Club statement regarding policing at home matches.

That's great, apart from the fact there will be supporters parked on the biggest car park in Europe next to the West stand, meaning away fans will still need to get up Bloomfield road walking into the oncoming fans from the North stand. When did this suddenly become too difficult to manage.
 
Scaramanga said:
That's great, apart from the fact there will be supporters parked on the biggest car park in Europe next to the West stand, meaning away fans will still need to get up Bloomfield road walking into the oncoming fans from the North stand. When did this suddenly become too difficult to manage.
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Unless they use a bit of common and direct away fans to park round Rigby Road area.
 
Personally I can still see issues as the away fans funnelled left onto Central Drive double back via Rigby Road to the Central Park and those in the North travel down the same road to get to their cars inland

Saville Road Part Deux
 
TwelveAngryMen said:
Personally I can still see issues as the away fans funnelled left onto Central Drive double back via Rigby Road to the Central Park and those in the North travel down the same road to get to their cars inland

Saville Road Part Deux
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Fans at all grounds will always meet somewhere.
The majority though just live in peace and some even speak civilly to one another.
 
BFC_BFC_BFC said:
😂

Unofficial translation was

“Having been forced to acknowledge that our efforts so far have been an absolute shit show”
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Some of us fans “Hundreds” Who reside North east of Blackpool head off home that way. We are exit img the North and west stands and have to go up to Rigby rd to get back to cross central and beyond !
 
sorry was the tactic of holding the away fans back for 10/15 minutes discussed. If the police say it’s not allowed then was it mentioned that other clubs use this tactic without any problems, so why can’t we? They are after all sat down in a covered stand it’s not like we would be holding them in the open and exposed to the elements- and it’s just a few minutes
 
Insider said:
Fans at all grounds will always meet somewhere.
The majority though just live in peace and some even speak civilly to one another.
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100% agree - we exited Swansea on Saturday without any issues HOWEVER if the policy is to prevent that doing what's planned just pushes the problem further away from the ground where there's no police presence
 
SLO_BFC said:
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.
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It’s the only solution. Just can’t understand why they didn’t do this at the beginning of the season.
 
Block j said:
Some of us fans “Hundreds” Who reside North east of Blackpool head off home that way. We are exit img the North and west stands and have to go up to Rigby rd to get back to cross central and beyond !
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Well you can obviously go around and down BR onto Central Drive if you didn’t want to risk the extremely scary prospect of encountering someone from a different Town / City heading home from a football match.
 
fcblackpool said:
Move the press box back to the west, gain more seating and sort some facilities out.
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That’s not that easy. Press facilities in the West means seats lost in the west - also there would still need to be an area of segregation which would have empty seats as opposed to seats with the press. Plus that’s just an added expense that’s not necessary when the stand is ultimately being planned to be pulled down in the next couple of years anyway. Building facilities and restructuring what already exists is a waste of money time and effort when the full redevelopment is required anyway.
 
LA1 Seasider said:
That’s not that easy. Press facilities in the West means seats lost in the west - also there would still need to be an area of segregation which would have empty seats as opposed to seats with the press. Plus that’s just an added expense that’s not necessary when the stand is ultimately being planned to be pulled down in the next couple of years anyway. Building facilities and restructuring what already exists is a waste of money time and effort when the full redevelopment is required anyway.
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You don't need to build facilities in the east. I'm sure like OTCG you can have stalls/vans for the game. Having said that there are some for the press, but I've no idea how big, or small they are. Segregation could be done by not selling the first and last block, or part of them, meaning the SE could be home fans.

On balance the seats lost in the West would be more than offset by increased away fans in the east.

I suppose it comes down to the timeframe of when the east gets done. I can't see it being for 5 years at least though.
 
Devonshire said:
sorry was the tactic of holding the away fans back for 10/15 minutes discussed. If the police say it’s not allowed then was it mentioned that other clubs use this tactic without any problems, so why can’t we? They are after all sat down in a covered stand it’s not like we would be holding them in the open and exposed to the elements- and it’s just a few minutes
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Yes it was, United V City/Liverpool games were mentioned. Police said they can only hold fans back if they have specific intelligence that there is likely to be disorder. If not it goes back to human rights and disabled supporters being penned in etc.
 
Devonshire said:
sorry was the tactic of holding the away fans back for 10/15 minutes discussed. If the police say it’s not allowed then was it mentioned that other clubs use this tactic without any problems, so why can’t we? They are after all sat down in a covered stand it’s not like we would be holding them in the open and exposed to the elements- and it’s just a few minutes
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Devonshire: Yes it was and Dave Hannan for Lancashire Police explained why it is not lawful to plan to keep away fans inside the stadium after games (ECHR ruling). It is a measure that can be employed dynamically if there is a legitimate threat to public safety (as at the Man U/Liverpool game). As I understand it, the point is that it's not reasonable or desirable work on an assumption that all games will end in trouble between fans; there has to be significant intelligence that major disorder is planned.
 
