Standing at the back of H Block (to wind the Stewards up?)

[Dirty Dave]

I'm in row U for Gillingham game. Is this back row? Must be pretty close

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Can anyone explain why this is only an issue in H Block? Surely if there was an overwhelming wish to stand, there would be some sign of people doing so in other parts of Withdean?

 

[Yorkie]

If standing is so dangerous, how come there is still a terrace at Cardiff?

 

[Guy Fawkes]

f.f.s the issues are

the ground was half empty and able to accomodate those who want to sit or stand.

when it is pissing down standing means your jeans dont get soaked

at least,unlike my most strident detractors on here,i paid money and gave my support.

withdean is a hard place to generate enthusiasm and atmosphere.when h block stands it sings,when the stewards make people sit the atmosphere dies like a burst balloon.

the club is loosing paying customers for many reasons(smoking ban,withdean experience.ticket prices,difficulty in getting tickets-real or percieved,many other reasons -you name yours) can they afford to piss off anymore?

is it right for the club to make me sit whilst encouraging albion staff to stand blocking gangways and creating a real hazard?

Don't get me wrong, i want, and have stated on here and elsewhere before, that some standing should be brought back to English league football, and if possible as a safe standing area like in Germany, however when I asked peoples views on this, the majority were against trying to get something changed to allow this to happen (national campaign etc..), most just sounded defeatist on this issue.

The problem in all seater stadiums are that seats are allocated, and it is difficult for people to change to another area of the ground if they are unhappy because they can't see, others are too noisy or whatever..... It is slightly different at away games when people ignore designated seats and those who make noise and stand during the game can get together much more easily.

Maybe at Withdean, a more flexible way to enable people to move and group together would help, so that if people stood, those surrounding them could move if unhappy or unable to see, but this also applies to any clubs home games.

 

[Springal]

Just to note you CANNOT be ejected from a football stadium for standing. A steward can repeatidly ask you to sit down, aslong as you do not swear or are not abusive towards them there is nothing they can do.

I found this out at Wembley and after speaking to one of the policemen there they said it is just stadium guidelines and I would not be thrown out just for standing.

 

[who me?]

tuesday night i was in the back row middle of h block. to my right was at least 150 empty seats soaking wet with no one standing obstructing the view of anyone.

those among us in H/J bloke who wanted to sit could have moved into ones nearer the half way line with a better view, no one did cos no one wanted to.they wanted to congregate,sing, half a laugh and stand.
the stewards stopped the standing and killed the atmosphere.

AND i keep saying. how come we must sit and albion staff are exempt

 

[Statto]

"tell the away fans to sit down"

To be fair I think they have a point there. Thats one of the things that really annoys me about this standing issue. We H blockers get asked to sit down all the time, which is fair enough. But what about the away fans? they are never told to sit down by the stewards, every week I see large numbers of visiting fans on their feet, and not a steward in sight. (they only took action on saturday because more people than usual pointed this out). Also as other people have pointed out, what about the 50 or so people who stand in that gangway At the back of the north stand, by the press box? This is technically not allowed and could be bolcking an emergency route.

Im not a steward critic usually but I cant help feeling that in this instance its double standards, one rule for one etc.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

I'm actually fairly sure that most people are well aware of the event that led to the current rules.
The point is that it couldn't happen again. We're not talking about a terrace with a fence in front and uncontrolled numbers. It's a stand where everyone has an allocated seat. The posibbility of dangerous surges and over crowding just doesn't exist anymore.

BECAUSE YOU ARE SITTING IN A SEAT.

Also Bradford had nothing to do with seats, but with an antiquated stand, full of inflammable rubbish, made of wood, no proper fire escapes, with an inflammable roof, and with a great big fence in front of it to stop people (guess what) dangerously surging onto the pitch and causing trouble. If supporters in the '70s and '80s had behaved themselves better, the fences wouldn't have been there. Football fans have shown they cannot be trusted with ground safety. See also Ibrox, Bolton, Birmingham etc etc etc.

 

[PC BHA]

Just to note you CANNOT be ejected from a football stadium for standing. A steward can repeatidly ask you to sit down, aslong as you do not swear or are not abusive towards them there is nothing they can do.

I found this out at Wembley and after speaking to one of the policemen there they said it is just stadium guidelines and I would not be thrown out just for standing.

Springal, i do not know which officer you spoke to, but they are clearly very wrong. The stadium at Withdean is certified as an all seater stadium, therefore the safety certificate is for an all seater stadium. If you stand repeatedly, you are breaching the ground regulations for which Withdean is governed by, therefore making yourself liable to be ejected by the stewards. There is no argument, no ifs and buts, that it the way it is. It will not change.

 

[who me?]

BECAUSE YOU ARE SITTING IN A SEAT.

Also Bradford had nothing to do with seats, but with an antiquated stand, full of inflammable rubbish, made of wood, no proper fire escapes, with an inflammable roof, and with a great big fence in front of it to stop people (guess what) dangerously surging onto the pitch and causing trouble. If supporters in the '70s and '80s had behaved themselves better, the fences wouldn't have been there. Football fans have shown they cannot be trusted with ground safety. See also Ibrox, Bolton, Birmingham etc etc etc.

