SLO ??

[Jenny]

Those who wish to sit just make it difficult for themselves by chosing to sit towards the back, and therefore when people come in towards the end they have no option but to go towards the front.

It is stubbornness on both sides to be honest, but it grinds my gears to see people moaning all match about people stood infront of them when they have deliberately chose to sit towards the back. And instead of moving, they just moan moan moan all match... what kind of experience is that??

The stewards were bloody useless too, we ended up stood towards the back on Saturday, and the whole of the block was stood. One of our party is disabled and realised in the first half she wasn't going to be able to stand all game (and no one in our block was seated) but there was not many options for her to move to somewhere where she would be able to see the game and sit down.... so sensibly, she went and spoke to the stewards to ask if she could move to the side stand where there were clearly many seats available only to be told no and that she should tell people to sit down herself... yes, clearly her responsibility to ask a whole block to sit down. She had disabled written on her bloody ticket. In the end they let her move but only because she had asked to speak to someone more senior about it.

Do they also have no option but to stand up, or is there perhaps a seat handily provided for them somewhere nearby?

They obviously have a choice, but what about their choice to stand? Is that less important than someones choice to sit towards the back?

There are room in stands to accommodate both people who want to stand and people who want to sit.... It is a shame that supporters cannot seem to respect each other enough to make this happen in harmony.

We seem to be able to make it happen at home games in the South Stand.

[Glyn_Wigley]

Those who wish to sit just make it difficult for themselves by chosing to sit towards the back, and therefore when people come in towards the end they have no option but to go towards the front.

It is stubbornness on both sides to be honest, but it grinds my gears to see people moaning all match about people stood infront of them when they have deliberately chose to sit towards the back. And instead of moving, they just moan moan moan all match... what kind of experience is that??

The stewards were bloody useless too, we ended up stood towards the back on Saturday, and the whole of the block was stood. One of our party is disabled and realised in the first half she wasn't going to be able to stand all game (and no one in our block was seated) but there was not many options for her to move to somewhere where she would be able to see the game and sit down.... so sensibly, she went and spoke to the stewards to ask if she could move to the side stand where there were clearly many seats available only to be told no and that she should tell people to sit down herself... yes, clearly her responsibility to ask a whole block to sit down. She had disabled written on her bloody ticket. In the end they let her move but only because she had asked to speak to someone more senior about it.

Do they also have no option but to stand up, or is there perhaps a seat handily provided for them somewhere nearby?

They obviously have a choice, but what about their choice to stand? Is that less important than someones choice to sit towards the back?

There are room in stands to accommodate both people who want to stand and people who want to sit.... It is a shame that supporters cannot seem to respect each other enough to make this happen in harmony.

We seem to be able to make it happen at home games in the South Stand.

Yes. Or do you think the sitters know that people are going to roll in at five to three and insist on standing in front of them?

Also, a lot of people who sit don't have a choice in the matter and have to sit. Standers do. Isn't it just as important to make sure that those who have to sit get as good a view of the game that they've paid just as much to watch as everybody else, or do you think that they're second class supporters and should just shut up and sit in the crap seats because people who want to stand (and therefore are first class supporters) tell them to?

[Jenny]

I don't think any of those things Glyn. Don't try and put words into my mouth.

I am pretty much on the fence with this one and can see both sides of the argument, if neither side is willing to see the point of view of the others than problems like this will occur when large numbers travel away.

[Glyn_Wigley]

I'm sorry Jenny, but it does all makes it sound like you think that those who have to sit are being unreasonable by not standing up when others stand in front of them, or complaining when people stand in front of them. Your very first line says that - that people who want to sit are making it difficult for themselves. ie it's them creating the problem.

[RoversAlias]

The fact is, at Scunthorpe in this case and at many grounds, the stand is a seated area and so fans should sit down if standing is going to affect the enjoyment of the game for others. I think if everyone was sensible then yes, standers at the back not blocking anyone's view, sitters further forward but there is a growing lack of respect for each other it seems in our fanbase, particularly away from home.

I go with my Dad, who can't stand anymore due to his age, and I have a dodgy back myself. We don't like to sit near the front due to the poorer view at most grounds but we have never had a problem finding a seat further up that doesn't inconvenience either ourselves or those around us who wish to stand. It shouldn't be a difficult thing to achieve yet I keep reading and seeing instances where people are not working together to ensure everyone in the stand enjoys the game.

[silent majority]

The problem with Scunthorpe, and other grounds as well, such as Crewe, is that there is no front or back. The depth of the area is far too small, so its either all front or all back, where do you draw the line?

The Keepmoat, by contrast, is much deeper therefore able to accommodate both.

I did suggest, in a Supporters Board meeting, that they should allocate the side stand initially so that those who definitely needed to sit could do so. However I don't think Sculthorpe wanted to play that game so our request fell on deaf ears.

As for criticism of the SLO, that's just madness. We were both copied into the same email that said that Scunthorpe would try to accommodate standing supporters at the back and seated ones towards the front. They were also happy to let people move around (how that's possible in a sold out area will, and did, create problems) if people wished. The SLO passed that information on, he did not instruct anybody to do anything else.


Because so many people wanted to stand it invariably meant that quite a few people would have their view blocked. It's just not possible at Scunthorpe to accommodate everybody. They were willing to try, but it inevitably failed.