Can anyone with experience or training tell us what the stewards are expected to do in this situation?

As far as I am aware they acted in accordance with instructions. I was next door to the safety office and the safety officer, police and management looked calm as the situation was dealt with.

It's basically to ensure that there is a divide between the two supporters in case the Cas fans came on as well so to basically stand in a line to create a physical barrier and let the police get on with their jobs. Obviously this took some time to organise on Sunday because of so many incidents in the South/East Stands happening at the same time. Pretty common scenario on the last day of the football season, though they're generally far more good natured than Sunday's events.

Act swiftly and decisively clamp down hard and fast - throw a few out as an example in a zero policy especially when the sets of fans are renown for causing bother - that's how they used to 'police' United and City games, unfortunately people do not tend to have the same respect for any authority -Police or Stewards- as back in the day, stewards have a rotten job their 'powers' are limited and the Police are too expensive, decisive leadership is required.

Not really helped by Hillsborough

I was at the City v Utd FA cup semi at Wembly a few years ago and the trouble was the worse I've seen for ages and their was a massive police presence, all well trained and use to dealing with trouble.Drunken louts just faced up to them eye to eye and did not give a toss.

Stewards at all stadiums and I've been to a good few are not employed to physically man handle,restrain or whatever idiots out to cause trouble,thats the police job and its only due to their being few incidents of trouble at RL games that we get away with a small police presence on match days.

At the end of last season City employed hundreds of stewards to stop fans going onto the pitch and they failed miserably,luckily they were not after trouble just wanted to get close to the players but this is irrelevant,the club still did not want fans on the pitch.

Enter the field of play illegally in Toronto at the baseball and you run the risk of getting Tasered. Police around the perimeter at all times at all games even though the vast majority are home fans. And this is in a place that's is 50 times safer than Widnes or Leigh! Suffice to say there is never the hint of trouble.

Hillsborough was a tragedy waiting to happen, and things have moved on a lot since then thats why AFTER it, all the top football stadiums were altered drastically over the years and better training was given to all parties involved in 'policing' events, too little too late unfortunately. (and please if your going to quote me have the good manners to put the whole quote in instead of paraphrasing it, it does take the proper meaning of a phrase away)

No point in shutting the door after the horse has bolted and the 'what shudders 'everyone involved with last Sundays scenes must live and learn, unfortunately it means that the 'ordinary' Joe public going to a game not intent on causing any trouble or upset will have to pay the price with more vigorous stewarding at sporting events in future.

Well it was the leading story on Granada Reports " disgusting Scenes" looks like they used the Widnes ladies footage

It does not matter if we insist that all stewards must now run a triathlon every weekend as a minimum requisite, if over 100 drunken louts decide to run amok in unison, rampaging through the stadium the situation would still have occurred.

It has been widely accepted that the stewards were extremely competent in the face of difficult circumstances.

To say they were unfit with most lacking in nous is at best ill thought out and quite frankly disrespectful.

The Watcher recalls that Hillsborough was not caused by hooligans/football violence but by very poor policing by the south Yorkshire force, subsequently made worse by the lying of officers & the attempt to cover up its failings rather than own up to them.

Well said.

The inquiry is now complete is it?

Almost all of the idiots who ran on the pitch did not have Widnes shirts on and it was obvious most of those shown on you tube who did have Widnes shirts on near to the barriers were too drunk to get over the barriers and that was about 3.

Stewards did their best and the prompt arrival of the police officers stopped it from getting worse.

Where are the coppers actually based during the game - Leigh police station? In both the Daily Mail videos it seems an absolute age before they come out onto the pitch and then they are just sauntering about like they are on a Sunday stroll!!

The "watcher" normally is spot on, but this had nothing to do with the "WEST" Yorkshire Police!

First of all, I'd like to apologise for the scenes and the behaviour of the scum responsible for the trouble and hope there is little/no damage to the LSV. No excuse or reason for it other than idiots who can't handle beer.

I was in The Brittannia before the game though and saw no trouble, just both sets of fans having a few beers. Yes Widnes fans were singing but it didn't seem like it was aimed at goading Cas fans

Still seething and embarrassed.

I'd love to know what the stewards could have done better. Their first priority has to be to themselves - that's the same in any similar job - followed by looking after the innocent fans. This they did, there was no confrontation.

Keeping them off the pitch by physical means would be somewhere near the bottom of their list of priorities, and given that they were outnumbered there wasn't much they could have done.

What the hell as that got to do with it please explain???
Iv followed Fev since I was 8 years old and haven't had a shirt for a few years

Well it was in response to an earlier post where someone suggested that most of the pitch invaders had Widnes shirts on.

I can understand why you would not want to wear a Fev shirt.





Most know that the folk who ran on the pitch were drunken idiots irrespective of what they were wearing.

Many had shirts/colours on Frank, the football fan excuse does not wash as I can't see them spending £40 just for one game of RL. Is it also true that Widnes have a suspended fine from last season still hanging over them or is that someone else.

Thats good to hear both sets of fans getting on,just goes to show you can't believe everything you are told.

I feel sorry for Widnes who have spent years rebuilding their team from the bottom up,yet it only takes something like Sunday to destroy reputations etc.We have had some really tense and high stake games with Widnes over tthe last 10 years and I have been to most if not all and never saw any trouble,so hopefully this was a one off fuelled by way too much ale.

Your right Demon I think from an incident at Wakefield again live on sky

The Police unit who attended were most likely a Tactical Aid unit who could have been anywhere in the GMP area as these days because of costs The Police are not normally required to attend Rugby games, IF they were local officers they would have been called from all over the Wigan Division which in my experience is unlikely as there was probably only that number actually on duty throughout the whole division on a 'normal' Sunday afternoon, fortunately (or unfortunately depending on ones point of view) policing in England is not like some countries on the continent where the Police are a para-military group and live in barracks where they are easily deployed to trouble.

Assume the RFL will have to pick up the tab for this 'emergency policing'.
We have to hope this will encourage the RFL to go down the zero tolerance route.
Unfortunately the Widnes club and the thousands of genuine Widnes fans will have to bear any consequences (including the cost of any repairs to damage at the LSV) but we have to hope they will appreciate that if this type of hooliganism is allowed to fester and grow in our sport then there will ultimately be a heavy price to pay for all clubs. All genuine fans would of course prefer to see such hard earned cash being spent on developing their clubs and the sport.

The Watcher wrote:The Watcher recalls that Hillsborough was not caused by hooligans/football violence but by very poor policing by the South Yorkshire force, subsequently made worse by the lying of officers & the attempt to cover up its failings rather than own up to them.

FredParky wrote
The inquiry is now complete is it?

Yes, it is.