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View Full Version : Placement of the police security wall



SouthMoroccoStu
24-07-2016, 04:46 PM
This has to be addressed

Everytime it's used by police Scotland it positioned in the most inconvenient place for Hibs fans wanting to get back to the upper part of Easter Road street

I don't understand why the barrier isn't places to direct the away fans across the bridge and away from the stadium and home support as quick as possible

I know this is not a decision taken by the club but I would like to think this could be addressed by the fans representatives to liaise with the police

21.05.2016
24-07-2016, 04:48 PM
The police presence today was mental!

green day
24-07-2016, 04:49 PM
Bridge is too small for a large support (jambos, huns) to squeeze through, and it's beyond the wit of Police Scotland to change tactics for today's crowd.

LaMotta
24-07-2016, 04:51 PM
This has to be addressed

Everytime it's used by police Scotland it positioned in the most inconvenient place for Hibs fans wanting to get back to the upper part of Easter Road street

I don't understand why the barrier isn't places to direct the away fans across the bridge and away from the stadium and home support as quick as possible

I know this is not a decision taken by the club but I would like to think this could be addressed by the fans representatives to liaise with the police

That's exactly what the police want though. I agree its inconvenient, but not sure what the solution would be?

SouthMoroccoStu
24-07-2016, 04:57 PM
Sadly we seem to be inconvenienced at the expense of the away support

We go to Ibrox and get held back for God knows how long, even worse when we win.

One rule for one....

Keith_M
24-07-2016, 05:03 PM
Either hold the away fans inside the stadium for 15 mins after the game, or build a wider bridge across Bothwell St

:dunno:



FWIW, going back 40 years now that's where the home fans have been held back after games and it's always irritated me.

Galahibby
24-07-2016, 05:11 PM
Pisses me right off. Especially when I'm trying to get back up to catch the train after an evening match. Where I meet all the away fans anyway and we somehow manage to not kill eacch other.

Diclonius
24-07-2016, 05:11 PM
It's infuriating. Easter Road: make sure away fans get away as quickly as possible, at expense of home fans. Tynecastle and Ibrox: make sure home fans get away as quickly as possible, at expense of away fans.

.Sean.
24-07-2016, 05:14 PM
I see no argument as to why we can't hold back Celtic, Hearts and Rangers fan(nies) back to let the far larger home support be dispersed quicker.

Jones28
24-07-2016, 05:18 PM
That's the whole point of it though? It's deliberately positioned to keep the fans separate for longer rather having to have the wall across the next again junction and then cordon off Easter road itself too.

Itsnoteasy
24-07-2016, 05:20 PM
It's infuriating. Easter Road: make sure away fans get away as quickly as possible, at expense of home fans. Tynecastle and Ibrox: make sure home fans get away as quickly as possible, at expense of away fans.

At Tynie we get out right away. You can't walk up Mcleod St. You go round Russell Road. Been like that for years. Ibrox you get kept in.

.Sean.
24-07-2016, 05:21 PM
That's the whole point of it though? It's deliberately positioned to keep the fans separate for longer rather having to have the wall across the next again junction and then cordon off Easter road itself too.
It doesn't even work though, if you want out quicker jump the wall and go through the graveyard. Holding away supporters in the South would be far more effective.

Kojock
24-07-2016, 05:22 PM
The barrier is used when a large away support attend ER. The Police objective is to get the away fans out of the stadium and out of Edinburgh as soon as possible. Unfortunately the positioning of the "security wall" means that a couple of hundred Hibs fans will be inconvenienced. It's easier to control 200 home fans than 3000 away fans.

Come up with a better solution and I'm sure the Police would be more than happy to implement it.

Jones28
24-07-2016, 05:27 PM
It doesn't even work though, if you want out quicker jump the wall and go through the graveyard. Holding away supporters in the South would be far more effective.

That's far too sensible an idea for the polis.

