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SeasideSid

Well-known member
Every week it is brought up on this forum however nothing seems to be being done about it. The away fans situation at Bloomfield Road is nothing short of shambolic. I know there is not much really that can be done but there is 1 thing.

Firstly, whenever I now attend home games I feel like the away fan as I walk up Bloomfield Road past the long queue of actual away fans awaiting entry. It’s like walking the gauntlet. This is an issue but only minor compared to my next point.

Week after week we moan about the away fans coming out onto Bloomfield Road at the same time as home fans. It literally makes no sense at all, when they can exit the north east where there is a gate and immediately onto Central Drive. The police now, well yesterday anyway, created a line of officers to force the Blackburn fans towards Central Drive. So not only are we all exiting the same way at the same time but we are all heading in the same direction. It’s ludicrous. Away fans either need to leave from the north east or be kept behind. Why can’t this be done?

Then there is the traffic situation which I won’t go into but this needs sorting. Like the premier league why can’t we stop the traffic at the lights of central drive up to Seasiders Way for 20mins at the final whistle?

What is it going to take for the club to take action here? A serious accident? A mass brawl? Or worse, a fatality because i can see something major happening at the next home game if the same situation as Saturday occurs. We have time now to sort something in time for the Preston game and it needs sorting urgently!!

Anyway, great win 😁! Up the Pool!!!
 
And another point that needs addressing and yes it's been mentioned before.

What is the point in locking the access gates behind the North stand after the game when the away fans all go out at the other end on to Bloomfield road?

Loads of home fans walking that way after the game in the pissing down rain only to find the gates were locked, why for Christ’s sake?

Mind blowing decision by whoever thought that one up. 🤔🤬
 
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Agree about the away fans and locking the NE gates.
Bloomfield Road at 4.55 to 5.15 is an accident /incident just waiting to happen.
Fortunately the Barnsley and Blackburn fans were more focused on slagging their teams off than confronting pool fans

One Rovers fan was walking in front of traffic turning left from Bloomfield Road to Central drive, so the traffic was moving at walking pace for about 10 minutes. He looked like a pissed up funeral director.

However I think its more a matter for the police rather than the club to take action, but the sooner the better.
For me it makes a mockery of the empty stands, which presumably is for safety / segregation? All the segregation then just lump everyone together on Bloomfield Road!!!
 
Id love to see the risk assessment and try to understand the decisions that are made.

these plans must be thought about in detail by the responsible authorities, i am intrigued how they get to the conclusions that the current practices are the safest

i would imagine closing Bloomfield Road for 15 mins from Central Drive to Seasiders Way is the first action that jumps out at you

i can only conclude that letting away fans onto Bloomfield Road v Field Street (Henry Street) is deemed less risk as it empties into a far more confined area and fans mingle immediately with South and West stand fans, meaning only small pockets of isolated incidents happen which are easier to deal with. On Field Street, away fans would be in large groups and meet the north stand fans on Central Drive / Revoe Park which would make running battles hard to contain.

The policies seem ludicrous and this is me trying to make a little sense of it rather than trying to defend them

Personally, i would park all coaches on Henry Street and close it off, let all away fans out at that end and those not on coaches allow them to walk up Central Drive
 
Dave62 said:
Agree about the away fans and locking the NE gates.
Bloomfield Road at 4.55 to 5.15 is an accident /incident just waiting to happen.
Fortunately the Barnsley and Blackburn fans were more focused on slagging their teams off than confronting pool fans

One Rovers fan was walking in front of traffic turning left from Bloomfield Road to Central drive, so the traffic was moving at walking pace for about 10 minutes. He looked like a pissed up funeral director.

However I think its more a matter for the police rather than the club to take action, but the sooner the better.
For me it makes a mockery of the empty stands, which presumably is for safety / segregation? All the segregation then just lump everyone together on Bloomfield Road!!!
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Yep makes a mockery of the decision to not allow fans in, in case of trouble.

But as soon as the games over.... 1...2...3 and all mix in and do whatever you want right next to each other.
 
Good OP. I agree. It is an accident/trouble waiting to happen. We park on the streets on the other side of Revoe Park and sit in J Block. Getting to the game is easy through the park and at entrance gate 5 or 6, but coming out of the ground we get shepherded down to Bloomfield Rd, then through massive crowds and through the away supporters. There are cars, police horses, away fans and some 'lively' home fans all in the same place. It will only take one small incident to trigger of a fight/panic, and all will be caught up in it.

