Steel City Derby: No trams because 'small minority of fans' create 'significant safety risk', says mayor
Trams will not run ahead of the Steel City Derby this Sunday because of the behaviour of a “small minority of fans,” says the mayor of South Yorkshire.
The inter-city clash between Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday is back at Hillsborough this Sunday (November 23).
However, Supertram South Yorkshire has now confirmed there will be no trams running to Hillsborough in the two hours prior to the match.
The decision has drawn criticism from Blades fans asking how exactly they should get to the game, whether on foot, arriving hours too early or packing onto buses.
Now, the Mayor for South Yorkshire Oliver Coppard - whose office took ownership of Supertram in 2024 - has stated trams have been taken off the table because of the behaviour of a “small minority of fans.”
In the post on LinkedIn, Mr Coppard claims he pushed for trams to run as usual on Sunday, but South Yorkshire Police made it “quite clear” the force was not happy with risks this posed.
“Why no trams for the derby? “
The post reads in full:
“South Yorkshire Supertram, in consultation with South Yorkshire Police, have taken the decision to suspend parts of the network on Sunday, both immediately before and after the Wednesday Vs United game at Hillsborough. After consultation with both the police and tram teams, I wanted to explain why that decision has been made.
“[In March 2025], the same fixture - again, a Sunday midday fixture - resulted in significant problems, not least because of people drinking and congregating on the road in Hillsborough, which is always dangerous for the tram, and people onboard the tram using the emergency cord, stopping the tram and bringing home and away fans together, where there were confrontations and fights. On the day, the police also needed to use dogs and horses to intervene in violence around the Leppings Lane tram stop.”
Mr Coppard is referring to how approximately 700 or more Owls fans congregated at Malin Bridge to jeer at Blades supporters arriving on packed trams.
Fans were pictured hanging off traffic lights with blue smoke flares and ready with chants, with hundreds of police officers corralling the two sides.
‘The safety risk is significant’
Mr Coppard continues: “So while I’ve been arguing for us to run the trams to and from the game, the police have been quite clear that based on the behaviour of a small minority of fans last year, the safety risk is significant.
“We can’t put the safety of Supertram staff at risk, or the safety of people who may - intentionally or otherwise - end up blocking the tram, and we do have to consider the additional problems the police may face if there are similar issues to the ones last year on or around the network.
“We’re looking at both how we can solve this problem in future and what we can do to help fans get to the game on Sunday using other public transport options. I know that the vast, vast majority of fans just want to get to and from the game safely and quickly - and we want to help them.
“So I’m sorry people won’t be able to use the tram to get to the game on Sunday. I hate to say it but the bottom line is that the behaviour of a small number of people last year have made it impossible for us to run services for this game in particular.”
Supertram’s guidance is as follows:
- Sunday morning prior to 10am: Normal service on all routes
- Before the match (10am until approximately 12pm): Blue and Yellow route services will terminate at Cathedral. Normal service on Purple and Tram Train routes.
- During the match (12pm to approximately 1pm): Normal service on all routes.
- After the match (1pm to approximately 3pm): Blue and Yellow route services will terminate at Shalesmoor for Kelham Island. Normal service on Purple and Tram Train routes.
- Sunday afternoon, after approximately 3pm: Normal service on all routes.
A statement by Travel South Yorkshire reads: “We apologise for any inconvenience and thank you for your understanding. The safety of our customers and colleagues remains our top priority.”
Additionally, South Yorkshire Police is urging away fans tol remain in their seats until the stadium is cleared.