Safe Standing Is Coming to Pride Park

[Tamworthram]

6 hours ago, valakari said:

Personally, i don't get it.

For a start, if people are standing , then those behind them can't sit or they can't see..so to me its selfish to ever allow standing ever again!

Also, did they not learn from Hillsborough etc, what is wrong with people...it was perfectly ok as all seater stadium..much safer!

Surely it’s been proven beyond much doubt now that the main problem at Hillsborough was the number of people being allowed/forced into a confined space that wasn’t large enough to accommodate them. There had been standing at football matches, with very little incident, long before Hillsborough. I would also say they clearly have learned from Hillsborough. As annoying as it sounds like it was, frequent checks of tickets should prevent any particular area becoming over crowded I would have thought and, whilst the primary purpose of the rails I would imagine is to stop you falling over the seats, they should also eliminate the risk of a mass of bodies surging forward and pinning unfortunates against the lesser number of rails we use to have on the terraces.

[therams69]

8 hours ago, valakari said:

Personally, i don't get it.

For a start, if people are standing , then those behind them can't sit or they can't see..so to me its selfish to ever allow standing ever again!

Also, did they not learn from Hillsborough etc, what is wrong with people...it was perfectly ok as all seater stadium..much safer!

Might be an idea to educate yourself on what safe standing areas are fella. And besides if anyone goes in the South Stand expecting to sit then call them out for clearly being an away fan.

If safe standing was around at Hillsborough it wouldn't have happened. That's a fact. Following my trip to Hannover for filming i spent some good time with the SLO there. Actually more injuries in the seated areas than standing. So yeah, much safer in the standing areas.

[Crewton]

The introduction of safe standing to the South Stand certainly seems to have quietened the fans there down a bit 😉

[therams69]

7 hours ago, Grumpy Git said:

Stewarding in the SS yesterday was a complete and utter clusterf*ck.

Huge overkill.

I am very disappointed I or fellow SCG members were not consulted on this. For a start this is exactly what the SCG is setup for. If it was the case i would have given my input and posted on the socials (including here) to let everyone know what the plan was whether or not i agreed with it.

Pretty much an own goal but we learn I guess.

[Gerry Daly]

My son is in the South upper and said it was a bit of a nuisance but no big deal. They will quickly learn from it, things are always like this to start with when something new is introduced

[JuanFloEvraTheCocu'sNesta]

Does the safe standing area allow for more tickets to be sold or is it the same amount of people just in a different type of arrangement?

[trappatoni]

2 minutes ago, JuanFloEvraTheCocu'sNesta said:

Does the safe standing area allow for more tickets to be sold or is it the same amount of people just in a different type of arrangement?

It's literally just a barrier in front of you - everything else including seats are the same.   

 I'd love a return to terracing but this just seems like a pointless exercise in h&s gone mad - I'm not blaming the club i realise they were compelled to do it.  

[HorsforthRam]

6 minutes ago, JuanFloEvraTheCocu'sNesta said:

Does the safe standing area allow for more tickets to be sold or is it the same amount of people just in a different type of arrangement?

Same amount atm. There was talk about 1.5 people per seat when safe standing was first mentioned but not heard anything about it since 

[Day]

54 minutes ago, therams69 said:

Huge overkill.

I am very disappointed I or fellow SCG members were not consulted on this. For a start this is exactly what the SCG is setup for. If it was the case i would have given my input and posted on the socials (including here) to let everyone know what the plan was whether or not i agreed with it.

Pretty much an own goal but we learn I guess.

They did put a video out, guessing either 

a) The club didn't do enough to ensure the video was seen.

or

b) Fans didn't realise just how excessive the checks would be.

https://www.dcfc.co.uk/blog/iframe/stream-video/31094

 

[Bessie1]

Showed my ticket to a steward at the foot of the stairs - took a few seconds - absolutely nothing to complain about - well done to the club for doing this with no fuss.