We didn't do that for Prem games when there were a lot more people there, so I dont know why we have to do it now.
 
Dave62 said:
Agree about the away fans and locking the NE gates.
Bloomfield Road at 4.55 to 5.15 is an accident /incident just waiting to happen.
Fortunately the Barnsley and Blackburn fans were more focused on slagging their teams off than confronting pool fans

One Rovers fan was walking in front of traffic turning left from Bloomfield Road to Central drive, so the traffic was moving at walking pace for about 10 minutes. He looked like a pissed up funeral director.

However I think its more a matter for the police rather than the club to take action, but the sooner the better.
For me it makes a mockery of the empty stands, which presumably is for safety / segregation? All the segregation then just lump everyone together on Bloomfield Road!!!
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20togo said:
there must a senior policeman on duty at the game or outside who can see the problems for himself. He needs to get it sorted between the club and the police. Have to say it's crazy what is happening now.
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Perhaps the fans groups should get their heads together again and pen a note of all these concerns to Chief Supt. Edwards at Lancs West Division.
 
20togo said:
there must a senior policeman on duty at the game or outside who can see the problems for himself. He needs to get it sorted between the club and the police. Have to say it's crazy what is happening now.
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There is I went to school with him and my lad is mates with his son. 😁
 
Stanah said:
Id love to see the risk assessment and try to understand the decisions that are made.

these plans must be thought about in detail by the responsible authorities, i am intrigued how they get to the conclusions that the current practices are the safest

i would imagine closing Bloomfield Road for 15 mins from Central Drive to Seasiders Way is the first action that jumps out at you

i can only conclude that letting away fans onto Bloomfield Road v Field Street (Henry Street) is deemed less risk as it empties into a far more confined area and fans mingle immediately with South and West stand fans, meaning only small pockets of isolated incidents happen which are easier to deal with. On Field Street, away fans would be in large groups and meet the north stand fans on Central Drive / Revoe Park which would make running battles hard to contain.

The policies seem ludicrous and this is me trying to make a little sense of it rather than trying to defend them

Personally, i would park all coaches on Henry Street and close it off, let all away fans out at that end and those not on coaches allow them to walk up Central Drive
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Bit unfair on the residents of Henry Street?
 
I think it is more logical than people are giving it credit for.

The main priority is probably to keep Blocks A and B away from the away fans. Explains locking the NE gate and pushing home fans up towards Rigby Road. I assume pushing away fans onto Bloomfield Road is to keep distance between the two.

If you did it any other way I think you would just create flashpoints to the North and East of the ground. I can't think of a fool proof way of doing it. There probably isn't one.
 
coppiceman said:
I think it is more logical than people are giving it credit for.

The main priority is probably to keep Blocks A and B away from the away fans. Explains locking the NE gate and pushing home fans up towards Rigby Road. I assume pushing away fans onto Bloomfield Road is to keep distance between the two.

If you did it any other way I think you would just create flashpoints to the North and East of the ground. I can't think of a fool proof way of doing it. There probably isn't one.
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That is the only reason, to keep away fans from Block A. But surely it’s easier to control and manage that inside the ground rather than thousands on Bloomfield Road mixing and with the traffic too?
 
Was in the south yesterday and walked up towards the bloomfield pub after the game..... As has been said its an accident waiting to happen, and it will be carnage against the nobbers in a few weeks
 
Stopping the traffic is not a club decision, they could ask the council. Remember talk of when they needed to close the prom overnight at Redbank rd junction (illumination repairs). The council had to have planning meetings and advertise three months in advance of the planned closure. This is needed legally, roads can’t be closed on a whim.
 
Said it last week too. I talked to a Pool fan on Bloomfield after Barnsley, he saw a steward and a policeman close together so asked both whose decision it is.

Steward said it was club acting on police advice, policeman said they were doing what the club asked.

If that's right, then everyone needs to start talking
 
I'll c&p this from what I said on another thread because it might have some relevance.
In this scenario exit from the North Stand would be via the NW corner and the away fans from NE corner down Field St and prevented by stewarding from going any other way.