SLO_BFC said:
Devonshire: Yes it was and Dave Hannan for Lancashire Police explained why it is not lawful to plan to keep away fans inside the stadium after games (ECHR ruling). It is a measure that can be employed dynamically if there is a legitimate threat to public safety (as at the Man U/Liverpool game). As I understand it, the point is that it's not reasonable or desirable work on an assumption that all games will end in trouble between fans; there has to be significant intelligence that major disorder is planned.
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So if Cardiff, Millwall, Preston or Birmingham for example were in town, it could be reasonable to enforce then?
 
BFC_BFC_BFC said:
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?)
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If you live in the revoe area and you sit in the north you’re not going to go the opposite direction up Bloomfield rd. we have to go down Seasiders way and up rigby rd as do hundreds of other fans
 
michellebutterflyhotel said:
If you live in the revoe area and you sit in the north you’re not going to go the opposite direction up Bloomfield rd. we have to go down Seasiders way and up rigby rd as do hundreds of other fans
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Well yes, but you’re not ‘forced’ to go that way…And I’m not sure we can expect to go to a game and not bump in to some opposition fans at some point. Most away games the fans are let out together.
 
Insider said:
Fans at all grounds will always meet somewhere.
The majority though just live in peace and some even speak civilly to one another.
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Totally agree. It’s a pity that we’re at a stage where it’s just assumed that opposition fans meeting will automatically lead to trouble
 
SLO_BFC said:
Devonshire: Yes it was and Dave Hannan for Lancashire Police explained why it is not lawful to plan to keep away fans inside the stadium after games (ECHR ruling). It is a measure that can be employed dynamically if there is a legitimate threat to public safety (as at the Man U/Liverpool game). As I understand it, the point is that it's not reasonable or desirable work on an assumption that all games will end in trouble between fans; there has to be significant intelligence that major disorder is planned.
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Do you have a copy of this ECRH ruling Steve ?
It sounds a load of woke nonsense to me as all you need to do is make it part of the t&c's
 
As I thought a load of nonsense
If it's considered necessary to separate fans exiting the ground because of perceived concerns over violence ( if there weren't those concerns why do it in the first place ) just keep the away fans in
 
SLO_BFC said:
'Ruling' maybe the wrong word. It's Article 5. Guide linked here: Right To Liberty And Security
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Steve, in relation to this specific matter and the ECHR have referenced the the issue in a related matter, stating that the temporary containment of fans at a football ground was a specific example where Article 5 would not be applicable. They likened it to being temporarily delayed due to an accident on the motorway.
 
Worked very well tonight.
Just need to stop traffic now, between the 2 sets of traffic lights at Seasiders Way and Central Drive to give fans plenty of room to exit the area quickly.
 
BFC_BFC_BFC said:
Steve, in relation to this specific matter and the ECHR have referenced the the issue in a related matter, stating that the temporary containment of fans at a football ground was a specific example where Article 5 would not be applicable. They likened it to being temporarily delayed due to an accident on the motorway.
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Is there a link to that ?
 
Subject to BFC producing his authority the current position appears to be

1/ You can't keep away fans back for ten mins to control public order

2/ You can however deny law abiding citizens the right to pass along the public highway to facilitate 1/ above

3/ If you are challenged re 2/ above then for category C games it's fine to block Bloomfield rd and deploy the dogs

4/ When further challenged blame the inexperienced officers who are just doing what they are told

Got it 👍
 
So seven hours ' kettling ' can be justified according to our appellate courts yet the police have spent the last three months devising ever more ludicrous plans to inconvenience home fans based on a seemingly misconceived understanding that the laws they are employed to apply don't allow them to hold away fans back 🤨
 
The point concerning whether it is planned or not planned wouldn't come into it, because something either is "by definition" a deprivation of liberty or isn't a deprivation of liberty.... and, if it is, then only the lawful justifications would apply...

And the ECHR have stated simply that detainment at a football match does not constitute deprivation of liberty....


It's a complete Red Herring
 
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BFC_BFC_BFC said:
The point concerning whether it is planned or not planned wouldn't come into it, because something either is "by definition" a deprivation of liberty or isn't a deprivation of liberty.... and only the lawful justifications would apply...

And the ECHR have stated simply that detainment at a football match does not constitute deprivation of liberty....


It's a complete Red Herring
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Appreciate the link as it ' proves ' the point I have been seeking to make on the podcast - that anyone with a modicum of common sense would know is the logical response to concerns over public order
 
SLO_BFC said:
Devonshire: Yes it was and Dave Hannan for Lancashire Police explained why it is not lawful to plan to keep away fans inside the stadium after games (ECHR ruling). It is a measure that can be employed dynamically if there is a legitimate threat to public safety (as at the Man U/Liverpool game). As I understand it, the point is that it's not reasonable or desirable work on an assumption that all games will end in trouble between fans; there has to be significant intelligence that major disorder is planned.
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Yet the kettling outside the ground recently implies that they think there will be disorder regardless of who we play. Making it up as they go along.
 
So much better tonight, and the bonus of the early leavers having to walk past the north and receive some stick makes it even better 😂
 
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