[Tamworthram]

13 minutes ago, Gerry Daly said:

My son is in the South upper and said it was a bit of a nuisance but no big deal. They will quickly learn from it, things are always like this to start with when something new is introduced

That's a good point. Whilst no doubt a tad irritating, presumably folk will soon get use to the idea of not putting your ticket away until you're in your area. Maybe (I honestly don't know), such extra vigilant stewarding is a requirement in order to obtain/retain a licence for safe standing. 🤷‍♂️

[Simmo’s left foot]

I couldn't help but notice there were still a lot of people standing in the aisles at the top of the south stand. These idiots will ruin it for the rest! I assume the club are worried about people thinking they can stand anywhere they want, hence the ticket checks.

Unfortunately there does seem to be an element of "I'll do want I want" associated with standing in seated areas, I hear that also happens at away games too?

[therams69]

1 hour ago, David said:

They did put a video out, guessing either 

a) The club didn't do enough to ensure the video was seen.

or

b) Fans didn't realise just how excessive the checks would be.

https://www.dcfc.co.uk/blog/iframe/stream-video/31094

 

Not everyone has the time to watch a video.. There was no separate message out there..

The checks were excessive. Bottom of the stand and then walk up the stairs for another check and another at the top if you were at back.

Communication poor, again.

[Day]

7 minutes ago, therams69 said:

Not everyone has the time to watch a video.. There was no separate message out there..

The checks were excessive. Bottom of the stand and then walk up the stairs for another check and another at the top if you were at back.

Communication poor, again.

On the club website it said they emailed everyone affected by the rails? The video wasn't that long to be fair, not like it was an hour long to make time for.

I'm not sure why all this couldn't wait until the summer, have all the rails in place and communicate better how it works when renewing/purchasing what can now be sold as a standing season ticket.

All summer drill it home how the checks would be performed etc.

Either way, not disagreeing on the excessive checks, wouldn't be surprised if it's beyond the clubs control and ticking boxes for health and safety.

Possibly why it wasn't up for discussion with the SCG maybe?

[Foreveram]

1 hour ago, Simmo’s left foot said:

I couldn't help but notice there were still a lot of people standing in the aisles at the top of the south stand. These idiots will ruin it for the rest! I assume the club are worried about people thinking they can stand anywhere they want, hence the ticket checks.

Unfortunately there does seem to be an element of "I'll do want I want" associated with standing in seated areas, I hear that also happens at away games too?

Yes, they even have a song about it 😉

[SSD]

23 minutes ago, therams69 said:

Not everyone has the time to watch a video.. There was no separate message out there..

The checks were excessive. Bottom of the stand and then walk up the stairs for another check and another at the top if you were at back.

Communication poor, again.

I agree. I want Safe Standing to work however the poor communication really did not help the situation on Saturday. People getting aggressive on the stairs is not what you want to see. How much would it have cost for letters to be sent to all season ticket holders in the South Stand? Explain nice and clearly the procedures that have to take place in accordance with FA regs. Allow more time to get to your seats. I appreciate the club made a video with Owen but I was not clear enough how many times you would be checked. Not enough senior supervisors around on the day either.

Poor all round.

[RadioactiveWaste]

I'm pretty sure after a bit of "getting used to" it'll be fine.

Whenever I'd been in the south stand it had been de-facto standing anyway so having the rails makes sense. The stewarding was probably what they had to agree with authorities, insurance, H&S compliance etc to get it to go ahead - once everyone's familier I expect it'll become a non-issue.

[tinman]

4 hours ago, Crewton said:

The introduction of safe standing to the South Stand certainly seems to have quietened the fans there down a bit 😉

Too busy licking the railing

[Mucker1884]

I take it now everyone is stood up, the roofline is lower, hence no sunset pics from the south?

👀

[Tamworthram]

3 hours ago, therams69 said:

Not everyone has the time to watch a video.. There was no separate message out there..

The checks were excessive. Bottom of the stand and then walk up the stairs for another check and another at the top if you were at back.

Communication poor, again.

On the website there are two very brief videos (if people haven’t got time to watch a couple of short videos then I don’t know how they would find time to read a separate communication) and a code of conduct that does state that you need to have your ticket available for any secondary checks so, the message is there. Perhaps three checks is a tad excessive but I fail to see how it could really have disturbed anyone’s match day experience that much and doesn’t IMO justify quite the backlash I’ve seen from a handful of people. As others have said, it’s probably just a case of getting used to it and the extra checks are probably part of the licence requirements in order to prevent overcrowding if folk chose to ignore their allocated seats and just crowd together.