The point is that it's there to stop thousands of fans meeting each other after a tense and frenetic game against hearts and/or Rangers, Celtic, Aberdeen etc etc. Emotionally charged matches can see people do stupid things especially when provoked by opposing fans.

Killiehibbie
24-07-2016, 05:30 PM
The barrier is used when a large away support attend ER. The Police objective is to get the away fans out of the stadium and out of Edinburgh as soon as possible. Unfortunately the positioning of the "security wall" means that a couple of hundred Hibs fans will be inconvenienced. It's easier to control 200 home fans than 3000 away fans.

Come up with a better solution and I'm sure the Police would be more than happy to implement it.Keep them in for 20 minutes and that allows everybody who wants to to walk along Albion Road.

SouthMoroccoStu
24-07-2016, 05:34 PM
The barrier is used when a large away support attend ER. The Police objective is to get the away fans out of the stadium and out of Edinburgh as soon as possible. Unfortunately the positioning of the "security wall" means that a couple of hundred Hibs fans will be inconvenienced. It's easier to control 200 home fans than 3000 away fans.

Come up with a better solution and I'm sure the Police would be more than happy to implement it.

Far more than "a couple of hundred" Hibs fans are affected by this

If you remove the bike gates and chicanes and the away fans will be able to use the bridge far easier and leave the area far quicker

Leaving Hibs fans to use the normal access and exit streets post match

Plus I can get a pint in the 4 easier without having to go down and round past Tamsons

Itsnoteasy
24-07-2016, 05:39 PM
Far more than "a couple of hundred" Hibs fans are affected by this

If you remove the bike gates and chicanes and the away fans will be able to use the bridge far easier and leave the area far quicker

Leaving Hibs fans to use the normal access and exit streets post match

Plus I can get a pint in the 4 easier without having to go down and round past Tamsons

I think they will want to avoid putting fans over the bridge. New houses been built right against bridge. Guaranteed smashed windows after final whistle.

Skyegreen
24-07-2016, 05:40 PM
Sadly we seem to be inconvenienced at the expense of the away support

We go to Ibrox and get held back for God knows how long, even worse when we win.

One rule for one....

You beat me to it. The last few times I've been to Greyskull, we've been held back for 15-20 minutes 😡😡😡

Kojock
24-07-2016, 05:46 PM
Far more than "a couple of hundred" Hibs fans are affected by this

If you remove the bike gates and chicanes and the away fans will be able to use the bridge far easier and leave the area far quicker

Leaving Hibs fans to use the normal access and exit streets post match

Plus I can get a pint in the 4 easier without having to go down and round past Tamsons

The "wall" has been used for a good few years now so every Hibs fan should know to make alternative arrangements after the game. The bike gates on the bridge have been installed to prevent motor cyclists using the foot bridge as a short cut. Think of the bigger picture.

greenlex
24-07-2016, 05:51 PM
I don't know if it is normal practice but there was two in place. The usual one and one directing away fans over the bridge where the bike chicane s had been removed. This keeps home and away fans quite a bit apart. There were several buses parked up on regents terrace? Where they away fans were shepherded.

jgl07
24-07-2016, 05:51 PM
Either hold the away fans inside the stadium for 15 mins after the game, or build a wider bridge across Bothwell St

:dunno:

FWIW, going back 40 years now that's where the home fans have been held back after games and it's always irritated me.
It's the home fans who are held back. When I had a South Stand season ticket in the Mowbray era, after a match against Aberdeen the police kept us back for 15 minutes.

The police would even let anyone into the back of the stand to go to the toilet during this period. I am sure that was illegal but it was the usual officious display by Lothian and Borders Police. They told me it was a Category A match. I said bull**** as I had a Category B season ticket that was not valid for Category A matches including Hearts, Rangers and Celtic matches.

Kojock
24-07-2016, 06:01 PM
It's the home fans who are held back. When I had a South Stand season ticket in the Mowbray era, after a match against Aberdeen the police kept us back for 15 minutes.

