Club statement regarding policing at home matches.

SLO_BFC

SLO_BFC

Well-known member
Blackpool Football Club met with Lancashire Police and supporters’ groups in a fans forum last week to discuss the ongoing concerns regarding policing at recent home matches.

20 delegates from supporters’ groups attended, along with Blackpool CEO Ben Mansford, Director Brett Gerrity and the Club’s Ground Safety Officer, Steve Needham.

Despite the overall success with the management of matchday strategies, issues still remain with the dispersal of both home and away supporters out of Bloomfield Road. Lancashire Police, represented by Chief Inspector Dave Hannan, explained why various different exit strategies had been used during recent matches, in an effort to find the most practical solution and gave reasons why some of the police tactics had encountered problems. They acknowledged that mistakes had been made and the routing of home and away supporters together out onto Bloomfield Road was not the best solution.

As a consequence of the meeting, Lancashire Police and the Club have agreed that going forward, away supporters will exit the East Stand via the North East corner and will be routed left onto Central Drive. The Field Street gate to the north will remain closed until all fans have dispersed. This will come into effect from tonight’s game against West Bromwich Albion. The Club recognises this will cause inconvenience to some but will benefit the majority of fans in their peaceful exit from the stadium.

A follow-up ‘fans forum’ will be held in a few weeks’ time to assess what progress is being made and what changes, if any, are required.
 
Well done to you sir for representing the supporters & reporting back regularly. You have been unfairly criticised by a couple of not so pleasant posters on here.
The supporters & the clubs concerns have been committed to minutes, together with the actions taken, and Lancs Police have taken action to rectify what was a serious incident waiting to happen.
There will no doubt be further tweeks needed, but at least the match day plans are now under close scrutiny.
 
so let me get this right, the away fans will be exiting by the north east corner and then forced to turn left and into where the fans exiting from the north will be. Which is the area where there have been most problems with home fans this season.
 
Cheers Steve.... Of all the issues raised recently, I must admit I found the way that some of our Supporters (particularly those with young kids) had been spoken to my members of Lancashire's finest, the most concerning. As you say, the Police have been struggling to find a solution to the exit problems and there's bound to be a certain amount of inconvenience regardless as the situation at present is far from ideal, however there really is no excuse for the use of foul and abusive language and the treatment of people who are simply watching a game of football like animals.

That not only requires a change in strategy, but an overall change in the attitude of our Local Police service towards Blackpool Supporters and whoever else we happen to be hosting.👍
 
The right decision. Makes sense for away fans to exit that way and meet coaches etc on Central Drive. Obviously a few will want trains but hopefully the club and council can arrange appropriate busses if needs be.
Northstandsinger said:
Make some then, if it was good enough for our home fans at the Preston game then It’s good enough for away fans.
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By ‘no facilities’ I really mean limited facilities. They can’t serve alcohol for example and I believe there is less seating available in that half of the East stand also.

The club need to maximise revenue and that means selling alcohol and selling as many away seats as possible especially when we’re not filling out the home ends.
PNE and Rovers have been and gone and unless (and hopefully it happens) we make the playoffs it shouldn’t be an issue.

You can’t sell Alcohol in the North East without a massive redevelopment as it needs to be a closed concourse out of sight of the pitch
 
20togo said:
but if they are routed RIGHT onto Central Drive, the gate needs to be open.
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They are coming out onto central drive many will go right to cars many will go left up central drive to town. If you think for one minute away fans coming out the east at the north end and opening the gate meaning the whole of the north can walk immediately into them is a good idea then you’re wrong. It would be a warzone.
 
20togo said:
so let me get this right, the away fans will be exiting by the north east corner and then forced to turn left and into where the fans exiting from the north will be. Which is the area where there have been most problems with home fans this season.
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I think there is a gate on to Back Henry St which is going to be used. This is on the east boundary wall of the East Stand at the north end of the seats. This makes sense of the instruction "turn left" but then away fans will have to turn right into Field St to get to Central Drive.
The main gate in the NE Corner will remain closed.
Not sure if the Police will direct home fans away from Field St which would obviously make sense.
 
Whereas
Simonized said:
That will be our lot in the north the exit will be closed for.
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ah right, so you think there will be a line of police and stewards between our fans and there's which will stop our fans trying to go thru the gate but their fans will have access to it. If that's the case then fine but the statement in the o/p is as clear as mud as it states the gate will be closed. It doesn't distinguish between fans.
 
Insider said:
I think there is a gate on to Back Henry St which is going to be used. This is on the east boundary wall of the East Stand at the north end of the seats. This makes sense of the instruction "turn left" but then away fans will have to turn right into Field St to get to Central Drive.
The main gate in the NE Corner will remain closed.
Not sure if the Police will direct home fans away from Field St which would obviously make sense.
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yes, think there is a gate there. Just looked on google maps and providing the away fans can exit onto back henry st, then yep it can work. Good spot Insy, although the statement is still far from clear.
 
20togo said:
Whereas

ah right, so you think there will be a line of police and stewards between our fans and there's which will stop our fans trying to go thru the gate but their fans will have access to it. If that's the case then fine but the statement in the o/p is as clear as mud as it states the gate will be closed. It doesn't distinguish between fans.
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The gate itself separates the fans...The away fans come out one side of it, home fans the other
 
For the life of me I just don’t understand what the problem is here. This simply doesn’t solve a dammed thing, Madness.
 
