Fans report crush at cup game

[Trumo]

Stoke fans at the cup second leg at Anfield have reported this and it is absolutely something the club needs to take corrective measures against because it has happened a number of times. Our club knows only too well the dangers posed by such situations so it needs to be dealt with as soon as possible. It goes above club rivalries so shouldn't be dismissed as rival fans moaning for the sake of it.

 

 

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/stoke-city-fans-crushed-anfield-10814183#ICID=FB-Liv-main

 

Stoke City fans 'crushed' at Anfield before Capital One Cup Semi Final

 

Stoke City fans have complained they were crushed as they tried to get into Anfield for the club’s Capital One Cup semi-final meeting with Liverpool.

 

The away fans had to go through just two turnstiles at Anfield for Tuesday night's game, leading to people reportedly being squashed.

 

22 supporter coaches also arrived late, meaning that 1,000 fans only got to the ground as the match kicked off.

 

The chairman of the Football Supporters Federation, Malcolm Clarke, now wants fans to raise their concerns with the body.

 

He said: “We need an honest enquiry into causes of problems outside Anfield away turnstiles on Tuesday.

 

“We’re concerned to hear about these problems again, particularly as other fans such as those of Manchester City and Everton, have experienced similar problems at Anfield in the recent past.

 

“The FSF caseworker Amanda Jacks is handling it - contact Amanda.jacks@fsf.org.uk or Twitter @FSF_FairCop if you were affected.”

 

One fan, “peterthornesboots” posted on Stoke City supporters' site The Oatcake about his experience.

 

He said: “I’ve been going to Stoke games for much longer than I care to state, but yesterday was the first time in a long while that I was genuinely worried about me and my old man’s safety.

 

“The official club coaches came in late. Ours arrived at 7:40ish and we got to Anfield Road at around 7:50ish. It was absolute chaos!"

 

“Basically all of the fans from the coaches were stuffed into a confined space with minimal stewarding and no organisation. It was getting to the stage where it was just one big crush around each turnstile (where they were having trouble making the tickets work!).

 

“There was no information from the club, all of the police were giving contradicting messages, and there was no attempt to try and organise fans into any sort of lining system.

 

“Quite how no one was hurt amongst the chaos I don’t know. There was a poor old couple close to us who were buffeted and squashed numerous times against the stadium walls.

 

“Personally, the fact that we missed twenty odd minutes of the game is no big concern. But the inability of a football club to manage a large number of fans safely is absolutely disgraceful in my opinion.”

 

Another supporter, Ben Evans, said: “It was horrific. We hadn’t been informed about coaches being late or whatnot, so we arrived at the ground at just before half past 7 giving ourselves enough time to get in.

 

“We were overwhelmed with the significant number of supporters cooped up outside the ground. There must have been over 1000 fans tightly packed in between police horses barging their way through the crowds not bothering about anybody in there way.

 

“I had seen a number of people pushed over by the horse. It was quite scary, I was with my girlfriend who started to have a panic attack of some kind because of how piled in we all were.

 

 

“Every time a supporter would complain to a police officer they would be told to calm down or face not being to get in the ground or even to be arrested.

 

“Once we got to the front of the queue we were told there were only two turnstiles open and that the staff there thought it was a 8pm kick off so there was a delay in getting people through the gates. But from where we were standing no body was getting through.

 

“It was an awful experience and to be honest a frightening one as well as we didn’t have a clue what was going to happen.”

 

Liverpool FC have been approached for comment.

[Anubis]

I remember Everton fans making similar complaints. I didn't realise City fans had as well. There is no way this should have happened more than once and the club should have been well on top of it after the first time.

 

If we know coaches have been delayed we need a system to delay kick off and place fans in an orderly queue. With the technology available in this day and age there should be no excuse.

[moof]

Disappointed to hear this. The club needs to work with the police to ensure shit like this does not happen.

[magicrat]

Agree with whats been said, Not a joking matter and needs to be sorted quickly.

[Strontium]

Once we got to the front of the queue we were told there were only two turnstiles open and that the staff there thought it was a 8pm kick off

 

And to think I thought the scouting department was the least competent at the club.

[FanchesterCity]

I have to say, this isn't just Anfield.

It's a horrible thing to say, but it's true - a lot of queuing fans don't think and tend to really squash up (it doesn't make things any faster). Then a few at the back push (often unintentionally) and don't really appreciate the danger.