"The only way to resolve the SE corner issue is to move the away fans to the North end (excuse he bad language ) of the East.
The South end of the east could be given back to home fans (maybe at a reduced price from the rest of the ground) and a barrier to keep North and South sections apart.
The North East corner of the ground could be upgraded, at reasonable cost, with temporary toilet facilities rather than the current portaloos, and a couple of mobile food/drink outlets. If we pushed the boat out a bit I'm sure some form of rain cover could be erected.
HOWEVER all of this would depend on there being demand from the home fans which is possible the higher up the Division we progress."
 
There is an easy way to prevent any disorder between home and away fans, it’s a bit of radical idea, but maybe the 30 or so lads at every club who think they are on Green Street just behave themselves?

Agree about the traffic on Bloomfield road tho. I’m more concerned about getting run over than getting a punch in the face.
 
Simple answer ought to be all away fans, whatever match for consistency and they are pre warned ,should be held back for a minimum of 10 minutes.Police then authorised to disperse home fans away from the ground and especially away from the away fans coaches which should be located in a set aside area.
No doubt some civil liberties twerk will say no..no...no...
The reality if nothing is done given the way it is dealt with right now there will be a day when it goes off big style.

Anyway we’re not the only ones who seem to get these thinking’s wrong....a visit to Preston when we play there is a prime example of truly awful policing.


...and allowing traffic up and down Bloomfield Road at the end of the match is just insane....the road should be closed off to traffic ..end of
 
Yesterday highlighted again what I believe is the police strategy… let them all kick off film it all and make arrests at a later date… it’s a very dangerous and risky strategy.
 
SeasideSid said:
Every week it is brought up on this forum however nothing seems to be being done about it. The away fans situation at Bloomfield Road is nothing short of shambolic. I know there is not much really that can be done but there is 1 thing.

Firstly, whenever I now attend home games I feel like the away fan as I walk up Bloomfield Road past the long queue of actual away fans awaiting entry. It’s like walking the gauntlet. This is an issue but only minor compared to my next point.

Week after week we moan about the away fans coming out onto Bloomfield Road at the same time as home fans. It literally makes no sense at all, when they can exit the north east where there is a gate and immediately onto Central Drive. The police now, well yesterday anyway, created a line of officers to force the Blackburn fans towards Central Drive. So not only are we all exiting the same way at the same time but we are all heading in the same direction. It’s ludicrous. Away fans either need to leave from the north east or be kept behind. Why can’t this be done?

Then there is the traffic situation which I won’t go into but this needs sorting. Like the premier league why can’t we stop the traffic at the lights of central drive up to Seasiders Way for 20mins at the final whistle?

What is it going to take for the club to take action here? A serious accident? A mass brawl? Or worse, a fatality because i can see something major happening at the next home game if the same situation as Saturday occurs. We have time now to sort something in time for the Preston game and it needs sorting urgently!!

Anyway, great win 😁! Up the Pool!!!
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At Wednesday's supporters group meeting the Ground Safety Officer was asked about closing the surrounding roads, they have applied for it but these things take time was his response. It was also put to them if we could adopt the same strategy as Burnley and use the away coaches to divide the two sets of fans with a line of stewards/police from the away end exit to the back of the first coach. It wouldn't stop all those wanting to go on the prom or the car parks but it would get rid of 500 away fans very quickly instead of letting them mingle with pool fans all the way down to Revoe Park.
 
I've often wondered over the years why anyone in their right mind would drive from Central Drive to Lytham Rd as a football game is ending.
Just sitting up and begging to have their car damaged by irate fans.
 
Just FYI all comments noted in addition to all the emails and texts (replied to individually) and every option gets discussed with Club and Police on a weekly basis. Different permutations have been tried. Accept that no solution is ideal given the configuration of the stadium and its surrounding area. It's an evolving response to a situation we haven't seen at Bloomfield Road for nearly a decade - crowds regularly topping 11,000.

On the repeated request to keep away fans inside the stadium after the game, Police advise that this tactic has not been used routinely for some years as it contravenes human rights legislation (see EHCR Article 5 on the Right To Liberty and Security). Pre-planned "holdbacks" are viewed as unlawful detention.

More on this for sure later.
 
Improve facilities in the north end of the east and put away fans there. Let Pool fans occupy the SE corner and southern end of the east. The ground configuration at the moment limits Pool fans growth inside the stadium.
 