BFC_BFC_BFC said:
The gate itself separates the fans...The away fans come out one side of it, home fans the other
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See above. There is another gate which is the one I'm guessing will be used.
Like 20s says though the statement is a little bit unclear.
 
I assume it means no access through NE gate for home supporters until all away fans have dispersed but I will seek clarification from the Police.
 
Insider said:
See above. There is another gate which is the one I'm guessing will be used.
Like 20s says though the statement is a little bit unclear.
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The only thing unclear is it says "Left" instead of "Right".... The away fans will be routed right down Field Street towards Central Drive and Home Fans exiting from the North East Corner will need to go around and down Bloomfield Road as the Field Street Gate will be closed.
 
BFC_BFC_BFC said:
The only thing unclear is it says "Left" instead of "Right".... The away fans will be routed right down Field Street towards Central Drive and Home Fans exiting from the North East Corner will need to go around and down Bloomfield Road as the Field Street Gate will be closed.
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I tried to explain that.
If, as I think, they use the gate on the back wall of the East Stand, located just behind the most northerly seats, fans will initially.y have to turn left to get to Field St and then right towards Central Drive.
 
As the statement says, some will be inconvenienced . Fans have raised concerns, credit to Steve for talking to the club , credit to the club for organising a meeting and credit to the police for admitting mistakes. The safest compromise is everyones ultimate goal.... it’s worth a try...looks feasible to me🤞
 
it’s a better solution than closing the north gate & Bloomfield Road & kettling both sets of fans to meet head on at junction of turning left off St Heliers Road to meet away fans walking to South Station.
 
Northstandsinger said:
Why don’t they seat the away fans in that half of the East stand then ? So that for big games home fans can use the south east corner ect.
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Probably because the turn styles are in the south for away supporters so they would have to walk through home fans to get to the North east . Or is there a turn style in the north end for away supporters.
 
WIZARD OF TANGERINE said:
Probably because the turn styles are in the south for away supporters so they would have to walk through home fans to get to the North east . Or is there a turn style in the north end for away supporters.
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There are also turnstiles in the North end of the East on BHS that could be used for Away Supporters ..
 
WIZARD OF TANGERINE said:
Probably because the turn styles are in the south for away supporters so they would have to walk through home fans to get to the North east . Or is there a turn style in the north end for away supporters.
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This is a whole different debate but yes there are turnstiles at the North end of the East.
 
20togo said:
but if they are routed RIGHT onto Central Drive, the gate needs to be open.
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Exactly my take on it. The gate at northwestern corner should be open and Field St. closed so the away fans will be heading for Central Drive and the home will be heading in the opposite direction.
 
LA1 Seasider said:
The right decision. Makes sense for away fans to exit that way and meet coaches etc on Central Drive. Obviously a few will want trains but hopefully the club and council can arrange appropriate busses if needs be.

By ‘no facilities’ I really mean limited facilities. They can’t serve alcohol for example and I believe there is less seating available in that half of the East stand also.

The club need to maximise revenue and that means selling alcohol and selling as many away seats as possible especially when we’re not filling out the home ends.
PNE and Rovers have been and gone and unless (and hopefully it happens) we make the playoffs it shouldn’t be an issue.

You can’t sell Alcohol in the North East without a massive redevelopment as it needs to be a closed concourse out of sight of the pitch
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Move the press box back to the west, gain more seating and sort some facilities out.
 
Seems sensible to me. I believe it's the North Eastern corner we are discussing. This looks workable and is way better than asking away fans to splurge out on the Bloomfield Road by the SE corner. A residual concern is that the path past the laydown area to the NE for away fans is quite narrow. If for instance there were 3000 in there it could be a serious safety risk, so the police and stewards need to be on it to make sure everyone including the old and young can leave without any problems.
 
What I can't understand is why it took Lancashire's finest 6months to get to this point, (its not rocket science & I do not profess any policing knowledge... but....) we have all been saying this for months??

Definition of madness, doing the same thing repeatedly & expecting a differing result??
 
Insider said:
I think there is a gate on to Back Henry St which is going to be used. This is on the east boundary wall of the East Stand at the north end of the seats. This makes sense of the instruction "turn left" but then away fans will have to turn right into Field St to get to Central Drive.
The main gate in the NE Corner will remain closed.
Not sure if the Police will direct home fans away from Field St which would obviously make sense.
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Yes there is a gate there, I had to use it to get into the Oxford play off semi final game
 
So home fans being forced to go up rigby rd are going to meet away fans at the rigby rd/ central drive junction. Is this area of central drive going to be policed???
 
michellebutterflyhotel said:
So home fans being forced to go up rigby rd are going to meet away fans at the rigby rd/ central drive junction. Is this area of central drive going to be policed???
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We're playing West Brom on a Tuesday Night....I think we need to have a sense of perspective as supporters here too...

The Police will presumably have some presence for any potential issues, but we shouldn't be expecting major issues... Also unsure why people would be forced to head up to Rigby Road (what's wrong with heading round and down Bloomfield Road?)
 
Surely all the away fans coaches aren't parked on Central Drive, there usually only seem to be four or five at each match. Can see a few WBA fans heading back up Bloomfield Road from Central Drive.
 
Limechase said:
What I can't understand is why it took Lancashire's finest 6months to get to this point, (its not rocket science & I do not profess any policing knowledge... but....) we have all been saying this for months??

Definition of madness, doing the same thing repeatedly & expecting a differing result??
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TBF they did try taking the away fans out the north end of the East after the Fulham match and they got pelted with bottles and cans by some idiots in the North. That needs not to happen tonight.
 
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