Viking Supporters Co-operative
Viking Chat => Viking Chat => Topic started by: TonySoprano on January 25, 2026, 10:46:03 am
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Shown as sold out for days before the match yesterday, when it was clearly far from sold out.
Think the club are being far far too overzealous with not selling at least 500 for "safety reasons"
Prevents many fans from getting the cheaper tickets, unless thats what they really want? Forcing them to buy more expensive tickets in the east and West?
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It’s not the clubs choice.
The local Safety Advisory Group are the ones who issue the safety certificate to the club and they’re the ones who decide on the numbers.
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Rovers are missing a trick. We're the cheapest away day in the league bar Burton which is terracing. Away fans pay less than all our home fans for on the day tickets.
It's so simple. The south stand is sold out nearly to STs. Get the on the day price put up to at least the rest of the ground and starting making more per game on the away end.
Rotherham will make a fortune out of us when we sell out at £30 a pop.
Some people will moan at this. We don't want to be that club but it's easy to shout that when it's not your own money.
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It’s not the clubs choice.
The local Safety Advisory Group are the ones who issue the safety certificate to the club and they’re the ones who decide on the numbers.
Do the explain their reasoning as the stadium has an official capacity for all quarters so why would this alter if nothing within the stadium has altered .
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It’s not the clubs choice.
The local Safety Advisory Group are the ones who issue the safety certificate to the club and they’re the ones who decide on the numbers.
Do the explain their reasoning as the stadium has an official capacity for all quarters so why would this alter if nothing within the stadium has altered .
But it has altered in the south stand by allowing a sit anywhere policy and turning a blind eye to the standing issue.
Allocated seating means that you can get near to/or achieve capacity. But, as soon as you relax that policy then you have to make compromises on the numbers.
Fans standing take up more room than those sat down. And allowing people to sit anywhere always results in odd spare seats being unoccupied.
The SAG have a job to do, and I’ve spoken with them on numerous occasions about safe standing and also trying to get a supporter on to the SAG. They’re not perfect, but if it goes wrong it’s them who become liable just as much as anybody else.
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It’s not the clubs choice.
The local Safety Advisory Group are the ones who issue the safety certificate to the club and they’re the ones who decide on the numbers.
Do the explain their reasoning as the stadium has an official capacity for all quarters so why would this alter if nothing within the stadium has altered .
But it has altered in the south stand by allowing a sit anywhere policy and turning a blind eye to the standing issue.
Allocated seating means that you can get near to/or achieve capacity. But, as soon as you relax that policy then you have to make compromises on the numbers.
Fans standing take up more room than those sat down. And allowing people to sit anywhere always results in odd spare seats being unoccupied.
The SAG have a job to do, and I’ve spoken with them on numerous occasions about safe standing and also trying to get a supporter on to the SAG. They’re not perfect, but if it goes wrong it’s them who become liable just as much as anybody else.
What an embarrassing load of health and safety waffle. How many times did you burst out giggling while writing that. It's about control, the sit down happy clappers win out every time. You can very easily have unreserved seating filled out far more than we allow, been there done it all over Europe. But here in the UK we've got our clipboard brigade :headbang:
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Lucky enough to be at Sampdoria the other week. Flags banners standing everywhere. The clipboard brigade of the UK would be crying
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It could have been called the Blank W*** for all the support it gave yesterday when the boys backs were against the wall.
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It’s not the clubs choice.
The local Safety Advisory Group are the ones who issue the safety certificate to the club and they’re the ones who decide on the numbers.
Is that advice, or are the club obliged legally to limit the tickets sold ?
Because if its the former, then its way over the top.
As far as the standing "issue ", thats nonsense. There are much bigger stadiums than ours, with far bigger attendances who's fans stand for 90 mins week in week out with no issues.
I only ask because its affecting not only club revenue, but match day experience and atmosphere.
Yesterday was supposed to be a black bank takeover day, but there were 500 empty seats in the black band despite being "sold out"
Very bizarre
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Lucky enough to be at Sampdoria the other week. Flags banners standing everywhere. The clipboard brigade of the UK would be crying
Sampdoria hasn't had a Hillsborough
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Lucky enough to be at Sampdoria the other week. Flags banners standing everywhere. The clipboard brigade of the UK would be crying
Sampdoria hasn't had a Hillsborough
Odd comment, only Hillsborough has had a Hillsborough.
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It’s not the clubs choice.
The local Safety Advisory Group are the ones who issue the safety certificate to the club and they’re the ones who decide on the numbers.