Just tell that Ground Safety Officer to chill and give all away fans the same allocation we gave to Blackburn.
There was still good segregation in the ground and most of all it created a better atmosphere.

PNE offer away allocations of 5000-6000 FFS, and they can handle it!
 
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SLO_BFC said:
Just FYI all comments noted in addition to all the emails and texts (replied to individually) and every option gets discussed with Club and Police on a weekly basis. Different permutations have been tried. Accept that no solution is ideal given the configuration of the stadium and its surrounding area. It's an evolving response to a situation we haven't seen at Bloomfield Road for nearly a decade - crowds regularly topping 11,000.

On the repeated request to keep away fans inside the stadium after the game, Police advise that this tactic has not been used routinely for some years as it contravenes human rights legislation (see EHCR Article 5 on the Right To Liberty and Security). Pre-planned "holdbacks" are viewed as unlawful detention.

More on this for sure later.
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Thanks Steve. It’s nice to know that it’s a topic being looked into and I hope something changes for the Preston game.
 
The panel on the seasiders podcast made some very good points on these issues (starting at the 54 mins 20 secs mark).
One of the panel was in the media section of the East Stand.

He has a conspiracy theory that the police might even be willing for it to kick off, so that they can reduce the away allocation even further.
Fast Forward to 54 mins 20 secs

 
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The traffic issue was daft yesterday. We got stuck on the pavement trying to cross with sheer numbers behind forcing us into the road. Cars trying to drive through the crowd didn't want to stop and we had no choice but to be pushed in front of them. Just block both ends for 10-15 minutes and let people get away
 
SLO_BFC said:
Just FYI all comments noted in addition to all the emails and texts (replied to individually) and every option gets discussed with Club and Police on a weekly basis. Different permutations have been tried. Accept that no solution is ideal given the configuration of the stadium and its surrounding area. It's an evolving response to a situation we haven't seen at Bloomfield Road for nearly a decade - crowds regularly topping 11,000.

On the repeated request to keep away fans inside the stadium after the game, Police advise that this tactic has not been used routinely for some years as it contravenes human rights legislation (see EHCR Article 5 on the Right To Liberty and Security). Pre-planned "holdbacks" are viewed as unlawful detention.

More on this for sure later.
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They had no problem locking the majority in a holding pen at both Boro and Hull...I and others had no issue with it
 
Fargo99 said:
I've often wondered over the years why anyone in their right mind would drive from Central Drive to Lytham Rd as a football game is ending.
Just sitting up and begging to have their car damaged by irate fans.
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Not everyone is aware there’s a match going on. I drove past Old Trafford last week about half an hour before KO and it was still rammed. I just hadn’t given it a thought.
 
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TANGERINETOWERPOWER said:
They had no problem locking the majority in a holding pen at both Boro and Hull...I and others had no issue with it
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I would have thought that if it was made a condition of entry that you would have to remain behind for a given period after the end there wouldn’t be a problem. I doubt there are many football fans who would even question it in any case but I suppose it only takes one
 
To my mind the ‘Human Rights’ excuse is a bit of a red herring. We talk of so called ‘pre-planned holdbacks’, yet containment options would naturally form part of the effective planning for any ‘crowd control’ situation, particularly where two rival groups may be involved.

So the option exists for the Police to assess the situation in real time and make a decision as to whether they believe a short holdback would be in the interests of public safety.

The courts have already tried test cases and in those circumstances the detainment was for several hours (never mind a few minutes) and the ruling that proportional containment is justified on PS grounds.

This is the world we live in though these days.. Common Sense out of the window… ‘computer says no’ etc..
 
Regardless of away allocations etc., can we at least get a proper explanation and a rethink on locking the gates at the north east? I know it's been mentioned already on the forum, but it literally does absolutely nothing except piss off thousands of home fans as they have to walk all the way around. It makes no logical sense whatsoever. There are no away fans at the north end of the ground!

It's mind boggling that we seem to have such difficulty with crowd control, even with the ground configuration, when many other much bigger clubs than ours don't seem to have any problem at all. We really shouldn't have to reduce the capacity of a 16k stadium by nearly 20% to ensure crowd safety when there are about 17 other clubs in this division alone that get higher attendances each week and never need to do this. A couple of flares being thrown on the pitch is no longer an excuse given that the culprits have seemingly been identified and banned.
 
