Stewards & away coaches leaving the stadium

[Jerry St Clair]

2-0, you're right.

We're back to the basic problem that the stadium environs are hideously designed with pedestrian access being a mere after thought.

[STAR Liaison]

2-0, you're right.

We're back to the basic problem that the stadium environs are hideously designed with pedestrian access being a mere after thought.

Ironic really, given the stick I have had on here, that I first got involved with the supporters club and from there helped form STAR because I was so incensed about the lack of pedestrian crossings on the A33 that I volunteered to get signatures for a petition and from there it was a slippery slope

Maybe a lesson there - get out and do something rather than just post about it and you too can get sniped at

[The 17 Bus]

Seems that all the time the club dont really give a damn about the fans other than for the money they bring in.

I see to recall a pedestrian bridge in the original plans.

I seem to recall 2000 free parking spaces, with the area designed to be cleared quickly after games..

I seem to recall a supporters club bar under the spacious stands, to replace the Royals Rendezvous.

I seem to recall an extended roof to stop supporters getting wet.

I seem to recall outside piches for community use.

It is time the club put some of the money that they are making into the local area to make the match day experience easier for all supporters, to do this requires a will to change, something the club do not seem to have at the moment.

[The 17 Bus]

2-0, you're right.

We're back to the basic problem that the stadium environs are hideously designed with pedestrian access being a mere after thought.

Ironic really, given the stick I have had on here, that I first got involved with the supporters club and from there helped form STAR because I was so incensed about the lack of pedestrian crossings on the A33 that I volunteered to get signatures for a petition and from there it was a slippery slope

Maybe a lesson there - get out and do something rather than just post about it and you too can get sniped at

what's ironic???

[Jerry St Clair]

*UPDATE*

The barriers at the bottom of the Costco slope have been removed, and it looks like work is being undertaken to replace them.

[royal goof]

*UPDATE*

The barriers at the bottom of the Costco slope have been removed, and it looks like work is being undertaken to replace them.

Having been in discussions with the club and Ray Booth in particular, I can now confirm the following:

The barrier at the bottom of Biscuit Way has been removed and improvements carried out to the pedestrian access on the 'unmade' side of the carriageway (next to gas box).

Away fan coaches are to be held back for longer after away games to allow for a greater dispersement of pedestrians and therefore fewer directed onto the road/in conflict with the coaches. The amount of supporters present in this area is being monitored by CCTV to help with this.

A footway on the other side of the road on Biscuit Way to be constructed in the future (possibly linked to expansion plans, but hopefully sooner).

Barriers around the stadium circulation road to be removed and cars to be prevented from leaving car parks instead, which will aid flow of pedestrians. This will also allow cars to get on their way quicker.

Hopefully the next game will see some improvement for everyone.

[M U R T Y]

Or not!

No signs of any stewards walking the coaches out today - all the coaches speeding out

[PieEater]

The buses were too leaving unescorted through the crowds too, but at least they were single deckers, that has to be safer ?

[royal goof]

*UPDATE*

The barriers at the bottom of the Costco slope have been removed, and it looks like work is being undertaken to replace them.

Having been in discussions with the club and Ray Booth in particular, I can now confirm the following:

The barrier at the bottom of Biscuit Way has been removed and improvements carried out to the pedestrian access on the 'unmade' side of the carriageway (next to gas box).

Away fan coaches are to be held back for longer after away games to allow for a greater dispersement of pedestrians and therefore fewer directed onto the road/in conflict with the coaches. The amount of supporters present in this area is being monitored by CCTV to help with this.

A footway on the other side of the road on Biscuit Way to be constructed in the future (possibly linked to expansion plans, but hopefully sooner).

Barriers around the stadium circulation road to be removed and cars to be prevented from leaving car parks instead, which will aid flow of pedestrians. This will also allow cars to get on their way quicker.

Hopefully the next game will see some improvement for everyone.

STAR - please investigate the following:

Away fans coaches are being allowed to leave a lot earlier than Mr Booth agreed 1 year ago.

He also agreed a footpath on the other side would be a good idea. As it seems the expansion plans are a little way off, surely the club could find the funds to put a footpath in now. Especially if they intend to keep the policy of directing fans away from the existing footpath.

Cars are getting out of the public & hotel car parks and away from 'priority parking' around the stadium whilst fans are still present. They are also then getting through stewards and down Biscuit way. Mr Booth agreed to stop this 1 year ago.

I have email correspondence from him if you're interested.

Hopefully STAR can take this up on the supporters behalf because they are reluctant to listen to a single fans opinion. The length of support in this thread and a recent one started on 'policies' board demonstrates the need.

Cheers

[fridays child]

It was downright dangerous walking down Northern way after the game. Cars were speeding past, and this was at least 5 mins after the final whistle.

