Sheffield Wednesday hit with Leppings Lane restrictions despite no evidence of distress in Newcastle United game

The issue stems from complaints of ‘overcrowding’ during the Owls’ FA Cup win over Newcastle United in January, with a Safety Advisory Group meeting called by Sheffield City Council taking place to discuss the situation.

In a response sent to Newcastle afterwards, SCC said that that end of the stadium had seen the capacity reduced by 1000 on the back of the review – the 6,560 stand will now hold 3,700.

That response in part read, “The Upper West Stand now has a further reduced capacity of 2400 (down from 3200 as a result of the recent review) for a stand with a holding capacity of 4194… The Lower West Stand now has a further reduced capacity of 1300 (down from 1500 as a result of the recent review) for a stand with a holding capacity of 2366.”

According to the evidence put forward in the review there were ‘no reports of distress’ received in event control at any point, stewarding number were ‘in excess’ of the requirements, there was no CCTV evidence of fans in distress and both the lower and upper stands were under capacity.

The minutes stated that some of the concerns from travelling fans included that they were given the wrong information about seating, that ‘overcrowding’ led to distress and that there was a lack of catering and toilet facilities.

It was also noted, however, that when the Newcastle United Supporters Trust asked for images/footage of the issues they had received nothing at all by the date of the meeting.

Among the findings it was stated that in both stands there were an ‘appropriate number of turnstiles for the capacity, and that in the lower the signage directing fans to their seats is ‘clear and at an appropriate height’.

On top of that, further findings were as follows:

- Neither stand was over capacity

- Stewarding numbers appropriate

- No injuries reported or incidents recorded in the control room event log

- Measurements of stand and capacity checks concur with figures historically accepted by the club and certifying authority

- Crowds condensed into small areas on the lower stand, possibly as a result of a lack of proactive stewarding and a layout not conducive to balanced access to the seating area

- CCTV shows the upper concourse to be extremely busy and estimated to be over the Green Guide figure of 3.3 persons per square metre by 1715hrs. This would have felt crowded at least for the fans in that area and make traversing the concourse difficult. CCTV or social media did not show any evidence of fans in distress in this area.

- The capacity of the upper stand has been historically restricted as a result of the size and layout of its concourse, which measures 295 square metres, giving a capacity of 974 persons at 3.3 persons per square metre. This equates to 30% of the stand certificated capacity.

Among other things it has been recommended that the club make use of the four turnstiles behind the control room, remove a corrugated fence behind the Leppings Lane turnstiles, and improve CCTV in the tunnel (which has since been done).

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