Police and Steward 'Kettling'

[sandman]

Yet again Reading fans moaning again. It was announced during the match that Hurst Way was going to be closed until the coaches had left. For those that moan that this should have been communicated before the match well maybe some events led to the decision being made late?

Also I would guess that the club received a few complaints after the Derby game where there was also a lot of coach double parked and it was quite intimidating walking down there.

So we had to walk a little bit further and it was a but more busy than usual. Personally I would rather have that than a potential flashpoint around the coaches.....

LOL at the notion of Reading fans moaning again. The whole reason this was done was because whoever was in charge thought that good ole middle class jolly hockey sticks Reading fans wouldn't complain. It's pretty obvious that they were scared of the Cardiff fans so let them go first. The announcement was made with all the audibility of Marlon Brando in the Godfather.

If these two clubs meet in the Championship next season I'd advise whoever is in charge to grow a pair and not be scared of inconveniencing the minority when they should be protecting the safety of the majority in a far more responsible way than they did on Friday.

Still lol at a Reading fan once again bleating on and on about how much they hate other Reading fans.

[Svlad Cjelli]

TBF, all the talk of being scare fo one group of supportes or doing this because oif one set or another is a load of bollocks.

The principle aim in situations like this is to keep the two sets of supporters apart. The design of the MadStad and the surround roads means there's no easy way to do this.

[sandman]

Agree there isn't an easy way but whoever was in charge managed to find a whole new way of doing it and that's the complete fcuk up way.

[Svlad Cjelli]

Don't know - it worked so they achieved their objective from their point of view.

The big problem seems to be the lack of effective communication, not what was done - so they've turned a public satfey issue into a customer service issue.

[Bandini]

Don't know - it worked so they achieved their objective from their point of view.

The big problem seems to be the lack of effective communication, not what was done - so they've turned a public satfey issue into a customer service issue.

It was still a public safety issue. They managed to accumulate a large number of people in a small area pushing against a thin line of mostly stewards with some police. It was atrociously handled.

[rabidbee]

Yet again Reading fans moaning again. It was announced during the match that Hurst Way was going to be closed until the coaches had left.

Was it? I didn't hear it at the back of Y25 (though I could hear the microphone moron bellowing "Back the boys....." before the game loud and clear. That's clearly far more important than safety announcements).

I heard it loud and clear in Y21.......

I heard "...mumble mumble mumble... Way mumble mumble mumble closed...", which was enough for me. But yes, the sound was pretty pish.

[Harpers So Solid Crew]

Don't know - it worked so they achieved their objective from their point of view.

The big problem seems to be the lack of effective communication, not what was done - so they've turned a public satfey issue into a customer service issue.

It was still a public safety issue. They managed to accumulate a large number of people in a small area pushing against a thin line of mostly stewards with some police. It was atrociously handled.

They also managed to send 20 000 people down an exit not designed to take that many. Perhaps we should not spend on players, but on improving the access roads for next season.

[Svlad Cjelli]

Don't know - it worked so they achieved their objective from their point of view.

The big problem seems to be the lack of effective communication, not what was done - so they've turned a public safety issue into a customer service issue.

It was still a public safety issue. They managed to accumulate a large number of people in a small area pushing against a thin line of mostly stewards with some police. It was atrociously handled.

They also managed to send 20 000 people down an exit not designed to take that many. Perhaps we should not spend on players, but on improving the access roads for next season.

20,000 people?!???? That's the same assumption that the hysterical woman who phoned BBCRB made - that just because something affected her it affected absolutely everyone.

Assuming 1/3 of the Reading supporters there go to the car park for cars of for buses, and another 1/3 go out at the other end of the stadium (for Whitley, Acre Road, etc) you're only looking at about 5,800 who'd want to go that way. Even fewer, probably, since some who normally go that way may have heard/understood the announcements.

Not sure of the exact numbers, but to suggest it was anything like 20,000 is pure hyperbole.

[Harpers So Solid Crew]

OK not 20k and take your point, but the B&Q slope was very crowded, personally I would say overcrowded, and potentially dangerous. Had they said that Hurst way would be closed to allow the coaches to leave for 20 minutes after the game fair enough, surely that was all that was needed, then get the Cardiff lot away fast, which it seems they failed to do,

[Wycombe Royal]

LOL at the notion of Reading fans moaning again. The whole reason this was done was because whoever was in charge thought that good ole middle class jolly hockey sticks Reading fans wouldn't complain. It's pretty obvious that they were scared of the Cardiff fans so let them go first. The announcement was made with all the audibility of Marlon Brando in the Godfather.