We're not talking about deliberate pushing / morons etc, just large volumes and people and not appreciating the dangers.

 

People get complacent about safety and think everything is super safe these days, but we still have to be careful.

 

I've seen it happen at City (mildly) when it's considered to be one of the safer grounds due to the ample space outside, so anywhere with less space and narrow turnstiles is likely to be even worse.

 

It's also a reason why fans shouldn't arrive en masse 10 minutes before the game starts.

[Strontium]

But not the fans' fault if there's only 2 turnstiles, and the dimwits at the ticket office think it kicks off 15 minutes later than it actually does.

[moof]

The actions of a crowd are very easy to predict. It's about having the foresight to control the situation before it even becomes a situation.

[Anubis]

It's also a reason why fans shouldn't arrive en masse 10 minutes before the game starts.

Not their fault if the coaches are late, though.

 

Anfield has a perfectly good tannoy system, and coupled with delaying the kick off if there are a significant number of away fans still to get in, proper stewarding, and the effective use of temporary barriers to separate fans into workable queues, then there shouldn't be a problem.

 

Fuck TV time tabling. Fan safety is paramount.

[Guest Pistonbroke]

It's a sad state of affairs when the well being of fans is put in danger. 

[chris71]

2 turnstiles? That's fucking crazy.

[jimmycase]

Just been reading about this and its a massive disappointment (understatement if ever there was) that this happened. WTF were only 2 turnstiles open? That clearly is something the club can and should manage. They cant manage coaches arriving late to the ground due to traffic issues though.

 

I suspect tv scheduling had something to do with the kick off not being delayed which again, is appalling if that was the case. And merseyside police should know better. We rightly had a raft of kick off delayed when this sort of thing happened. Why isnt it given due consideration now?

 

Fortunately, no one was injured and for that we should be eternally grateful but the club has got to be pro active to this if it happens again. two turnstiles, WTF!?

[xerxes]

Fanchester is right, this is not unique to Anfield.

 

Sadly, Anubis is also on the button about TV schedules over-riding crowd safety.

 

Of course it is not the Club's fault that the coaches were delayed, but it is our job to ensure that sufficient turnstiles are open to allow people who have paid their money in advance to get in, efficiently an with care.

[Joey8FrogsLegs]

Totally unacceptable this. And I do not doubt for a minute that TV scheduling influences decidions on delaying kick off.

[Preston Red]

A Manc I know said the same to me about last season's game at Anfield. Safety comes first, not telly.

[FanchesterCity]

Of course guys, wasn't meaning to suggest it's the 'fault' of fans, merely that when queues start (through poor planning) it's easy for crushing to start and fans don't realise they are doing it.

 

Away ends should be more predictable especially for long distance as fans are arriving in bulk, so surely it's not rocket science to get them in the ground as quickly as possible where they can be better policed for a start (in theory!).

 

Everything about the modern game is TV based sadly, and the FA are happy to have fans travelling long distances to get to matches, or rushing home to catch trains - which although not an obvious stadium safety issue, it causes a rush as train stations instead.

 

Capacities at some grounds are increasing, so clubs and the FA / PL need to keep on top of this. Safety rarely improves by doing nothing, it only deteriorates.

[FanchesterCity]

Fortunately, no one was injured and for that we should be eternally grateful but the club has got to be pro active to this if it happens again. two turnstiles, WTF!?

 

That's the key problem right there. When nobody gets hurt people have a habit of dismissing it as 'something and nothing' - then when something finally does go wrong, it becomes all to clear that the near misses where early indications of a problem.

 

p,s - Not suggesting you're dimissing it! far from it, merely that's what the authorities think and brush it under the carpet.

[TheHowieLama]

Should get the away support into the ground safely - then hurl dogs abuse and possibly projectiles at them.

[Ipplfc]

An absolute fuck'n disgrace this,a total embarrassment to Liverpool football club,two fuck'n turnstiles open for all them fans,being treated like shit by clubs and the police,some things never change

[VladimirIlyich]

Those cunts in the footballing authorities have got away with a lot since 89 and continue to do so all in the name of money.

Unfortunately this stuff will continue to occur while fans are only judged by how much cash they are willing to part with.

[Strontium]

This sort of thing just should not happen with all-ticket events.

[an tha]

This sort of thing shouldn't happen anywhere these days but it especially shouldn't happen at Anfield....club needs to sort its act out.