Too many fans for safety

I was appalled to see that fans were being shepherded in like cattle, the terrace was far overcrowded, being that Millers fans were stood in aisles and walkways.

The safety of fans was non existent in the overcrowding of the terracing, and the stewards, watched by a white coated safety officer and supervisor, allowed some Millers fans to be seated in the area where there were empty seats. But the stewards allowed more people into the ground, and tried to place them behind the overcrowded goal, causing some confrontation with stewards. They got it totally wrong, not realising the amount of Millers fans attending this fixture, and should have made the fixture all-ticket.

The football club had no way of knowing how many fans were behind the away end, but as a safety issue should have stopped fans going into this area. Management should consider the holding capacity of the section being filled. The entry capacity is the number of people that can be safely accommodated in each section.

The Burton Albion safety officer and the chief supervisor stood and watched the filling of the away terrace, knowing it was overcrowded and unsafe. Be it that there were young children on the terracing, if the Millers had scored a goal, there could have been a major accident, which could have ended up with crushing or the death of a fan. Have we not learnt from past accidents in football stadiums?

Terrance Harvey