Sheffield Wednesday fans hit out at a journalist, while giving reaction to the Hillsborough capacity reduction and a Newcastle statement.
Following a review of complaints from a reporter, and visiting supporters, about overcrowding, the Hillsborough Stadium away end’s capacity has been reduced.
This came at the FA Cup third round tie back in January, with Newcastle fans voicing safety concerns.
For the game, there were 4,500 Newcastle fans at the Leppings Lane End, but that number of fans in the stand won’t be seen again.
97 Liverpool supporters died at the 1989 FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest at Hillsborough.
According to Reuters, media from the game was captured, showing congestion at the tunnel exit in Leppings Lane End.
Many Newcastle fans claimed that there was a lack stewardship prior to the game.
Sheffield City Council expressed concern about supporters being sent through the wrong turnstiles, yet no injuries were reported.
The match was reviewed by the city council with co-operation starting Wednesday. It was overseen and monitored by the Sports Grounds Safety Authority, the government’s advisor on safety at sporting venues.
According to the review, the number of fans at the Leppings Lane End Lower and Upper West Stands was lower than what is allowed under the safety certificate.
Newcastle was informed by Sheffield City Council that the Upper West Stand capacity had been reduced to 2,400 from 3,200 and the Lower West Stand capacity to 1,500 respectively.
Sheffield Wednesday’s disgraceful Hillsborough cover-up reveals a club without humility, self-awareness or class. My @mailplus column: https://t.co/MhnnfoWbgM pic.twitter.com/JhQ1MpX9tm
— Ian Herbert (@ianherbs) March 14, 2023
IAN HERBERT: Sheffield Wednesday’s scandalous Hillsborough cover-up shows a weaselly club with no humility | @ianherbs
Read more 👇https://t.co/8z9zL1JYwe pic.twitter.com/XZQfEyzVzu
— MailOnline Sport (@MailSport) March 14, 2023
Meanwhile, as seen above, journalist Ian Herbert wrote: “Sheffield Wednesday’s scandalous Hillsborough cover-up shows a weaselly club with no humility self-awareness or class… they should have bulldozed the godforsaken Leppings Lane stand years ago.”
His views have come under criticism, as you will see further down in the fan reaction part of this article.
Newcastle fan-site The Mag, wrote: “A number of Newcastle United supporters experienced problems at Hillsborough on the day of the FA Cup match in January, sadly, at the time a lot of Sheffield Wednesday fans got very defensive over the reported concerns expressed by some Newcastle United supporters, claiming that it was only because NUFC lost and the complaints a case of sour grapes.
“How I saw the issues that day, was that it wasn’t a case of overcrowding, in terms of too many Newcastle fans in total in that entire away section.
“Instead, it was a case of a combination of still not a great ground design at the Leppings Lane End, along with poor organisation on the day by the home club, especially when it came to stewards not managing the away fans better, in terms of how best to enter the away section and find their seat, or indeed claims of stewards directing them to find just any seat. The very minimal space in the away end concourses are / were probably the biggest issue.
“It doesn’t need a massive number of people to produce an (at best) uncomfortable situation, if there is a bottleneck and hundreds of fans wanting to head in opposite directions and/or many fans static as others are trying to get past, then people can quickly find themselves trapped in a situation where they simply can’t move in any direction, with numbers then (usually unknowingly) pushing from both directions and making the situation worse.
“Thankfully nobody was seriously hurt BUT that doesn’t mean that issues don’t need addressing, just to ensure that all future visiting fans have the best possible experience and don’t end up in any potential dangerous environment.
“It has now emerged that following the concerns raised by Newcastle supporters, there HAS been a reduction now in the number of away fans allowed into that Leppings Lane End of Hillsborough.
“This however has only become public knowledge due to Newcastle United putting in a FOI (Freedom Of Information) request which has then forced Sheffield City Council to reveal that reduction, after the Safety Advisory Group looked into the issues raised by Newcastle United supporters.
“The fact that neither Sheffield City Council nor Sheffield Wednesday had willingly put this information into the public domain, is pretty poor to say the least.
“As I state above, at the time Sheffield Wednesday fans wanted to blame concerns raised by NUFC fans as simply a reaction to their team losing the match.
“As you will see by the comments below reacting to the latest news, apart from a few voices of reason, the vast majority of Sheffield Wednesday fans apparently still seeing this as the fault of Newcastle supporters and / or some kind of conspiracy against them, as a fanbase and football club. Sheffield Wednesday / Hillsborough unfairly picked out and treated differently.
“Personally, I do think that after what happened in 1989, there should have been a totally publicly funded plan put in place to completely cover rebuilding that Leppings Lane end of Hillsborough.”
