‘No coins, no vapes...’ - Sheffield United fans going to Sunderland warned after ‘unwelcoming’ experience

Described by Sunderland as ‘advanced safety measures’, supporters will not be able to take certain items into the ground including vapes, phone power banks and even coins.

Fans were reminded of this by the SUFC Police twitter account, which stated: “There will be an enhanced search regime at the turnstiles where items such as coins and vapes will not be allowed inside.”

A statement released earlier in the season by Sunderland said: “The ongoing implementation of enhanced safety measures in the North Stand Upper, including an increased stewarding capacity complimented by enhanced training, an upgraded stadium CCTV network and enhanced lighting system, and the banning of items such as coins and vapes, was also considered.

“These measures have had an extremely positive impact on away supporter conduct and dramatically reduced the incident rate to ensure it is now in line with other areas of the stadium.”

However, the measures have been slammed by supporters groups. As reported by Stoke Sentinel, Malcolm Clarke, chairman of the Football Supporters Association and a Stoke City supporter has written to Sunderland following his experience at the Stadium of Light at the weekend, which he described as ‘unwelcoming’.

Mr Clarke says Stoke fans were handed letters, headlined ‘Enough is Enough’ while on coaches, detailing what they couldn’t take into the ground and expectations around their behaviour. He told Stoke Sentinel: “I said to a senior steward that it was the most unwelcoming experience that I’d had at a football club for some time and they looked surprised.

“Police had boarded a number of the Stoke coaches and gave severe warnings about not to take in coins. I don’t think that’s part of the police’s duty. It’s not a criminal offence to carry coins on your person. If Sunderland wanted to do that it should be stewards, it’s intimidating behaviour and the police should have better things to do.”

Offering examples, Mr Clarke said: “There was a very large police presence and large numbers of stewards and dogs behind the away end. I walked through the cordon without anyone asking to even look in my bag but one supporter told me that a steward put his hands inside his trouser pockets to check for coins, which is entirely inappropriate, while another had the cards taken out of his wallet.”