Is that advice, or are the club obliged legally to limit the tickets sold ?
Because if its the former, then its way over the top.
As far as the standing "issue ", thats nonsense. There are much bigger stadiums than ours, with far bigger attendances who's fans stand for 90 mins week in week out with no issues.
I only ask because its affecting not only club revenue, but match day experience and atmosphere.
Yesterday was supposed to be a black bank takeover day, but there were 500 empty seats in the black band despite being "sold out"
Very bizarre
It’s simple buddy, if you want unrestricted seating then the capacity of the stand is reduced by 500 (out of clubs hands - licensing decision) if you want full capacity then would need to be specific ticketed seating. May not agree but it’s simple concept to grasp
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Lucky enough to be at Sampdoria the other week. Flags banners standing everywhere. The clipboard brigade of the UK would be crying
Sampdoria hasn't had a Hillsborough
Odd comment, only Hillsborough has had a Hillsborough.
Far from an odd comment. Explains why English clubs and authorities are cautious. Don't blame them
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I said in another thread how utterly disappointing the Blank Bank was yesterday, especially given it was their 'takeover day'. It's easy signing when we're winning and crusing. But at 3-1 and 3-2 when the lads needed it, there was nothing.
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I said in another thread how utterly disappointing the Blank Bank was yesterday, especially given it was their 'takeover day'. It's easy signing when we're winning and crusing. But at 3-1 and 3-2 when the lads needed it, there was nothing.
Doesn't help being forced to have it half empty
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Lucky enough to be at Sampdoria the other week. Flags banners standing everywhere. The clipboard brigade of the UK would be crying
Sampdoria hasn't had a Hillsborough
Odd comment, only Hillsborough has had a Hillsborough.
Far from an odd comment. Explains why English clubs and authorities are cautious. Don't blame them
It is when you remember the heysel tragedy, whilst not in Italy, Italians were the victims. So will be very much in their minds.
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I said in another thread how utterly disappointing the Blank Bank was yesterday, especially given it was their 'takeover day'. It's easy signing when we're winning and crusing. But at 3-1 and 3-2 when the lads needed it, there was nothing.
It was disappointing agreed it has been all season. But it’s not the people organising/orchestrating the Black Bank at fault. The same people who sing and try to create an atmosphere are the ones who do week in week out. Until the people who spend the majority of games in silence get involved then the atmosphere will always be flat. It’s everyone in the stadium’s responsibility to get behind the team.
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I said in another thread how utterly disappointing the Blank Bank was yesterday, especially given it was their 'takeover day'. It's easy signing when we're winning and crusing. But at 3-1 and 3-2 when the lads needed it, there was nothing.
Doesn't help being forced to have it half empty
It’s nowhere near HALF empty.
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I said in another thread how utterly disappointing the Blank Bank was yesterday, especially given it was their 'takeover day'. It's easy signing when we're winning and crusing. But at 3-1 and 3-2 when the lads needed it, there was nothing.
Doesn't help being forced to have it half empty
It’s nowhere near HALF empty.
Thanks pedant
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Leeds always looks full and they don't sit down behind the goal at Revie End.
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It’s not the clubs choice.
The local Safety Advisory Group are the ones who issue the safety certificate to the club and they’re the ones who decide on the numbers.
Do the explain their reasoning as the stadium has an official capacity for all quarters so why would this alter if nothing within the stadium has altered .
But it has altered in the south stand by allowing a sit anywhere policy and turning a blind eye to the standing issue.
Allocated seating means that you can get near to/or achieve capacity. But, as soon as you relax that policy then you have to make compromises on the numbers.
Fans standing take up more room than those sat down. And allowing people to sit anywhere always results in odd spare seats being unoccupied.
The SAG have a job to do, and I’ve spoken with them on numerous occasions about safe standing and also trying to get a supporter on to the SAG. They’re not perfect, but if it goes wrong it’s them who become liable just as much as anybody else.
What an embarrassing load of health and safety waffle. How many times did you burst out giggling while writing that. It's about control, the sit down happy clappers win out every time. You can very easily have unreserved seating filled out far more than we allow, been there done it all over Europe. But here in the UK we've got our clipboard brigade :headbang:
I've been there and done it all over the world but I fail; to see how that changes anything.
Having spent over 20 years on the Safe Standing campaign I think I have a little knowledge how these things go.
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Leeds always looks full and they don't sit down behind the goal at Revie End.
Very true, but they do have allocated seating. Major difference.