[STAR Voice]

http://hobnob.royals.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=82042&start=0&st=0&sk=t&sd=a

[Dan - B15 Royal]

After visiting the megastore briefly after the final whistle on Saturday i was amazed like many of you on here how quickly that the Derby coaches were just pulling out into hundreds of fans walking back to the car park, i saw many a person angry that the buses just pulled out. Single decker or not, the buses should be kept back for much longer after the game to allow for pedestrians to leave safely. Access to the m4 as we know is only a few minutes away, so waiting for longer before leaving wouldnt do anyone harm.
Now you might say, why dont these all these fans walk on the pavement and you reduce the chances of getting run down, thats corect but with so many people heading in one direction in the same time span the overspill of course led to people walking in the raod, and a potentail life threatening injury will occur one day if something isnt done sooner rather than later.

[royal goof]

http://hobnob.royals.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=82042&start=0&st=0&sk=t&sd=a

Email on its way.

My observations are mainly to do with Hurst Way (Costco slope) - it sounds like some of you experience problems the other side of the stadium (B&Q slope) so let STAR have the details.

[M U R T Y]

Star, I realised this was discussed separately at the same time as the Y26 debate (which itself seems not a problem anymore??!!) and the stewards were understanding of the problem, but could not suggest an answer.
The Wolves game was one of the worst experiences of the coaches speeding down next to hundreds of pedestrians. Yet again, the promises of a steward walking each coach down the slope did not happen and when a police van stopped where the coaches exit, the coaches - instead of waiting for the police van to move - drove round it and into the side of the road where the fans were directed to walk! Completely unacceptable stewarding - something must be done, before a serious incident occurs.

[STAR Voice]

Star, I realised this was discussed separately at the same time as the Y26 debate (which itself seems not a problem anymore??!!) and the stewards were understanding of the problem, but could not suggest an answer.
The Wolves game was one of the worst experiences of the coaches speeding down next to hundreds of pedestrians. Yet again, the promises of a steward walking each coach down the slope did not happen and when a police van stopped where the coaches exit, the coaches - instead of waiting for the police van to move - drove round it and into the side of the road where the fans were directed to walk! Completely unacceptable stewarding - something must be done, before a serious incident occurs.

Don't worry - we have been looking into this as a result of numerous complaints from supporters. We had a STAR board member up in the Stadium Control room for both the Watford and Wolves games to try and understand the club's decision-making processes (e.g. at what point they release cars and buses, etc).

As soon as we can get together we'll discuss what we found out and decide what we can do and what we need to say to RFC about this. We also attend meetings of the Safety Advisory Group so we can feed any info back to them if necessary.

[STAR Liaison]

Star, I realised this was discussed separately at the same time as the Y26 debate (which itself seems not a problem anymore??!!) and the stewards were understanding of the problem, but could not suggest an answer.
The Wolves game was one of the worst experiences of the coaches speeding down next to hundreds of pedestrians. Yet again, the promises of a steward walking each coach down the slope did not happen and when a police van stopped where the coaches exit, the coaches - instead of waiting for the police van to move - drove round it and into the side of the road where the fans were directed to walk! Completely unacceptable stewarding - something must be done, before a serious incident occurs.

Having spoken to the Tango with you I was trying to keep a special watch on the away coaches when I was in the control room for the Wolves game but I will be honest that there was so much happening that I missed the release command for the coaches. It certainly gave me an insight on how difficult it is to control some of the traffic - like taxis waiting on the approach roads and so leaving with the pedestrians and especially coping with Police vans and where they park.

I would say that there are several club personnel who are there watching over the shoulders of those in control and it is obvious that the subject of safety and controlling the traffic is very important even if they have not yet got it completely right. As he says STAR CaAMPAIGNS and I need to get together to compare our experiences and maybe repeat them if there is a chance of coming up with some constructive suggestions that do not end up shifting the problem from one area to another.

[Skin]

Ref Hurst Way: Take the safety gate out the equation and you go a long way to solving your problem!
Most fans from East Stand have to circumnavigate the whole stadium in order to exit by the slope behind it.
This alone causes thousands of pedestrians to create a problem that need not be there. The majority would be long gone before any coaches set off after a 10-15 minute buffer.

If there is an issue with home and away fans mingling and it could mean a potential flash point simply keep the away fans in for 10 minutes until the home fans have gone. The coaches will have to wait too.


Safety gate is an irony in itself you see..

[The 17 Bus]

Yay at last someone gets the safety gate problem, and it is not the wealk around the ground, it is the delay it causes.

[Dirk Gently]

The delay it causes is half the point of it, though - making people leaving walk one-way round at least part of the stadium thins out the ground and is a disincentive for East Stand people to leave via Hurst Way.

Otherwise the great mass of 50% of East Stand people leaving in, effectively, one group and the majority going down Hurst Way en masse would make congestion and traffic problems at that junction even worse.

[The 17 Bus]

Disagree, the stadium was designed for that to be used as an exit from the East, it was designed by experts in traffic flow and the like, and only since the safety gate has it been such a problem, originally the safety gate was for games where there was a high risk of clashes between fans, ps the away fans should have the South west section, and the club should have made that the bigger section., meaning that the home fans could have left past the away section much easier.