The police would even let anyone into the back of the stand to go to the toilet during this period. I am sure that was illegal but it was the usual officious display by Lothian and Borders Police. They told me it was a Category A match. I said bull**** as I had a Category B season ticket that was not valid for Category A matches including Hearts, Rangers and Celtic matches.

Can you tell me how it was illegal?

Scouse Hibee
24-07-2016, 06:13 PM
Although the Police presence seemed over the top I can certainly understand the thoughts of the match commander when he completed his risk assesment prior to this game.

Large crowd of English supporters visiting a Scottish ground on a Sunday afternoon would have me deploying enough resources to make sure anything could be dealt with swiftly and efficiently. The use of the segregation wall was spot on in my opinion.

jgl07
24-07-2016, 06:23 PM
Far more than "a couple of hundred" Hibs fans are affected by this

If you remove the bike gates and chicanes and the away fans will be able to use the bridge far easier and leave the area far quicker

Leaving Hibs fans to use the normal access and exit streets post match

Plus I can get a pint in the 4 easier without having to go down and round past Tamsons
Thousands will want to walk through to get a bus on Leith Walk. It's a long way round particularly from the West Stand.

It was totally OTT for a pre-season friendly with 700 visiting supporters.

Boneheaded mentality from Police Scotland.

Kojock
24-07-2016, 06:32 PM
Thousands will want to walk through to get a bus on Leith Walk. It's a long way round particularly from the West Stand.

It was totally OTT for a pre-season friendly with 700 visiting supporters.

Boneheaded mentality from Police Scotland.

If the Police had allowed the two sets of supporters to mingle and an altercation took place and people were injured who would you blame?

Stewboy
24-07-2016, 06:35 PM
I see no argument as to why we can't hold back Celtic, Hearts and Rangers fan(nies) back to let the far larger home support be dispersed quicker.

Cause they would trash the place

Baldy Foghorn
24-07-2016, 10:02 PM
Waited at barriers, but about 20 Brummies were walking down towards Four in Hand as I got round Albion Road onto Easter Road.

jgl07
24-07-2016, 10:26 PM
Can you tell me how it was illegal?
Health and Safety.

Denying people access to a toilet. People could have been suffering from health issues could have been prevented from going for up to half an hour as the lockdown started well before the match ended.

That is totally unacceptable because of an arbitrary decision by a senior plod based on information that was 30 years out of date. There had been no history of violence between Hibs and Aberdeen fans for fifteen years to my knowledge.

It was completely pointless as it would be much easier to block access from the back of the stand to outside.

I any event when the gates were opened I caught up with some Aberdeen fans before the footbridge.

monktonharp
24-07-2016, 10:35 PM
The barrier is used when a large away support attend ER. The Police objective is to get the away fans out of the stadium and out of Edinburgh as soon as possible. Unfortunately the positioning of the "security wall" means that a couple of hundred Hibs fans will be inconvenienced. It's easier to control 200 home fans than 3000 away fans.

Come up with a better solution and I'm sure the Police would be more than happy to implement it.stop it. that's pish. thousands of home fans want to go that way. the Hibs club, Robbies, the walk, strathie, Broughton,Easter Road and loads of places in that direction, Aye lets make it as inconvenient for the hame fans as possible. As pointed out previously, It is the away fans that should be held back , as is normal at places like Ibrox. 3900 huns btw, can be directed over the bridge by erecting the "wall"just roond the corner from Albion Place.
not much chance of any of them standing at the wall, unlike the home fans.!!

Jack
25-07-2016, 07:24 AM
Thousands will want to walk through to get a bus on Leith Walk. It's a long way round particularly from the West Stand.

It was totally OTT for a pre-season friendly with 700 visiting supporters.

Boneheaded mentality from Police Scotland.

Practice for during the season.

Not that it's likely to be used for league games but we may have to put the likes of hertz and sevco to the sword again.

