After the game today we walked up to Vicarage Road to find away coaches parked on both sides of the road. Considering half the ground had already left before the final whistle the crush was ridiculous, as you'd expect. Usually the coaches park on one side meaning lots of room to get past and a respectable distance allowed between home and away fans. Today we were literally face to face with the City fans, who luckily left the ground in high spirits but weren't taking the p***. If it was a Stoke who'd just been beaten it could have been very different. It was, (in my opinion), a dangerous situation that if repeated will 100% cause big problems. When you consider there were armed Police on the club shop corner because of the terrorist threat then why did someone take the decision to create such a huge crush? We talked to a copper when we were past the situation and he told us the decision has been removed from the Police and given to a private company. He said he was horrified by it but his hands were tied and there was nothing he could do. Someone incompetent is making bad decisions affecting fans after the game. Who is it?
Half the stadium had emptied and it was still absolutely rammed. If it'd been a full stadium worth, plus any potential flashpoint incidents, life may be even shorter.
Maybe Silva was trying to get them parked in our goalmouth? Either that or the club was trying to stop people escaping!
Oh, you're back. Guess we lost. Can't wait for your next one line insult. Guess that's all the time you have before someone spots you're on the internet again.
I thought I saw an annoying looking **** with a red builder's hat directing the traffic outside the Red Lion! Kept rambling on about some giant tv thing in his garage that he couldn't use as the cables were in a safe or something!
The club definitely seem to have employed a traffic management company to do all the work outside the stadium now rather than using the police. With that I expect years of learning have gone out of the window.
I left after the 4th goal however i did notice different security in place of police. It's a dangerous thing to do.
That's outrageous! What we appear to have is a uniformed figure so powerless he couldn't say to the chief dayglo-wearer something like 'you can't let the coaches park there mate, there'll be a crush'. What we obviously need in this country is an impartial public body tasked with keeping law and order and the authority to make and act upon decisions when the general public are at risk of harm. I think in other countries they call them something like 'the police' but I might be mistaken. Oh, hang on.... Like many I took part in the fire drill when City got their 5th and as I passed through the area I thought there'd be a blockage involving both sets of fans at the full time whistle. It's common sense. Were there no handover meetings between the police and the (in)security firm, where questions and answers were exchanged about the safe management of 20,000 people moving away from the ground within 15-20 mins? God forbid what could have happened if there'd been trouble resulting in a panicking crowd trying to get away, including children and elderly fans, some with walking sticks.
It is indeed correct that security ops. outside the stadium as well as within have been handed over to a private company as opposed to the police except for those matches where the police think there is a particular need for their presence. That includes the decisions on when to close and open the Vic. Rd. again so would presumably also include the decision as to where the away coaches park to pick up after the match as has been indicated. I didn't witness this crush but it doesn't sound good. I'll pass this info. on.
It wasn't good and yesterday was the best possible scenario with half the ground already gone and the away team winning. They also didn't bother stopping the cars from leaving the hospital car park which was something that's always happened before. Who are you passing this on to? If there's a particular contact then I'd also like to share my thoughts with them.
It's hardly outrageous. How practical was it to actually change the arrangement at that point in time? I'd suggest it was completely impossible unless you want to hold back the mass of fans arriving at the location and thereby cause a real crush elsewhere. Incidentally I can remember plenty of occasions when the coaches were stacked on both sides of the road in the past, mainly on capacity match days. It seems yesterday it created an uncomfortable situation and it's right for people to feed that back but lets not overdo it.
Dave Messenger. He's my line manager. But as Supporter Liaison Officer he welcomes contact and views from all of us. dave.messenger@watfordfc.com
It doesn't seem unreasonable to me to stick to the arrangement that has pertained for the last couple of seasons at least that the away coaches line up and pick up only on the far side of the Vic. Rd. from the stadium. That's also the way to point if you're heading for the M.1. If it ain't broke don't fix it. What apparently happened yesterday doesn't smack of a rational decision to me. It smacks more of a 'couldn't give a toss' non-decision. Which doesn't particularly surprise me seeing as the non-decision making has been handed over to the private sector (due principally to cost-cutting) as opposed to responsible public servants being in charge of events.
Like Diamond (and after the game was over) we also walked through the crush and spoke to a copper standing near the armed police outside the club shop. He gave the same reply but had no answer as to why they did not move forward to show a small police presence between the lines of Man City coaches rather than standing still -i cannot envisage any scenario where the police could have got to intervene if there was any trouble because of the sheer number squeezing through. As others say, were it not for the unusual mix of happy away fans and many home fans already gone the situation could have turned out very different.
Surely it's a bit premature to declare it wasn't a rational decision without knowing the rationale behind it? Maybe Man City brought loads more coaches with them than a normal visiting side? Maybe it was a planned and controlled live test of a backup part of the plan? Those are just two reasons I can think of without even trying very hard. As I said, if people felt unsafe they should feed that back to the club. I'll be interested to hear their response.
I'm not declaring anything. But that would be my hunch. When we played City last season the away end was full (2,300). 3 p.m k.o. too I think. The away end usually is full. So what's changed? The management certainly has. So that would be my hunch. You have also made points regarding the superiority of public v private on various threads in the past too.
I've never seen that before, but then I've only exited that way since the SEJ opened a couple of years back. Before that from the Rookery we always walked through the Rous to exit.
Slightly different, but more positive, there were adults on duty at the food and drink outlet (UGT, VR end) and I got served about 3 times quicker than normal. Club listening?
This has only happened a few times that I can remember but it causes chaos. Its very annoying trying to get away from the ground. I'm not sure why they don't just line the coaches up starting at the hospital that way there is a quick exit for all. Its gonna kick off for sure.
Yep. They are listening, are well aware of the problems and are trying to work with the caterers to improve things. Hence the flyers handed out on Saturday detailing various new initiatives. What I hope to see is a consistent improvement under the new arrangements. I've seen a few false starts before.
Armed police outside the club shop? Was that to ensure the place wasn't overrun by crowds seeking to take advantage of the '10 per cent off training kit' offer?
I'd like to think they were there with orders to shoot on sight anyone suspected of considering the purchase of a half-and-half scarf. Prevention is always better than cure.
As we were playing a team up North, they were there to make sure the wheels of the operation didn't come off!
So does that mean we no longer have a line of Police sending the traffic away from Vicarage Road? I used to love that job... free pass to see the game and nose around the stadium.
Andy Jenkins got back to me and without going into details said it was an error by an individual who was part of the traffic management team. The situation will not be allowed to re-occur. Good response from the club and quickly sorted.
