City's ground shortcomings exposed
THE 2-0 victory over Leeds United is a result that will go down in Exeter City folklore, but Saturday could have been remembered for all the wrong reasons after a worrying incident just moments after kick-off, writes the WMN's Stuart James.
With the Leeds travelling contingent still trying to get into the stadium, the standing area immediately after the turnstiles became heavily congested.
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Despite numerous pleas from Exeter City's PA announcer, Barry Fulls, for the Leeds fans to move down the terrace and make room for the incoming supporters, no action was forthcoming as they stood there, unwilling to budge.
A more serious announcement was then read out across the Tannoy system, preceded by an alarming sound, asking the Leeds fans to "urgently" move to their left as the congestion by the entrance got increasingly worse.
Seeing such scenes brought back memories of the Hillsborough disaster, and I doubt I was alone in thinking that. The small crush that ensued led to a handful of Leeds fans clambering over advertising hoardings and on to the pitch, as police and stewards milled about seemingly not knowing what to do. It has to be said that, while entering the field of play is a criminal offence, there was not a hint of trouble from fans who just wanted to get out of such a situation.
The events were of such concern that the Grecians' vice-chairman Julian Tagg was seen trying to assist in whatever way he could.
It is not the first time that the St James' Road terrace has been packed out with away fans and, with there being only one entrance into that end of the stadium, such messages are often relayed over the Tannoy when away followings are large.
Quite why the Leeds fans decided to ignore those pleas, which became more urgent with each announcement, is beyond comprehension. They are sure to have a pop at Exeter for the way in which they handled the situation, but, from my view in front of the press box, there was little more the club could have done.
Even the Exeter supporters got in on the act, frantically gesticulating to the Leeds fans to move down the terracing, the distress on the faces of those by the turnstiles quite evident. Their view was obviously clearer than that of the Leeds fans further up the terrace, who seemed unaware that a number of their fans were in some discomfort.
It is believed that the match referee, Graham Scott, was well aware of the situation and was in regular contact with the ground safety officer, via his headset and the fourth official, as the match wore on. The simple thing would have been to call a halt to proceedings and allow order to be restored, but he decided against it, with a number of stewards and police finally dealing with the matter.
Quite why it took so long for the situation to be resolved is worrying, though. Why didn't the stewards or police act swiftly and make more of an attempt to shift the supporters along the terracing?
What it does do is further enhance Exeter's need to get that end of the stadium sorted out. Having only one entrance into such a long terrace is not ideal, but that is the way it is and always has been at the Park. There is not much that City can do right now, so one can only hope that the issue of a new stand at that end can be sorted out soon. A repeat scenario of what happened Saturday would most certainly not be welcome.
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by macadamia man, australia
Wednesday, January 20 2010, 1:31AM
“I agree, Jim from Huddersfield, that the writer comes across as ignorant and perhaps even inflammatory when he says: "Quite why the Leeds fans decided to ignore those pleas . . . is beyond comprehension." My own opinion is that admitting a complete inability to comprehend shows a pretty complete lack of nous, and the accusation that Leeds fans ignored - rather than couldn't hear - warning messages is equally shallow. I'd hazard the subs / sports editor felt the same way, judging by the (clarifying?) headline used. If the writer has form for maligning Leeds fans, it's a different matter, but as it stands (sorry), the story depicts both the club and the policing in a far worse light, and fans who were there seem to share that analysis - unless of course they are as partial as you seem to be? Try substituting another club's name for Leeds and see if you read the piece the same way. Let's hope both the ground and the local police take note of the disaster averted largely by chance and sort out the factors that seem to have triggered the problem: paranoia, asine policing policy and inadequate communications inside the ground. I'm not that impressed by allowing away fans to purchase home stand seats either. Greed triumphing over due care, perhaps? MOT”
by macadamia man, australia
Wednesday, January 20 2010, 1:27AM
“I agree, Jim from Huddersfield, that the writer comes across as ignorant and perhaps even inflammatory when he says: "Quite why the Leeds fans decided to ignore those pleas . . . is beyond comprehension." My own opinion is that admitting a complete inability to comprehend shows a pretty complete lack of nous, and the accusation that Leeds fans ignored - rather than couldn't hear - warning messages is equally shallow. I'd hazard the subs / sports editor felt the same way, judging by the (clarifying?) headline used. If the writer has form for maligning Leeds fans, it's a different matter, but as it stands (sorry), the story depicts both the club and the policing in a far worse light, and fans who were there seem to share that analysis - unless of course they are as partial as you seem to be? Try substituting another club's name for Leeds and see if you read the piece the same way. Let's hope both the ground and the local police take note of the disaster averted largely by chance and sort out the factors that seem to have triggered the problem: paranoia, asine policing policy and inadequate communications inside the ground. I'm not that impressed by allowing away fans to purchase home stand seats either. Greed triumphing over due care, perhaps? MOT”
by Brian, Budleigh Salterton
Tuesday, January 19 2010, 10:30PM
“It`s easy for everyone to blame the Leeds fans, why wasn`t the start of the game delayed so that everyone could get in and watch the match comfortably. Why did the police keep the coaches at the services so long, Why did the stewards at the big bank end say if you¿re a Leeds fan you can go up to the away end and they`ll let you in? Why did you not have to show your ticket to get in? Why did they keep letting people in when there was no more room? Why were the police and stewards telling us to get back get back when they could see we were getting crushed? THE ANSWER THE POLICE THE STEWARDS AND EXETER CITY FOOTBALL CLUB MESSED UP, not the Leeds fans fault they are so lucky no one was badly injured or worse. Hillsborough should have taught everybody a lesson.”
by Dave, Exeter
Tuesday, January 19 2010, 6:23PM
“Yes there are problems with what happened. the police were shoddy. why did none of them go and make the people move down at the other end!!
