At this point we may as well be cheering the mags on. The negative pressure can only do harm. I don’t get how anyone who is a fan can go on like many have this week.
Can't remember if I posted this before but I was sent this message. It seems that away supporters could deliberately throw missiles which could lead to SAFC having to play behind closed doors. That was the main concern for the club as the Newcastle supporters could easily cause us huge problems. 1) EFL - away clubs are entitled to claim up to a maximum of 10% of stadium capacity or 2k whichever is the lower. The home club can of course offer more. In view of the missiles being thrown in recent seasons the SAG have put a restriction of 2.2k on away fans as part of their safety certificate being issued. Sunderland are on a final warning and further missiles being thrown could result in Sunderland having their safety certificate withdrawn and having to play home games behind closed doors. 2) FA Cup - away teams are entitled to claim up to 15 % of stadium capacity with a maximum of 9k. It appears for the FA Cup game that the SAG would allow 6k, however, they would not remove the 2.2k condition on the upper tier (probably allowed the front 6 rows to be used as any Newcastle fans throwing missiles would be throwing them down on to their own fans) and therefore it was up to Sunderland to locate them accordingly to accommodate 6k. The whole issue has been that Sunderland have not dealt with the problems over recent seasons by either installing a net or moving the away section to the lower bowl. The same fans would be kicking off if the agreement was 2.5k and we got a replay."
Which is what I said last week, not dealing with the away fans situation last season when the throwing started has led to this situation and will have to be dealt with properly when we get promoted.
You're quite right and it's the obvious thing to do, it's been mentioned weekly. Sadly the club have been put in the situation, of having to move SC holders, spend money, make alterations to the stadium, etc ... ... and by who, a couple of dozen imbeciles ffs. All that for a handful of away supporters. And I have to ask again, why don't they have these problems at SJP.
It started in league 1 with the away clubs having their "big day out" and way bigger allocations than they normally had, so away tickets ended up on general sale to day trippers. In the premier league I'd suggest the away fans are the hard-core season ticket holders with big numbers of loyalty points that wouldn't risk them for the sake of throwing a bottle or object
Yes, that's exactly what I think. Small time away fans seem to want to 'teach the big boys a lesson', quite pathetic. My solution would be effective, much cheaper and less disruptive in my opinion. Set up a series of cameras and big screens visible to the away supporters. They'd be able to see themselves, for the whole 90 minutes, and any bad behaviour recorded. The police and stewards could then apprehend anyone misbehaving. Have regular notifications, on the screens, that all away supporters will be kept in, after the game, until any culprits have been identified and arrested. I'd guarantee the prospect of certain arrest for the offenders, and thirty minutes kept back, would stop any missiles being thrown ... ... it would encourage the decent supporters to keep the idiots from acting up and at best identify them to the police and stewards. Lastly put photos of any of the convicted, in the following match programme, and on screen, with fines, banning orders, etc. If that was done I wouldn't risk throwing a ping pong ball personally.
The club have increased cameras and stewards etc in the away end, It's a good idea about the screens and would possibly work. There is no simple solution to the away fans location, without incurring expense. The annoying thing is until its sorted we are missing out on revenue as the front 5 rows of the upper can't be used and we have reduced allocations for league games. Personally I think we will eventually move them down into one of the corners, with match day sales next to them to allow for allocations to go up or down depending on who the away team is. Which corner they ends up being is anyone's guess as they all present issues
I noticed there were a few Leeds fans ejected or arrested at the front of their section. I'm convinced the screens would work ... ... you'd have to be really dense to watch yourself throw a missile, on the big screen, and expect to get away with it.
I don't believe that's true. Even so they'd have only given us the same allocation if the event of a replay ... ... which I'd say is a distinct possibility.
So. It's not just the club's decision - ultimately if SAFC only wanted to grant 2,500 tickets they would have had to prove to the SAG that there were significant risks in providing a higher allocation. Ultimately, these risks did not exist and the clubs and the SAG came to an agreement. Further to that (and before you slag the club for "moving fans out of their seats) having a Season Card does not guarantee you the same seat for cup matches. This is stated clearly in the T&Cs when you buy your SC. So, read the facts in front of you and decide to still think the club "bent over for money" if you want to.
In this thread the same people are bemoaning the lack of opportunities to make additional revenue, yet also complaining about the additional money being raked in for the cup game. The BCB tickets for the mags will make us half a million quid. Half a million, just for the BCB tickets. These are seats which wouldn't have been open for our fans anyway. They've played a blinder. Then we've also got folk moaning about the lack of a safety net to prevent things being chucked down and moaning at the same time that they want the mags housed above our fans. No idea why people get so incensed by things that neither they, nor the club, have any option about.
If we gave Newcastle 2500 and we draw the game, which is likely, we'd only receive 2500 when we could sell 20,000 We might draw Boro or Leeds. Can we say they're only entitled to 2500. Would 6000 Spurs be permitted. It's not as clear cut as it appears imo.
If we had thought it through they should be in the SE side, no need to worry about objects or any need to demolish BCB, easy access to St Peters or SOL Station and the big carpark next to Audi garage. Sorted.
The safety group only agreed to raise the allocation if both clubs agreed to a bubble trip. The mags obviously jumped at that and are paying for it. If there was no bubble trip, the allocation would have been 2,500. Pretty sure that's how the mags have communicated it to their fans as I'm sure most of them don't want the whole bubble experience From the mags website Without such conditions in place, the club's allocation would have been capped by Northumbria Police at a significantly lower 2,500 seats.
Again, it's my understanding that each game is analysed and assessed differently. The club only has so much say in the discussions
Not sure what your point is, you have whinged on about everyone and said nothing, what are you trying to say?