Kojock
25-07-2016, 07:46 AM
stop it. that's pish. thousands of home fans want to go that way. the Hibs club, Robbies, the walk, strathie, Broughton,Easter Road and loads of places in that direction, Aye lets make it as inconvenient for the hame fans as possible. As pointed out previously, It is the away fans that should be held back , as is normal at places like Ibrox. 3900 huns btw, can be directed over the bridge by erecting the "wall"just roond the corner from Albion Place.
not much chance of any of them standing at the wall, unlike the home fans.!!

Anytime I have passed the barrier theres only been 2-300 people at the barrier. I thought most were diverted down StClair St. It is dangerous to send fans over the bridge as it is too narrow and people are in danger of being crushed. Write to the police and ask them their reasoning for holding the home fans back.

Kojock
25-07-2016, 07:49 AM
Health and Safety.

Denying people access to a toilet. People could have been suffering from health issues could have been prevented from going for up to half an hour as the lockdown started well before the match ended.

That is totally unacceptable because of an arbitrary decision by a senior plod based on information that was 30 years out of date. There had been no history of violence between Hibs and Aberdeen fans for fifteen years to my knowledge.

It was completely pointless as it would be much easier to block access from the back of the stand to outside.

I any event when the gates were opened I caught up with some Aberdeen fans before the footbridge.

Allowing fans to mix at the end of the game is a recipe for disaster and is never going to happen.

jonny
25-07-2016, 08:22 AM
stop it. that's pish. thousands of home fans want to go that way. the Hibs club, Robbies, the walk, strathie, Broughton,Easter Road and loads of places in that direction, Aye lets make it as inconvenient for the hame fans as possible. As pointed out previously, It is the away fans that should be held back , as is normal at places like Ibrox. 3900 huns btw, can be directed over the bridge by erecting the "wall"just roond the corner from Albion Place.
not much chance of any of them standing at the wall, unlike the home fans.!!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-11084526

In addition to the above there are regularly minor skirmishes between Hibs and Aberdeen fans when they visit.
I think that as a general rule the home and away support should be kept at as much of a distance as possible, I appreciate that there will always be an element of cross over but by keeping the segregation on longer it alleviates some of the risk.
The question as to who should be held back is a viable one but as the other poster mentioned if police can get the away fans back on buses and out of Edinburgh 1st then it again reduces the risk. If we hold back the away support then let them out there will still be large numbers of home supporters hanging around the area in pubs and on the street, this in turn leaves a higher risk of trouble.
I don't know why it's the away support that are held in at other venues, I suppose that's a question for the authorities in those areas. In essence it's usually about 15minutes, I go out that way and can honestly say I'm not that bothered about it.

Since90+2
25-07-2016, 08:34 AM
stop it. that's pish. thousands of home fans want to go that way. the Hibs club, Robbies, the walk, strathie, Broughton,Easter Road and loads of places in that direction, Aye lets make it as inconvenient for the hame fans as possible. As pointed out previously, It is the away fans that should be held back , as is normal at places like Ibrox. 3900 huns btw, can be directed over the bridge by erecting the "wall"just roond the corner from Albion Place.
not much chance of any of them standing at the wall, unlike the home fans.!!

The police cordon adds about 5-10 minutes onto your journey to any of those places depending on where you are going and which stand you are exiting.

It's hardly a lot of effort and going by the waist line of some supporters they could do with the exercise.

jgl07
25-07-2016, 08:55 AM
Allowing fans to mix at the end of the game is a recipe for disaster and is never going to happen.

You are (deliberately) missing the point.

My complaint was the lock down barriers being sited at the vomitories leading from the seating areas to the inside of the stand. It would have been easier and more effective to blockade the exit gates to the rear of the stand. That always happened for those in the Centre section of the old Main Stand for high profile matches.