I am sorry but your facts are very wrong. bradford had no fences.the stand was ,like our old south stand at the goldstone, seating at the back and a standing area in front, the reason people died was because they went to the back of the stand and found exit gates padlocked.they were killed by complacency and neglect in the part of those whose job it was to ensure they were safe.
i have a book written by simon ingliss written at least 5 probably nearer 10 years before bradford called FOOTBALL GROUNDS OF ENGLAND AND WALES in this he mentions this stand specifically,in this he speaks of wooden flaps he could lift and the accumulated years of paper and rubbish under this wooden stand.an obvious fire hazard compounded by a wooden roof covered with tar based felt.

our south stand burned down after a game against middlesboro,we were lucky the fire (probably started by a dropped fag)took hold during the night,not when it was occupied.

white hart lane in the 70's would have burnt like a bonfire given a foolishly dropped fag.

hillsborough was another example of neglect

might i commend to you the book HILLSBORO THE TRUTH if you have difficulty in getting it from your library P.M.me and i will lend you mine.

the 2nd most frightening thing about the fiasco that was hilsboro is that it could have happened at any ground any time,i and many other brighton fans had a lucky escape leaving highbury in 1983

the most frightening thing is that many of the "dead" occupying the morgue were still alive 5 hours later and could have been saved if they had been given more than a fleeting examination by unknown "medics" who decided who was alive and who was dead.
5 seconds with the wrong man and fans who could have been saved were doomed to die hours later

 

[who me?]

Springal, i do not know which officer you spoke to, but they are clearly very wrong. The stadium at Withdean is certified as an all seater stadium, therefore the safety certificate is for an all seater stadium. If you stand repeatedly, you are breaching the ground regulations for which Withdean is governed by, therefore making yourself liable to be ejected by the stewards. There is no argument, no ifs and buts, that it the way it is. It will not change.

then how come albion employees stand every game beside the radio shack and the stewards allow them to ignore regulations and to block gangways

 

[Kukev31]

BECAUSE YOU ARE SITTING IN A SEAT.

Also Bradford had nothing to do with seats, but with an antiquated stand, full of inflammable rubbish, made of wood, no proper fire escapes, with an inflammable roof, and with a great big fence in front of it to stop people (guess what) dangerously surging onto the pitch and causing trouble. If supporters in the '70s and '80s had behaved themselves better, the fences wouldn't have been there. Football fans have shown they cannot be trusted with ground safety. See also Ibrox, Bolton, Birmingham etc etc etc.

Tthere wasn't actally a fence at the front of that stand thank god. But the point about is that if that stand was standing nt seating, then the stand could have been evacuated a lot quicker. This didn't make people design grounds all-standing though.

 

[Buzzer]

Can anyone explain why this is only an issue in H Block? Surely if there was an overwhelming wish to stand, there would be some sign of people doing so in other parts of Withdean?

whisper it quietly but the Burgess Hill Massive in the family stand ALWAYS stand. No-one has any problems with it and no-one complains

 

[who me?]

bollox the stand probably held no more than 10000 mixed standing and sitting at the back,those STANDING went over the low wall onto the pitch and survived.

those SITTING,because they were in a HIGHER bit of the stand with a drop of about 6 feet to the terrace went to the back of the stand and found the exit gates padlocked and were trapped by the speed of the fire spreading.

i could,but wont argue that all standing would have saved all the lives, I WILL argue that safe standing means that clubs no longer treat us with CONTEMPT,like they did for years


s

 

[portlock seagull]

If standing is so dangerous, how come there is still a terrace at Cardiff?

But why let facts stand in the way of a good argument!

 

[portlock seagull]

Can anyone explain why this is only an issue in H Block? Surely if there was an overwhelming wish to stand, there would be some sign of people doing so in other parts of Withdean?

I've seen people in E and F blocks including myself told to sit down after standing up trying to generate an atmosphere.

 

[portlock seagull]

It's also not very nice being told to effectively sit in a puddle either when arriving at Withdean on wet November evening is it. I stopped wetting myself many years ago and don't expect to resume until I'm in my 80's.

 

[Dover]

As some of you know Krispies is my best mate, and yes he did walk away form his seat, but never left the ground. He, and I know what happened and I for one will not tell tales.

We met for the second half and sat with our freinds who are in the other part of H Block. Now what was interesting is that the stewards did not look at us once. What was fascinating however was there seemed to be a cat and mouse game going on between the two factions. And both parties were winding each other up.

Now here is the worst bit. I will probably not go back into H Block again, and trust me on this, as I have sat in other parts of the South Stand, the stewarding there can be on the verge of over zealous. If you do not belive me, just wait for the next "Paintpot" game for example and just notice how many stewards congrgate around that block.

But what has crossed my and Krispies mind is that maybe, and just maybe, we have got just a little too old to be jumping about so much. And also football has changed dramatically over the last 10 years or so, and so has the fanbase.

Anyway. See you all at the Gillingham game.

 

[NMH]

I happen to LIKE sitting. I want the players and manager doing all the work, while I recline my hard-working behind in cool and photogenic manner.

So sit down, suckers, and no fag-ash Bills from Burgess Hills either.

 

[BensGrandad]

As I said before it's not the LAW, its just a regulation.

Sorry it is my misuse of the words. You are correct it is a regulation which like all rules and regulations are there to bent but not broken so if they prove unpopular get them changed, but never break them. As you say they are much easierto change than if they were the law of the land.