitored crowd behaviour throughout the event. We take the same approach with respect to all of our ground regulations, and will take action where they are being breached provided that such action does not put our visitors or staff at additional risk or provoke disorder.
Please be assured that our primary objective is the safety of our visitors and staff.
Kind regards
Tracey
Tracey Bates | Customer Relations Assistant
Communications
The FA Group