I don't buy this crap about trouble with Hibs and Aberdeen fans anyway. If that had been an issue, they would never have allowed Hibs fans into the South Stand in the first place. For years the Aberdeen supporters were given the whole of the South Stand (and used to fill it) just like Hearts Rangers and Celtic. Demand for tickets in the home sections resulted in half the South Stand being allocated to Hibs up the time when the East Stand was built.

The Police were creating a solution (the wrong one at that) for a problem that did not exist.

pacoluna
25-07-2016, 08:58 AM
what's wrong with guiding away fans to Lochend park through butterfly way ? is there not also a path being made leading from butterfy way to the meadowbank retail park?

linlithgowhibbie
25-07-2016, 09:56 AM
what's wrong with guiding away fans to Lochend park through butterfly way ? is their not also a path being made leading from butterfy way to the meadowbank retail park?

Probably coz away fan buses are parked in the other direction as is the Waverley train station

Keith_M
25-07-2016, 10:12 AM
Although the Police presence seemed over the top I can certainly understand the thoughts of the match commander when he completed his risk assesment prior to this game.

Large crowd of English supporters visiting a Scottish ground on a Sunday afternoon would have me deploying enough resources to make sure anything could be dealt with swiftly and efficiently. The use of the segregation wall was spot on in my opinion.



I don't think anyone's disputing the right of the Police to segregate the Fans after the game, just that it seems a bit unfair that it's the always been the home Fans that are inconvenienced at ER, but it's the away Fans elsewhere, e.g. Ibrox.

MB62
25-07-2016, 10:49 AM
Anytime I have passed the barrier theres only been 2-300 people at the barrier. I thought most were diverted down StClair St. It is dangerous to send fans over the bridge as it is too narrow and people are in danger of being crushed. Write to the police and ask them their reasoning for holding the home fans back.

Fans used that bridge when attendances were about 4 or 5 times what they are now and I can't remember any incidents back then. Yes it is a squeeze, but if people take their time, there is no problem.

snooky
25-07-2016, 10:56 AM
Bridge is too small for a large support (jambos, huns) to squeeze through, and it's beyond the wit of Police Scotland to change tactics for today's crowd.
Aye, maybe the bridge is too small but they make it twice as bad with the staggered railings at each end. :crazy: Lunatics/asylum.

Broken Gnome
25-07-2016, 10:56 AM
Fans used that bridge when attendances were about 4 or 5 times what they are now and I can't remember any incidents back then. Yes it is a squeeze, but if people take their time, there is no problem.

People have bugger all patience these days. You'd been pushed in the back and maybe have to stay stationary for all of twenty seconds before getting a phone and out filming what was some sort of disgraceful crush.

Aldo
25-07-2016, 11:03 AM
There is still an element within each club that causes issues.

It's about managing the risk!

If there is any hint or risk of bother then the club with the assistance of the police will put measures in place with a view to preventing or attempting to prevent any issues.

It's been happening at ER for decades so why the issues now??

KingFranck
25-07-2016, 11:33 AM
I used to stay in Albion Terrace just before the bridge and had a season ticket in the East (or terracing as it was know then)
Big matches - I stayed 10 seconds walk away from the stadium and it took 3/4 hour to get home. The other option was to wait for the barriers to be removed but that time varied match to match

green day
25-07-2016, 12:13 PM
Aye, maybe the bridge is too small but they make it twice as bad with the staggered railings at each end. :crazy: Lunatics/asylum.

Railings are there to stop what is deemed to be anti social behaviour on non-match days (people using it as a motorbike cut thru etc). They wont be moved, nor will a wider bridge be built.

Killiehibbie
25-07-2016, 12:18 PM
Railings are there to stop what is deemed to be anti social behaviour on non-match days (people using it as a motorbike cut thru etc). They wont be moved, nor will a wider bridge be built.Nothing to stop them being opened before a game then put back in position afterwards.

green day
25-07-2016, 12:26 PM
Nothing to stop them being opened before a game then put back in position afterwards.

I don't disagree, but I suspect the match commander sees it as good crowd control, a bit like chicanes on roads slow cars.