Chelsea fans throwing missiles from South Stand 3rd tier

Dodge said:
One thing I forgot to mention.

The 10% EFL Cup & 15% FA Cup allocations are non-negotiable, if the away team request the full allocation. Although slightly reduced now with the implementation of the 4 rows of netting. The ONLY way to accommodate these locations are as the present arrangement. The club will never put City fans above a full L1/L2 away area. I got the impression that they just don't want to risk City fans behaving in a similar way to Dippers/Chelsea fans and the adverse publicity this would cause. Probably fair enough in my opinion.

The security team also handed their "observations" to their counterparts at the swamp about various objects being thrown from above down into the City enclosure at the Derby.
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The senior steward who was the key prosecution witness at Adam Teese’s trial was persuaded not to turn up in court, and another seriously injured a blue by shoving him down a flight of steps a few years back, so they’re probably wasting their time
 
All the club had to say on the OS, we're investigating the incidents and we're putting measures into place to stop similar incidents happening in the future. That's all the fans needed and wanted to know. Not silence and a more secrecy.

As for the netting going up. I'm glad the club took my advice.

Once again. Metal brackets fixed to the inside of the front tier walls, tall poles inserted into the metal brackets, with netting attached that can be stretched out the full length of the tier/s.

I did also suggest CCTV cameras placed on the inside edge of SSL3's roof.
 
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Amazing safety procedures put in place for Friday's match, going to stop coins flying down netting on the first four rows of seats in ss2, lol
 
Dodge said:
OK, I've had a long and detailed call from Carl Capewell, who is the Senior Safety & Security Manager at City. He reports to Luke McDonnell, who in turn reports to Danny Wilson. A surprisingly open and frank conversation, which (to a certain extent) has answered satisfactorily all my queries. To summarise as follows:

* The two Chelsea fans who were witnessed spitting and throwing items onto SS1 were arrested by GMP at the match and subsequently charged with public order offences. They will go to Court and will have banning orders imposed. The club have chosen NOT to publicise this, despite objections from the Security team at City.
* The CCTV system at City is 10 years old and is not fit for purpose in identifying offenders in Level 3, because it mirrors the North Stand layout. CCTV camera's have now been positioned on the roof of the South Stand in the hope that it can now pick up any Level 3 illegal behaviour. The CCTV system will be upgraded when orders are placed for the Arena CCTV system, when the two systems can be aligned.
* Increased signage has been added in the away end which specifically details missiles, pryro's and spitting - advising any caught will be arrested, charged and brought before the courts. Football banning orders will be implemented. This will be supported by messaging on the TV screens in the concourse.
* Plastic pint pots are now not available in the away end for all PL games (or in Level 2/3 for expanded away followings for cup games). The beer will be served in orange paper cups, easier to identify when being thrown and easier to spot by stewards when being brought into the stadium from the concourse. He did mention that Asahi objected strongly to this because paper cups affect the taste of their beer!
* For the Arsenal game on Friday the first FOUR rows of seats in L2 will be netted off. This allows the club to place supporter facing stewards and police in front of the first row without affecting viewing lines of spectators, all in enhanced fluorescent jackets to provide a visible deterrent to any potential idiots. He described this line of stewards/police as a "colour show" as is used in European stadiums for high profile games.
* Although the Arsenal game is officially a "medium risk" event, City will be deploying a "high risk" level of stewarding/police for the game. Bizarrely, the Club initially planned for a 4:30pm Sunday event, which would have been regarded as "high risk". The move to Friday night has reduced the risk apparently.
* The club have requested 5 x GMP PSU groups for the game on Friday, each PSU (Police Support Unit) is 27 officers.
* There will also be an additional 100 stewards in place on Friday night.

The club is looking at several options to erect netting for future Cup games with expanded away allocations. City will be the first Premier League club to erect netting, so it has to be right and this will be in place next season.

Reading between the lines, the security team do not agree with the softly, softly "holistic" approach to calling out the behaviour of away fans at the Etihad. This is borne out by the club not publicising the arrests made at the Chelsea game, whilst making statements calling out alleged homophobic chants by City fans.

That's it, in a nutshell. Make of it what you will, but Friday will be the acid test.

Up the fucking Blues.
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The security cameras "not fit for purpose" is staggering really considering the history of terrorism incidents in our city over the years. It makes me wonder how we ever got a safety licence. If it really is a cost-saving measure then senior people at the club should be ashamed of themselves.
 
Stephen230 said:
Seems bizarre that the club would want to keep it a secret that Chelsea fans are being prosecuted.

Unless they mean, until after the court case to minimise the prospect of people jeopardising a prosecution?
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There is no legal risk in reporting a brief summary saying two people had been charged. It would help as a deterrent.
 
The cameras must be fit for purpose because they caught '24 City fans' during the post Villa match title celebrations.

Good work by the security team and City. :-(

Maybe it's because it was dark that no Liverpool fans got caught? ;-)

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jrb said:
All the club had to was say on the OS we're investigating the incidents and we're putting measures into place to stop similar incidents happening in the future. That's all the fans needed and wanted to know. Not silence and a more secrecy.

As for the netting going up. I'm glad the club took my advice.

Once again. Brackets on the inside of the front tier walls, tall poles inserted into.tje rackets, with netting attached that can be stretched out the full length of the tier)s.

I did also suggest CCTV cameras placed on the inside edge of SSL3's roof.
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It speaks volumes when the senior manager I was talking to was perfectly happy for me to publicise his comments on this forum.

He mentioned the influence of City Matters, so take a bow @jrb. The CCTV cameras are now up on the roof so they can monitor the area, but it's still not capable of being the "all seeing eye" until its upgraded with the arena system. Bizarrely, the current system is also weather affected which surprised me.
 
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