West stand middle exit

[TheFunk]

Yes me too head down and ignored them. I'd love to know on what basis they've made the decision. I presume when they closed the middle exit another box needed ticking.

[donnyallday]

From my understanding what i heard, the reason fot the stewards iin the carpark is this.

We seem to have a group of the youth element that appear to leave just before full time and basically ,try and cause a confrontation with the visiting fans.

Apparently the policing costs are ridiculous and they would like to earn a crust so the stewards are trying deal with the problem, i.e low outcome more budget for the club to invest elsewhere.

No brainer if thats the case.

[Muttley]

But to my recollection, they’ve never caused a problem there, usually it happens at the edge of the car park or on the road up towards town - and then only when there’s a likeminded away contingent - which there certainly wasn’t from Shrewsbury.

And if they know who these kids are, why not steward them instead of people who just want to get home by the most direct route?

[TheFunk]

The last time I recollect seeing a problem was against Reading in our last championship season. It makes absolutely no sense. How are away fans supposed to get to their cars. It just seems to be that someone somewhere has come up with the idea of how can we antagonise fans the most. We don't pay the policing costs outside the stadium do we?

[roversdude]

Thought it was just an excuse for the stewards to hold hands

[silent majority]

Are you sure it's not just to stop traffic travelling the wrong way around the stadium?

[Filo]

Are you sure it's not just to stop traffic travelling the wrong way around the stadium?

Why would they be along the footpath to the road if that were the case?

With some of the meatheads amongst the regular stewards

[Muttley]

Are you sure it's not just to stop traffic travelling the wrong way around the stadium?

No, whoever was in charge was shouting "You're letting them through! Hold the line! Hold the line!*" when I walked past.

* I might have made that bit up ;-)

[TheFunk]

Are you sure it's not just to stop traffic travelling the wrong way around the stadium?

100 per cent sure. Physically restraining people not cars.

[silent majority]

Are you sure it's not just to stop traffic travelling the wrong way around the stadium?

100 per cent sure. Physically restraining people not cars.

OK, fair enough. I wasn't aware of anything other than enforcing the one way system.

[drfchound]

Maybe they should let the home Burberry clad youths come face to face with the Portsmouth fans on Saturday.
There will obviously be many more from Portsmouth than some of the smaller clubs we play so the probable outcome would be the Burberry boys running away.

[Drover]

As regards the middle exit being closed for the disabled incase of emergency,am I the only one who see's this as a massive design error,obviously down to the architects!

[DonnyBazR0ver]

It's a bloody nonsense and a waste of an exit that it was designed for. Whilst the West (South) stairwell was predictably busy and a bottle neck, the central stairwell was virtually redundant.

[silent majority]

As regards the middle exit being closed for the disabled incase of emergency,am I the only one who see's this as a massive design error,obviously down to the architects!

It was never designed as a general exit, nor was it ever intended to be used as one, therefore it can't be a massive design error as you put it. DRFC did allow it to be used for that reason but once the safety people advised against it there's very little they can do.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

Maybe not, but I feel better for getting out of my system! 😀

[TheFunk]

I can't see many using the North exit from now on either if you have to do a full lap of the stadium to leave if walking round the lake. Even more pressure on the South exit.

[RedJ]

Just knock out them windows and get bouncy slides, sorted.

[i_ateallthepies]

Perhaps the safety people would do well to observe the congestion at the SW exit (with a half capacity attendance at that) to see if they still think it is a good decision.  If there was ever to be a life risk emergency situation affecting the west stand the likely outcome would be scores of deaths whilst a perfectly viable escape route is used for a few.
This is the sort of bonkers scenario you read about in the aftermath of real life disasters.

[roversdude]

Why do you have to do a full lap (apologies if you mean NE exit)

[Drover]

As regards the middle exit being closed for the disabled incase of emergency,am I the only one who see's this as a massive design error,obviously down to the architects!

It was never designed as a general exit, nor was it ever intended to be used as one, therefore it can't be a massive design error as you put it. DRFC did allow it to be used for that reason but once the safety people advised against it there's very little they can do.

But in that case,is it not then,a design mistake to expect two stairwell exits to be sufficient for the whole of the west stand?

[Draytonian III]

As has been mentioned on here before why can’t the exit in the South West corner be used by people in the West Stand,it’s at ground level and a lot larger and safer than the bottle neck that has occurred at the first two home games of the season. Some one is going to get hurt in the crush , in the coming months when the weather turns those steps are going to be very slippery

[silent majority]

As regards the middle exit being closed for the disabled incase of emergency,am I the only one who see's this as a massive design error,obviously down to the architects!

It was never designed as a general exit, nor was it ever intended to be used as one, therefore it can't be a massive design error as you put it. DRFC did allow it to be used for that reason but once the safety people advised against it there's very little they can do.

But in that case,is it not then,a design mistake to expect two stairwell exits to be sufficient for the whole of the west stand?

How can it be? The flow of people on exiting the stadium will have had to meet certain design criteria, i.e. width of staircase, size of treads, visibility, handrails, and other features that have to meet safety standards and conditions. It would have been impossible to build the stadium in the first place if it hadn't have met the standards required.

And I could guarantee (almost) that the stadium will be completely empty within 7-10 minutes of the end of the game. Is that too long?

[Draytonian III]

And can you guarantee people not slipping over trying to get out of one exit,a couple of elderly and less able people on Tuesday night felt embarrassed by the time it was taking them to get down the stairs.
Some people come via public transport or with friends and don’t want to keep people waiting or miss their bus or train.
Which exit do you use to the leave the stadium ?
What are the figures for “bums on seats” in the 3 Home sections ?
I would hazard a guess that over 45% of the home support is in the West Stand

[silent majority]

And not a single bit of that is relevant.

Are you suggesting that the design criteria for exits to a stadium should be that people may be using public transport, or they've come with friends? Seriously?

[Draytonian III]

It is very relevant,and very insulting.

[silent majority]

It is very relevant,and very insulting.

Which exit I use isn't relevant at all. Bums on seats doesn't matter either, all stands, concourse areas, and exits have been designed around current design criteria as spelt out in the Green Guide. The exit that takes the most time to clear in the Keepmoat is the southern end of the East stand by the family area.

[Draytonian III]

I see you that only answer what you want to,not the points about less able supporters. Fair enough I seek answers from those who are in the know.

[TheFunk]

Why do you have to do a full lap (apologies if you mean NE exit)

Because from the North West exit you are only allowed to walk anti clockwise around the stadium.

[RedJ]

See, while I see why that is a massive pain in the arse, it does kind of make sense to segregate the fans on the way out. It happens at the majority of grounds, it's just that we have no fencing or anything around the outside of the Keepmoat so we don't think it should happen.

[Pancho Regan]

Why do you have to do a full lap (apologies if you mean NE exit)

Because from the North West exit you are only allowed to walk anti clockwise around the stadium.

We always walk anti-clockwise from the West Stand to get back to the lake - is it quicker the other way?