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Lucky enough to be at Sampdoria the other week. Flags banners standing everywhere. The clipboard brigade of the UK would be crying
Sampdoria hasn't had a Hillsborough
Odd comment, only Hillsborough has had a Hillsborough.
Far from an odd comment. Explains why English clubs and authorities are cautious. Don't blame them
Very true.
In the UK we have the Sports Ground Safety Authority, and they produce the design document known as the Green Guide which includes all the specifications required to meet the exacting and high standards which we see in football stadiums today. The SGSA has become so accomplished at what they do that they have become the pre-eminent advisory board for stadiums around the globe.
Because of Hillsborough, Bradford, Glasgow etc they will always adopt the safety first approach. Its why you see legislation around flares and pyrotechnics, drinking within sight of the pitch, body searches, restrictions on flags etc etc. Its unfortunately because of our history that these things exist.
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Leeds always looks full and they don't sit down behind the goal at Revie End.
Very true, but they do have allocated seating. Major difference.
But still, no one sits down so they take up twice the space apparently. So why isn't their capacity reduced on that basis?
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Leeds always looks full and they don't sit down behind the goal at Revie End.
Very true, but they do have allocated seating. Major difference.
But still, no one sits down so they take up twice the space apparently. So why isn't their capacity reduced on that basis?
Twice the space?
Different SAGS will apply the restrictions how they see fit and allow for local conditions in various stadiums. Which is why you’ve seen standing in seated areas treated differently from club to club when you've travelled to away matches.
But taking action against persistent standing in seated areas is very common, and something we had to deal with all the time. Without trawling the internet for examples, of which there are plenty here's just one from Sunderland which mentions restricting capacity.
SoL: Persistent standing prohibited in regular seats
The local Sports Ground Safety Authority (SGSA) has continually raised serious concerns about persistent standing throughout recent seasons.
Failure to address persistent standing puts the Club at risk of severe sanctions, including an enforced reduction in stadium capacity on matchdays.
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Leeds always looks full and they don't sit down behind the goal at Revie End.
Very true, but they do have allocated seating. Major difference.
But still, no one sits down so they take up twice the space apparently. So why isn't their capacity reduced on that basis?
Twice the space?
More room then, what ever that means?
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Leeds always looks full and they don't sit down behind the goal at Revie End.
Very true, but they do have allocated seating. Major difference.
But still, no one sits down so they take up twice the space apparently. So why isn't their capacity reduced on that basis?
Mate contact the SAG if you want to argue the toss about it
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Leeds always looks full and they don't sit down behind the goal at Revie End.
Very true, but they do have allocated seating. Major difference.
But still, no one sits down so they take up twice the space apparently. So why isn't their capacity reduced on that basis?
Mate contact the SAG if you want to argue the toss about it
Easy fella, its just how the conversation has evolved. I've known Martin for years so I'm not digging him out and hopefully he will know this.
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Leeds always looks full and they don't sit down behind the goal at Revie End.
Very true, but they do have allocated seating. Major difference.
But still, no one sits down so they take up twice the space apparently. So why isn't their capacity reduced on that basis?
Mate contact the SAG if you want to argue the toss about it
Easy fella, its just how the conversation has evolved. I've known Martin for years so I'm not digging him out and hopefully he will know this.
Fair enough mate
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Leeds always looks full and they don't sit down behind the goal at Revie End.
Very true, but they do have allocated seating. Major difference.
But still, no one sits down so they take up twice the space apparently. So why isn't their capacity reduced on that basis?
Mate contact the SAG if you want to argue the toss about it
Easy fella, its just how the conversation has evolved. I've known Martin for years so I'm not digging him out and hopefully he will know this.
I've amended my post above with a bit more detail.
And just to clarify, its the local SAG who will restrict capacity not the cub, which is essentially what we have in Doncaster.
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With regards to the reduced limit because of the unreserved seating.
If the south stand ever became standing only how would this impact its total capacity, if for example the capacity now is 2.8k how would it differ all standing?
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With regards to the reduced limit because of the unreserved seating.
If the south stand ever became standing only how would this impact its total capacity, if for example the capacity now is 2.8k how would it differ all standing?
It would stay the same.
For two reasons.
1) No club has yet been able to persuade the SGSA that each seat replaced could accommodate more than one supporter
2) The ECO Power would have to reconfigure the concrete steps by introducing a half step if we wanted to increase the capacity. Its feasible but its not been done yet.
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TBF, once Elf and Safety get involved we are bound by their stipulations. The club will have it's hands tied and must abide - no point rattling cages at it.... We could all just sit down eh....?