If these two clubs meet in the Championship next season I'd advise whoever is in charge to grow a pair and not be scared of inconveniencing the minority when they should be protecting the safety of the majority in a far more responsible way than they did on Friday.

Still lol at a Reading fan once again bleating on and on about how much they hate other Reading fans.

Talk about an OTT reaction to my comments.

The "Club Policies" section of this forum in particular is commonly used for fans to moan about ANYTHING the club does, whether it be the stewarding, the use of royalty points, the deadline for season tickets, the price of tickets, policing of matches, etc....

It does not matter what the club does you can guarantee that someone will come on here to moan about it. So I'm not entirely sure what te "LOL" is for......

Also where did anyone say they "hated" other Reading fans?

And as Dirk has said, what they did worked as there was no trouble. Yes it inconvenienced some supporters (for example I had a longer walk to my car than usual), yes it could have been communicated better and maybe they might have been a better way of doing it (keeping the Cardiff fans in the stadium is not an option in my opinion). But the level of hysteria on here and the radio over it is just totally out of proportion to what actually happened.

[Gordons Cumming]

Some people aren't happy unless they're moaning.

Mainly people who never have to make decisions or take responsibility about anything.

[PieEater]

We've had a full away end of Wolves fans, a fair few Millwall in the past, Swansea etc and I don't remember this before.

I recall a game against Bristol City where there was a bizarre stand off between the two sets of fans and the stewards (not the cops) at the end of the game, the City fans wanting to get the car park or buses and the Reading fans wanting to go down Hurst way. There was no announcement for that.

I did what any sensible person would do and risked my life on the steep slope on the other side of the armco and walked a few yards past the City fans. The only tension on that occassion was the one created by the separation and restriction of movement of fans. Top stewarding!

[JC]

Those of us in the East Stand who want to get to the South of the A33 have to put up with this every home game. They lock the gates and we have to walk the long way round past B&Q.
I remember this being raised at a fans forum some years ago and the club's safety officer (Doyle?) said that you could not lock supporters in as the advice they had received was that it could amount to unlawful imprisonment. Doesn't seem to stop other clubs doing it though. Rather ironically I remember going to an FA Cup match against Cardiff many years ago. It was bitterley cold and at the final whistle we were locked in. As we were all pressing up against the gate trying to get out bricks started flying over the wall from the Cardiff fans outside. Very safe!

[Svlad Cjelli]

The legal position is - in theory - that any supporter has the right to leave at any time. However, the police will often hold groups of supporters back "for their own safety" or "to prevent disorder."

Individuals can leave at any time, but it's a brave one who will, and frequently the police will exceed their legal powers in stopping people leaving because 75% of policing of football depends upon supporters not knowing their own rights and where the powers of the police end.

And the police always have "the ways and means act" (*) to fall back on when required.


(*) "The ways and means act" is a non-existent piece of legislation which is quite openly spoken about by individual police officers. It's the process where they know that in any individual situation they can either bend what happened or find some other legislation to achieve the ends they want. So someone who challenges police without plenty of reliable witnesses will more than likely find it reported that they were "violent" or "abusive" or some such subjective term. Or the attitude of the police concerned is calculated to provoke such behaviour in all but the most tolerant and placid - but the end result is the same.

[Royal Lady]

Those of us in the East Stand who want to get to the South of the A33 have to put up with this every home game. They lock the gates and we have to walk the long way round past B&Q.
I remember this being raised at a fans forum some years ago and the club's safety officer (Doyle?) said that you could not lock supporters in as the advice they had received was that it could amount to unlawful imprisonment. Doesn't seem to stop other clubs doing it though. Rather ironically I remember going to an FA Cup match against Cardiff many years ago. It was bitterley cold and at the final whistle we were locked in. As we were all pressing up against the gate trying to get out bricks started flying over the wall from the Cardiff fans outside. Very safe!

We've found a way round this - walk past the megastore and cut through the West Stand entrance/exit and you come out just before the bit where the away coaches are. Then you can walk down the hill to the A33.

[Royal & Ancient]

I had finished my input here but have taken offence about Gordon Cummings remarks on responsibility.I probably had more responsibility at 19/20 in live fire situations than many and throughout my 79 years have often had to leave from the front with national recognition. I feel I have enough experience to know when something can be handled in a better way. Rant over.

[Royal & Ancient]

Oops. That should have been lead!!! And I will now leave!