Thank fuck our fans behaved at the weekend so now people can focus on how pony the policing is.

Allowing their fans to walk past the queuing North turnstiles 1 & 2 giving it the big un’ before is also piss poor planning, like others have said, it’s almost wanting a kick off.

This breach of human rights things is nonsense too.
 
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So what excuse have the police got now to not allow more in?

As anyone identified has been dealt with, we had good behaviour following warnings so thats worked, surely you dont punish a fanbase and club for the minority who have been dealt with and following no issues next game in a high profile derby.

What message does it send out when all is well and yet the clubs still punished anyway, so are fans who won't now be there.

Home fans not in the east is another mad decision, whats the excuse there?
 
BFC_BFC_BFC said:
To my mind the ‘Human Rights’ excuse is a bit of a red herring. We talk of so called ‘pre-planned holdbacks’, yet containment options would naturally form part of the effective planning for any ‘crowd control’ situation, particularly where two rival groups may be involved.

So the option exists for the Police to assess the situation in real time and make a decision as to whether they believe a short holdback would be in the interests of public safety.

The courts have already tried test cases and in those circumstances the detainment was for several hours (never mind a few minutes) and the ruling that proportional containment is justified on PS grounds.

This is the world we live in though these days.. Common Sense out of the window… ‘computer says no’ etc..
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It’s absolute bolloxs, surely just 10 mins delay for allowing the exit of away fans, would allow the home fans to be well gone.
 
Oh dear, people in different coloured shirts leaving a building at the same time. Why don't we just not try to fight away fans on their way home, and vice versa. Then it would be fine.
 
SwannDangerous said:
Oh dear, people in different coloured shirts leaving a building at the same time. Why don't we just not try to fight away fans on their way home, and vice versa. Then it would be fine.
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It's more than that, it weird accents and sometimes more fingers.
 
If one of the T&C’s of buying an away ticket was accepting to be held in for 10 mins after final whistle, it wouldn’t be an illegal detention or whatever bollocks they call it.
 
SeasideSid said:
Every week it is brought up on this forum however nothing seems to be being done about it. The away fans situation at Bloomfield Road is nothing short of shambolic. I know there is not much really that can be done but there is 1 thing.

Firstly, whenever I now attend home games I feel like the away fan as I walk up Bloomfield Road past the long queue of actual away fans awaiting entry. It’s like walking the gauntlet. This is an issue but only minor compared to my next point.

Week after week we moan about the away fans coming out onto Bloomfield Road at the same time as home fans. It literally makes no sense at all, when they can exit the north east where there is a gate and immediately onto Central Drive. The police now, well yesterday anyway, created a line of officers to force the Blackburn fans towards Central Drive. So not only are we all exiting the same way at the same time but we are all heading in the same direction. It’s ludicrous. Away fans either need to leave from the north east or be kept behind. Why can’t this be done?

Then there is the traffic situation which I won’t go into but this needs sorting. Like the premier league why can’t we stop the traffic at the lights of central drive up to Seasiders Way for 20mins at the final whistle?

What is it going to take for the club to take action here? A serious accident? A mass brawl? Or worse, a fatality because i can see something major happening at the next home game if the same situation as Saturday occurs. We have time now to sort something in time for the Preston game and it needs sorting urgently!!

Anyway, great win 😁! Up the Pool!!!
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stopping traffic is not a club decision but police and clowncil but I know what you are saying back in the good old days police or traffic wardens were put on point duty to sort out the traffic
 
TangerineTower Power is spot on

"Yesterday highlighted again what I believe is the police strategy… let them all kick off film it all and make arrests at a later date… it’s a very dangerous and risky strategy."

If you are walking home with your kids at that moment the thought that perpetrators will be arrested in the days following is little reassurance.

Shit, lazy policing!

Does anyone remember Wolves away in the Prem. Their fans throwing stuff at us while the police were filming us for a reaction - pathetic.
 
Johnno said:
If one of the T&C’s of buying an away ticket was accepting to be held in for 10 mins after final whistle, it wouldn’t be an illegal detention or whatever bollocks they call it.
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Illegal detention made legal. Now where have I heard that before 🤔

Johnno, any chance you could drop me a line to haywain958@gmail.com. I’d like to take you up on your earlier offer if I may
 
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