The police also decided to hold back the coaches and bring them all in at once!
the only fault the club had was that they were too kind and let the leeds fans who bought tickets for the home stands to stay in the ground!
The club couldnt have done much more as we have had many large crowds come into the away end and not have any problems.
but on those days they obviously didn't have the "county's finest" in charge!”
by Ryan, Exeter
Tuesday, January 19 2010, 5:13PM
“Whilst I am an Exeter supporter and wish to defend our ground, as well as some of the stupid comments about being relegated to where we belong, I understand the Leeds supporters viewpoint with this ridiculous article pinning the blame on them.
That terrace has coped with more than 1200 fans in it's time and has been reduced to that for health and safety, it has also taken that capacity on several occasions in recent years without such problems. There is a design flaw with just the one entrance, but there is a second entrance that has been closed due to health & safety not liking the steepness of the steps.
Yes, if the Leeds fans had been properly instructed to move along the terrace, the problem wouldn't have occured, and this was poor stewarding, but in addition the decision of the police to attempt to escort 400 odd Leeds supporters to the ground just before kick off was stupid beyond comprehension. The cheek of them charging the club more money for policing big games like this is laughable when you consider the complete inadequacies in their performance.
Action has been taken by the club immediately by only distributing 500 tickets to Southampton for the upcoming game, until a report has been done into the terracing.
I fear Stuart's article has done nothing more than inflame the ill-feeling of Leeds supporters as they obviously feel like the victims in this. A more balanced view could've helped. But at the same time, the Leeds fans were not entirely blameless, but blame should most likely be shared equally between the parties involved.”
by Josh, Exeter
Tuesday, January 19 2010, 4:44PM
“The Leeds fan weren't unwilling to budge, they just couldn't hear what was being announced over the tannoy. There was a little bit on the ITV website about it where one of the ECFC directors said that Leeds fans were unwilling to move to, this was not the case.”
by David, Crediton
Tuesday, January 19 2010, 4:24PM
“Stuart is wrong when he says the away terrace has only ever had the one entrance at the old School end. There is also the now derelict Grecian Gate on Well Street. It is unclear whether this could be brought back into use but the club should look at that possibility.”
by sherwood, nottingham
Tuesday, January 19 2010, 10:31AM
“1. How is it that so many football journolists have no idea about being a football fan?
2. When will the police stop treating all fans as scum and potential troublemakers and start thinking about what is actually going on?
3. If Exeter cannot get their ground up to a decent safety standard for this level of football, they should do the honourable thing and get relegated back down to a level that they are suited for.”
by Stuart Wright, Leeds
Monday, January 18 2010, 10:31PM
“Thankfully Andy Smith's agenda driven contribution has been shown for the rather sad pop at his fellow supporters that it is.
Having seen a lot of photographs of the away end and the delapidated condition of the ground it's a wonder it gets a license.
It's always the fans where Leeds are concerned isn't it? The authorities, football clubs and gutless 'journalists' hide behind cliches and don't even seek out the basic facts.
It seems that the major problem was the police holding fans back, howevere. Some police forces know how to handle the pretty simple task of getting us into grounds safely. Others virtually create to the situation they say they set out to avoid.”
by David McManus, Bristol
Monday, January 18 2010, 8:55PM
“I was on the terrace, towards the centre, so witnessed the crushing but I was not directly affected. As I saw it, there were a number of factors contributing to this event.
1) The only turnstiles allowing access to the terrace were at one end, to our right as we faced the pitch. This meant that those fans arriving earliest wanting the best views in the centre, were leaving gaps to the left which, as the terrace filled, were becoming more and more inaccessible.
2) The tannoy was ineffective when heard from the uncovered away terrace. It WAS possible to tell an announcement was being made, but not what was being said.
3) I was stood near the centre, about 3 rows up just to the right of the goalpost on the right as we looked at it, and there was no space to my left. As the tannoy announcements which apparently requested Leeds supporters to move left were inaudible to us, if there were spaces which I couldn't see, then the police or stewards SHOULD have been more pro-active in ordering (not asking) fans to the right of these to move up, which would then see the spaces filter towards the entrance. I did not see any police/stewards taking this sort of action.
4) According to some, though I cannot confirm this as I took the train, the Police escorted a large number of coaches in very close to KO, leading to a lot of fans trying to get through the turnstiles at the last minute, when the terrace was already crowded at the end they fed into. Did they not think staggering the arrival and/or escorting them in earlier would have been prudent, knowing the number of fans that would need to get into the ground and that there were only 2 turnstiles?
5) Apparently, though I didn't hear it for reasons described above, a tannoy announcement was made allowing Leeds fans with tickets in home stands to move onto the away terracing, despite the fact they knew the terrace was sold out. Even if they had undersold it's capacity to allow for this, they had no way to know how many would take up the offer. A very dangerous move by the home club.
As I understand it 6 Leeds fans required medical attention, though thankfully nothing serious. We were lucky. I hope ECFC and D&C Police take a long, hard look at this so that no other club's fans are put at risk.”