After coming back from Wrexham for a couple of hours and after mulling the events of the evening over, I thought I really ought to pass comment ....

Like many fans, I had purchased tickets in advance for the game with my match ticket reading 'unreserved seating' .... I, like everyone else, take this to mean being able to sit anywhere within a certain section of the ground.

I am also sensible enough to understand that if I am issued with a 'reserved' ticket, then I sit on the designated seat row and number.

Most people will have noticed the utter farce that developed towards the centre section of the main stand around kick off time, where there was a mix of fans who had been issued with unreserved tickets (and told to 'sit anywhere') and home fans, who had purchased reserved seating for the same section of the ground.

Close to kick off time, there were a sizeable number of people unable to take their seats in the main stand. I'm not talking about the odd person, there were double-digit numbers of people standing and indeed, enough to come two-thirds of the way down the gangway in the upper section of the stand. This meant they spend most of the first half watching the game from the gangway between the seating blocks. The same gangway that should be kept clear AT ALL TIMES to comply with safety regulations.

- Why did it take stewards, who are in direct control of that aspect of safety SO LONG to both assess the situation and then do something about it ? By my reckoning it took over THIRTY MINUTES for someone to decide there was a problem and the stewards to actually do what they were supposed to do and start moving people.

- Whilst fans were stood up in the gangways of the centre section, and perhaps as a direct result of them standing, there was an altercation with what looked to be themselves or Leeds fans from a neighbouring section and a scuffle developed. Again, the stewarding required to sort out this incident was painfully slow to arrive (Depsite the presence of a steward no more that metres away at the bottom of the same gangway). You could make the point that if those people hadn't been stood up in the first place, then perhaps the incident wouldn't have developed.

- If (Leeds) fans unrestricted tickets should have only been for a certain section of the upper tier of the stand, then why were they issued with misleading information on them (mine said turnstiles 1 to 4, my friend's had 7 to 10 at the opposite end of the stand and giving the impression that the whole upper tier was unreserved seating) and why wasn't stewarding in place to ensure that fans were retained in that section of the stand ?

Given the problems, you really have to question to logic of the decision to issue thousands of unrestricted tickets to one of the best supported, best travelled and defending champions, playing the first game of their title defence.

You might also say that Wrexham isn't used to big crowds, but not-so-very-long-ago, the area was a UEFA standard venue for internation soccer games .... So, what has changed with their crowd control and organisation ?

If there had been a medical emergency or an evacuation required within the centre section of the main stand, then a significant number of fans would have been put at risk by the frankly p**s-poor standards of crowd control demonstrated.

It was a 'near-miss' this time, but next time they might not be so lucky ....

I'd like the team in Wales to be a success and I am not trying to pick fault with anything that I could find. I've been watching rugby for years and have visited just about all the professional stadium venues during that time and the ticketing problems and associated standing in gangways was one of the most serious I have seen. It might not be the thing that fans take note of, but it also happens to be in my line of work, so it is something I am aware of.

The crowd control standards were not acceptable and they must do better next time.

What do you expect from a 2 bob club?

I'm unsurprised. Jeez, they even had one of the players names spelt wrong on his shirt.

Have you forwarded your comments to the necessary people at the Racecourse?

Just in case anyone fancies a pop at this user for complaining without foundation - re-read the bit that I have highlighted - he is a professional.

More specifically with the authorities that licence the venue for sporting occasions ....

It was also interesting to note the CCTV camera mounted on the roof directly in front of me (and I assume there to monitor the crowd) wasn't once turned towards the actual area where there was a problem .... So, what was the point of it then ?

The stewards outside the ground didn't help matters . We had to ask a few for directions . We were sent anti-clockwise round the ground , then the other way . Then down an alley that led us to where we needed to be . ar$e from elbow sprang to mind regarding how informed the stewards were last night .
I heard one steward tell smokers near the toilets that if they were caught by the stewards they would be thrown out . There were THREE stewards in that area at the time , and four coppers stood about twenty feet away .

I wonder who installed the cameras and the PA horns . Those ones hanging from the beam above us . We would have seen a lot more of the game if they had been above the beam .