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Its simply used as ammo for the anti unreserved seating brigade. Hiding behind health and safety to say its the reason it doesn't sell out so the only logical step is stop unreserved.
Instead look how ridiculous you are saying its health and safety. Currently at the in laws watching Juve v Napoli not one person behind the goal sat down ita rammed and bouncing. What an amazing atmosphere and no saddo health and safety clipboarder there
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Its simply used as ammo for the anti unreserved seating brigade. Hiding behind health and safety to say its the reason it doesn't sell out so the only logical step is stop unreserved.
Instead look how ridiculous you are saying its health and safety. Currently at the in laws watching Juve v Napoli not one person behind the goal sat down ita rammed and bouncing. What an amazing atmosphere and no saddo health and safety clipboarder there
Do us all a favour and stay there
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Probably a good argument to go allocated seating in the black bank from next season, and allocate the central 2 blocks as a dedicated singing (unnoficial standing) area.
Also gives the sitters enough notice to avoid those areas when choosing their seats
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Unfortunately these days the "black bank" is 75% mostly young adults who have yet to grow up and think they are the dogs b*llocks because they "get the badge in" and think everyone and everything should revolve around them.
It was hilarious watching these same supporters who slate McGrath continously on social media, here and sometimes in the game immeditately go to "ooo aaa jay mcgrath" when he cleared off the line and scored the goal, later on hes shit and not good enough. The slagging of TLT mid game a few home games ago was enough for me to realise we have a bunch of idiots in that stand these days.
I get it lads, i was once young and enjoyed the atmosphere too but alas i grew up and had kids and joined the so called seated happy clapper brigade and i am perfectly happy where i currently sit.
Most of the fans who you are moaning about wanting to sit down spent decades stood in the pop stand at Belle Vue and the awful terraces accross the country, there is absoutely nothing wrong with anyone wanting to sit in their allocated seat or to sit down during a match regardless of the stand they are in.
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Been in plenty of these ‘fabulous’ stadiums in Spain and Italy. They’re shit.
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Unfortunately these days the "black bank" is 75% mostly young adults who have yet to grow up and think they are the dogs b*llocks because they "get the badge in" and think everyone and everything should revolve around them.
It was hilarious watching these same supporters who slate McGrath continously on social media, here and sometimes in the game immeditately go to "ooo aaa jay mcgrath" when he cleared off the line and scored the goal, later on hes shit and not good enough. The slagging of TLT mid game a few home games ago was enough for me to realise we have a bunch of idiots in that stand these days.
I get it lads, i was once young and enjoyed the atmosphere too but alas i grew up and had kids and joined the so called seated happy clapper brigade and i am perfectly happy where i currently sit.
Most of the fans who you are moaning about wanting to sit down spent decades stood in the pop stand at Belle Vue and the awful terraces accross the country, there is absoutely nothing wrong with anyone wanting to sit in their allocated seat or to sit down during a match regardless of the stand they are in.
I disagree if you are speaking about the South Stand as a whole. It’s often the younger lads that get the atmosphere going and it’s been great in there quite often over the last few years.
We’ve won two games in 19 and that’s what killed the atmosphere. Some people drift away and others have just had the stuffing knocked out of them a bit. The atmosphere at 3-1 on Saturday was poor because everyone was so f**king nervous about what was to come!
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The atmosphere is generally garbage at home. An away team only needs to fetch more than 200 and their team are spurred on more than our fans. Wigan were dreadful yesterday which made it worse but it was clear they hate their team
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Morning All
Matty from the BB Volunteer team here. Just here to post a little bit of clarity regarding Saturday as an whole after being alerted to this thread.
As already mentioned further in the tread, one of the drawbacks of unallocated seating is that the club can only operate at 90% capacity per SAG ruled - however the club have worked a bit of magic here as the seating directly below the screen which is cordoned off contributed to this 10% restriction.
Another draw back that we regularly face is a big concentration of supporters cramming themselves as close to the drum as is humanly possible, often times at a ratio of 4 people : 1 seat. We have been working with the club, to find alternatives to stop this as the supporters here seem not to, or choose not to, understand that the more they spread out, the more chance atmosphere will travel - making us sound a lot better than we do. Not only that, the stand will then look much more “full”
Onto Saturday, our lead volunteers were situated in the East Stand for the game as match ball sponsors. We thought the atmosphere from the Black Bank was electric in the first half, however we discovered after the game that upon Wigan scoring their first goal, the drummer, who is not one of our volunteers, decided that the goal was his excuse to disappear for whatever reason. A number of messages were exchanged between the voluntary team to get things going again but it turns out that our volunteer that drums at away games couldn’t not get access to the gantry that houses the drum due to the high concentration of people in the area and the stewards turned him away in safety grounds.
