New addition to the East Stand

[GAZ80]

They've installed barriers now either side of the Y24-Y25 disabled area to "stop fans from congregating there". Well, that's just great but surely it's a fire hazard, not to mention discriminatory.

[M4 Junction 11]

and a guard on each side

[GAZ80]

Exactly, how ridiculous. I think this has been implemented more by the jobsworths than anything else as no disabled fans used to complain. And if the club are worried about people congregating there being a fire hazard, then it's surely hypocrisy to add guards restricting the natural flow of human traffic.

That wasp faced woman in the red was there again tonight, she probably instigated it.

[Behindu]

The flow of people is down the aisle to the concourse, not across the back of the wheelchair area so the light barriers are hardly a fire hazard....

As for whether the people in wheelchairs mind being blocked in by people taking a short cut through thier space, I guess they come in the same category as people who get blocked in their houses by drivers parking across their drive ! How about a bit of consideration for others !

Those areas are DISABLED areas, so how can you complain that they are being kept clear for DISABLED people ! If you aren;t DISABLED then whether there is a barrier there or not won;t harm you unless you want to block in the DISABLED.

[Hoop Blah]

What a complete waste of money these are.

Coming down from Y25 and wanting to get to the nothern side of the bar it's much quicker and easier to use the Y24 entrance because of the queues at the bar. The Y24 entrance brings you out into a nice open space where you can get to the gates to outside, the Jazz Cafe door or the food only bar and no need to fight your way through the wall of bodies trying to geta beer.

I just don't see the point of it as there's never been any problem with too many people congregating in the disabled area.

I also noticed a Traffic Warden taking in the game with the stewards and coppers there last night....a nice little freebie at the tax payers expense no doubt!

[Forbury Lion]

no disabled fans used to complain

How would you know?

[AbovetheI]

What I found ridiculous yesterday was that there was 3 or 4 Police officers congregating in the entrance to the concourse. Surely that's a fire hazard?

[When Hicks went up...]

I have it on good authority that the gates were actually paid for by a Mr. Gary Rodriguez, who can now use them as an excuse for never getting to the bar at half time.

[Wycombe Royal]

Can't we just have a "Back from the match moans" thread after each game. It would make things so much easier.

[shadesrwrf]

What I found ridiculous yesterday was that there was 3 or 4 Police officers congregating in the entrance to the concourse. Surely that's a fire hazard?

Only if you set fire to them. Behaviour I would of course not condone.

[who are ya?]

Surely these barriers should be put in all round the stadium if it's that much of a concern.

[RoyalBlue]

They've installed barriers now either side of the Y24-Y25 disabled area to "stop fans from congregating there". Well, that's just great but surely it's a fire hazard, not to mention discriminatory.

I thought you were going to mention the two coppers standing in the entrance of Y21!

Surely they weren't there just because my son commited the crime of hanging up a flag that overlapped an advertising hoarding (not the name itself) by a few inches! He did take it down when asked, so maybe there were some other criminals lurking in that particular area!

Can't remember ever seeing police in that part of the East Stand before.

[Coppelled Streets]

Mountain --------> Molehill.

[Gloria Gooner]

Surely they weren't there just because my son commited the crime of hanging up a flag that overlapped an advertising hoarding (not the name itself) by a few inches!

That's a Barclays Premiership regulation, not a club rule.

[Volvicanus]

Good.

[Warfield Royal]

Do the fans who use the disabled area actually want to segregated from everyone else? Is it keeping one group of fans in or another group of fans out? Is this not a worrying anti-social development?

[Volvicanus]

Segregated from everyone else? Not generally - and we aren't.

Just from the idiots that can't actually make themselves sit in their seat for the duration of the game, decide to leave early, and then decide that the disabled section in the place they have a right to 'stop off' in as they wonder if anything else exciting is going to happen on the pitch. If you're going to leave then leave.

[Behindu]

Surely these barriers should be put in all round the stadium if it's that much of a concern.

Hopefully they will be , but I believe they trialled it in the area with the biggest problem first.

Some of you would not believe the attitude of some of our fans - there is a bit of a belief that they are the only people who matter and not only do none of the stadium rules apply to them but the people who are there to try and manage the rules are valid targets for abuse and threats of violence.

For a lot of people the quicket route to get out of the ground would be straight over the fences and across the pitch but oddly no uses that route. Jamming th edisabled bays and using them as a short cut seems OK though to a selfish few...

[RoyalBlue]

Surely they weren't there just because my son commited the crime of hanging up a flag that overlapped an advertising hoarding (not the name itself) by a few inches!

That's a Barclays Premiership regulation, not a club rule.

But maybe an element of discretion and common sense could be applied to its application (as appears to be the case in many grounds)? Indeed some of the stewards at RFC do seem capable, and brave enough, to adopt a 'rules are for the guidance of wise men and the blind obedience of fools approach' to this and other matters. That approach leads to far better understanding and tolerance all around.

I recognise that companies pay an absolute fortune to display their names/advert and can fully understand that they don't want them obstructed but does it really make much difference if a small part of the hoarding not bearing the name/advert is temporarily obstructed?

Incidentally, elsewhere around the stadium the names themselves are completely obstructed by stewards, camera men etc.!

[GAZ80]

I note Y21,Y22 & Y23 each had 2 police in each entrance last night - not once did they look at the crowd. There to watch the game for free, perhaps JM should ask for a reduction on the police bill as they've watched a game gratis.

And what happens if there's a fire in the disabled area now?? Disabled fans will die because of these barriers.