We were in the Mold Road upper and a steward there told at least 4 people to my knowledge they could smoke down the tunnel only to be told by some grey bearded nazi in a hi-vis vest they couldn't when already in situ!

And while where at it,Did anyone actually try to get into the unused terracing to have a skate around??

Lack of stewarding does seem to be something you come accross every now and then, hope they come up with a better solution than Huddersfield did - I was told it was similar to that game at the Mcalpine a few years back, although there was no overflow/spare seats last night

When I asked the steward where we can go when it all went tits up the stewards reply was " just go over there somewhere" as he walked off



Very helpful indeed

There were hundreds of empty seats .
Game was announced as a sell out and at max capacity .
There must have been at least a thousand empty seats . I guess the weather must have made a few decide not to attend .

How can it be a SELL out if they gave away lots of tickets ?

'Sell out' ...hhhmmmm.. Was he meaning tickets or the club in general ?

To be fair, I was in with you lot, from what I could gather that in the Yale upper, there's 3 different sections,all with the same seat numbering system, no signs, no stewards, awful view, really disappointed.

Plus it didn't help with some of the "friendly" locals. There were a couple of Leeds fans in front of us we got speaking too, they were saying about getting moved something like 3 times already, then some of the locals just started kicking off,and I mean really aggressive/swearing ect, I don't get people like that.

Plus surely, If they had started off selling tickets as unreserved, they would have to stick with that?

I agree with most of the comments on the steqarding, it was awful, but just to balance out the comment regarding the locals, I have to add that we were sat amongst loads of the home fans, and they were all really friendly. We shook hands with a group sat in front of us at the end.

And Admiral, Shooey McPhie, or Angus Lennie to give him his proper name, [iIS[/i still alive!

If the stewards had just said it was sit anywhere as we went in it wouldn't be so bad but they let us queue to go up the back of the stand only to find our seats were already taken so we had to get back down again but they were still letting people join the queue to go up! No one appeared to be moving either way so I had to force my way out. Releasing unreserved seating tickets in a full house crowd is just plain stupid! Hope they learn from it.

Crowd control problems? What problems? The crowd was boring as hell, their lifelessness marred a great win for the Rhinos.

And whilst thinking about the same film, Tom Adams is who I was thinking of ... Racquel Welsh via Dr Who and ending up at DFS / Northern Upholstery

Though it grips my s h i t to admit it, this was apparently a sell-out(ish) match and be honest, it's not something the stewards are used to at Wrexham.

The stewards did nothing about a group of lads in their early 20s who decided to ignore the game and just flag us off and do waynekerr signs at us all the way through.

As a mate went over to tell them he just wanted to watch the game he was punched, and the stewards were on the verge of throwin him out, not the lads who'd clearly been looking for aggro.

Really amused me just how bad they are compared to the staff at Elland Road who are fantasticly helpful and amazingly good looking.

It sounds like the Wrexham staff are employed by the same agency as those at ER

Sorry but it was a farce. pushed from one end of the stand to the other, then basically told to f off back down towards the gates. Luckily for us we spotted a way into the front tier of seats pitch side which was mercifully empty.

Im sure the Crusaders will sort these teething problems out in time but with Hull down there in the not too distant future, with thier sizable away support they better do it quickly.

People stood in gangways due to ineffective stewarding? Sounds like the majority of home games...

Apart from the fact the racecourse stand was all [size=150Seater[/size you mean?

Detailed report, straight to the point and with everything there in detail that can be actioned on by the people you've reported it to, I just wish more people would do the same.



I was looking forward to going down to the ground and having a good look round but looks like the Bulls are playing at Newport instead so if any of the disabled Leeds army travelled and can give me their thoughts on what they found I'd appreciate it. It's one thing to get the info the Club give but I prefer to hear what the fans think if you know what I mean.

Lets just hope they take on board and improve things pretty rapidly as what you've described is a disaster waiting to happen and ground safety regs, well sounds like they have not got the handbook.

The ground was very easy to find off the A 483.
There was very good parking immediately adjacent to the ground at a cost of £5.
Impossible to tell how much of it was for blue badge holders due to the snow on the ground.
I can't comment on access into, out of or within the ground except to say that the egress from the Yale Rd stand was through a pretty narrow gate straight on to the road for the car park without any pavement.
HTH.