Newcastle statement – 13th March 2023:
Following concerns raised by Newcastle United supporters who attended the club’s FA Cup third round tie at Sheffield Wednesday’s Hillsborough Stadium on 7th January 2023, Newcastle United can share the findings of the subsequent Safety Advisory Group (SAG) meeting called by Sheffield City Council.
This follows a request by Newcastle United – in consultation with individual supporters and Newcastle United Supporters Trust – to Sheffield City Council under the Freedom of Information Act in order to provide fans with greater transparency around safety issues.
The response below contains public sector information obtained from Sheffield City Council and is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
SAG meeting minutes:
Please find redacted SAG meeting minutes – including findings/conclusions and recommendations – here: https://nufc-production-cms-paris.azurewebsites.net/media/75177/sag-minutes-200123_redacted.pdf
Sheffield City Council’s response:
We have attached the minutes of the Safety Advisory Group (SAG) meeting of 20 January 2023, which reviewed the match between Sheffield Wednesday and Newcastle United on 7 January 2023.
We have redacted the names of meeting attendees of the SAG under section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 on the grounds that it is personal data and disclosure would contravene the data protection principle under Article 5(1)(a) of the General Data Protection Regulation that processing of personal data must be lawful, fair, and transparent.
Regarding capacity reduction, we can advise that:
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.
As mentioned, Sheffield Wednesday fans hit out at the journalist, the Hillsborough capacity reduction and Newcastle…
@kmowl44: Refuse to read the rag that you have written I’m afraid. You’re the one that’s an absolute disgrace.
@YahYah_Gunn: “Cover up” 😆 fair play to you for coming in late in the game and managing to be an even bigger embarrassment that Martin Hardy, Craig Hope and the entire Newcastle fanbase. That takes some doing. I hope you get sued.
@AlbertRamsbott1: Why are they all stood up in an all seated area, they themselves are causing the problems, why don’t you comment on that
@stevelongden04: The only issue in that picture is fans that aren’t going to their allocated seat but instead are congregating in the tunnel area smack behind the goal. This stand has been filled many times since it was made all seater with no issues
@nrushfor: Ian Herbert’s disgraceful reporting of an absolute non-event reveals a man without morals, balance or evidence. There, fixed it for you
@MickeyB62: The only “crush” that happened that night was the crushing defeat that Saudi Arabia suffered
@engineowl: Those fans in the photo are stood in the walkway, rather than occupying the vacant seats to each side. Why would there be that volume of people arriving all at once , to take up their seats ? The lower stand has been full on many occasions with no issues.
@ShaysTriathlon: Really hope @swfc and Mr Chansiri never allows a @MailSport journo in Hillsborough
@oblackx: Look how crushed everyone is. People smiling in despair 😱
@neilbartrop: Show me one person that looks like they are being crushed in this photo. Plenty smiling. Plenty with arms up. Go to your seat. Sit at your seat. #swfc
@yeadonowl:
Neither stand over capacity
– Stewarding appropriate
– No injuries reported
– No video/images submitted after requests
– No evidence of distress all of this was also in the report but it doesn’t make for headlines
@adam7485: Classic. Not letting a lack of facts or evidence get in the way of a good story 😂
@CP4573t5i543: Imagine trying to piggy back on others sensationalism and comparing Geordies not taking their seats to a disaster that killed 97 people just for clout and £1 subscriptions to his column… just… wow…
@adamswfc: Nothing found wrong? Call in the lawyers @swfc #swfc
@Dastardly_Mutt: Shameless ? This from a media organisation who readily hacked people’s phones, plummets depths of sloppy and moronic journalism, actively spreads misinformation, hate , racism and insecurity and has regularly been taken to court for breaking the law. Do f@@k off
@JackDagnallV: You can’t even see any issues in the photos these backwards wankers are sharing
@clurrrrxhx: I’m more disgraced that you write so much bollocks and disrespectful shit and they actually pay you for it Ian
@HowardM1979: Disgraceful article which conveniently ignores the actual report! Why would the club be concealing a report that pretty much exonerated them? Bizarre 🤷♂️
@murray1867: The very personally and organised vendetta from the collective Mail journalists continues against Wednesday. This is by far the most vindictive I’ve ever seen a paper take on a club and its supporters
@Danny1867: No injuries or any video evidence or anything, yet you come to this conclusion you horrible journo rat. Vile scum cunt you’ll get exactly what’s coming to you
@RussSykes: The Club should take legal action.
Tons of space. Next! pic.twitter.com/EZqcr14Qdz
— DT (@DT_S5) March 14, 2023
*WARNING*
Graphic video of fans having a great time pic.twitter.com/kqpUlQZ6Va— Paul Oxley (@Oxley16Paul) March 14, 2023
Look how scared they all are pic.twitter.com/vvdoTmDOOs
— Dave (0v0) Dowling (@DoubleD1867) March 14, 2023
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