We spend an awful lot of time trying to keep atmosphere flowing in the stand, for select people to try what they can to sabotage it. For example, post match I was scrolling through social media and saw a video of one person tampering with one of the flags and another person using beer mats that they had bought from our stall before the game as frisbees - this along side outsourced stewarding, most of which look like deers in headlights, but that’s another thing for another day - it’s back to the drawing board for us to bring new ideas to the club on how to better control this area.
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Morning All
Matty from the BB Volunteer team here. Just here to post a little bit of clarity regarding Saturday as an whole after being alerted to this thread.
As already mentioned further in the tread, one of the drawbacks of unallocated seating is that the club can only operate at 90% capacity per SAG ruled - however the club have worked a bit of magic here as the seating directly below the screen which is cordoned off contributed to this 10% restriction.
Another draw back that we regularly face is a big concentration of supporters cramming themselves as close to the drum as is humanly possible, often times at a ratio of 4 people : 1 seat. We have been working with the club, to find alternatives to stop this as the supporters here seem not to, or choose not to, understand that the more they spread out, the more chance atmosphere will travel - making us sound a lot better than we do. Not only that, the stand will then look much more “full”
Onto Saturday, our lead volunteers were situated in the East Stand for the game as match ball sponsors. We thought the atmosphere from the Black Bank was electric in the first half, however we discovered after the game that upon Wigan scoring their first goal, the drummer, who is not one of our volunteers, decided that the goal was his excuse to disappear for whatever reason. A number of messages were exchanged between the voluntary team to get things going again but it turns out that our volunteer that drums at away games couldn’t not get access to the gantry that houses the drum due to the high concentration of people in the area and the stewards turned him away in safety grounds.
We spend an awful lot of time trying to keep atmosphere flowing in the stand, for select people to try what they can to sabotage it. For example, post match I was scrolling through social media and saw a video of one person tampering with one of the flags and another person using beer mats that they had bought from our stall before the game as frisbees - this along side outsourced stewarding, most of which look like deers in headlights, but that’s another thing for another day - it’s back to the drawing board for us to bring new ideas to the club on how to better control this area.
Reading that it looks like a behavioural issue with that same group of supporters that i mentioned
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Morning All
Matty from the BB Volunteer team here. Just here to post a little bit of clarity regarding Saturday as an whole after being alerted to this thread.
As already mentioned further in the tread, one of the drawbacks of unallocated seating is that the club can only operate at 90% capacity per SAG ruled - however the club have worked a bit of magic here as the seating directly below the screen which is cordoned off contributed to this 10% restriction.
Another draw back that we regularly face is a big concentration of supporters cramming themselves as close to the drum as is humanly possible, often times at a ratio of 4 people : 1 seat. We have been working with the club, to find alternatives to stop this as the supporters here seem not to, or choose not to, understand that the more they spread out, the more chance atmosphere will travel - making us sound a lot better than we do. Not only that, the stand will then look much more “full”
Onto Saturday, our lead volunteers were situated in the East Stand for the game as match ball sponsors. We thought the atmosphere from the Black Bank was electric in the first half, however we discovered after the game that upon Wigan scoring their first goal, the drummer, who is not one of our volunteers, decided that the goal was his excuse to disappear for whatever reason. A number of messages were exchanged between the voluntary team to get things going again but it turns out that our volunteer that drums at away games couldn’t not get access to the gantry that houses the drum due to the high concentration of people in the area and the stewards turned him away in safety grounds.
We spend an awful lot of time trying to keep atmosphere flowing in the stand, for select people to try what they can to sabotage it. For example, post match I was scrolling through social media and saw a video of one person tampering with one of the flags and another person using beer mats that they had bought from our stall before the game as frisbees - this along side outsourced stewarding, most of which look like deers in headlights, but that’s another thing for another day - it’s back to the drawing board for us to bring new ideas to the club on how to better control this area.
Reading that it looks like a behavioural issue with that same group of supporters that i mentioned
No, they’re great & ‘get the atmosphere going’.
If you stopped the huddled, beer mat throwing, ‘Burberry Boys’ from ‘declaring’ that section of the South Stand their own well, we’d lose dozens of children……I mean chanters.