Newcastle supporters have described the 'strange' scene after they were caught in 'overcrowding' at Hillsborough, calling the stadium 'unsafe'.
Some 4,500 Newcastle United fans travelled down to Sheffield Wednesday's Hillsborough Stadium to watch their side in the FA Cup third round on Saturday (January 7) with the majority of the away support located in the Leppings Lane end of the ground.
Magpies supporters have now described their experiences after images of 'overcrowding' in the away end at Hillsborough Stadium were shared on social media in the hours and days following the game, with many expressing a view that stewarding was insufficient and that the ground itself felt 'unsafe'.
Read more: FA to investigate Hillsborough 'overcrowding' during Newcastle's clash with Sheffield Wednesday
The Leppings Lane end of Hillsborough Stadium was, of course, the scene of the disaster in 1989 that tragically claimed the lives of 97 Liverpool supporters. Ian Byrne, the MP leading the Hillsborough Law Now campaign, has expressed relief that 'on this occasion no Newcastle fans were injured or worse' and has now called for an enquiry to take place.
Chi Onwurah, the MP for Newcastle Central, called the reports of overcrowding and safety risks as 'unacceptable' and said that she would be asking the Government what actions would be taken.
She said: "34 years from the Hillsborough Disaster at the same ground and same end - this is unacceptable. No fan should ever be subject to overcrowding and safety risks when attending a football match. I will be asking the [Government] what actions they are taking in light of these events."
The Newcastle United Supporters' Trust are also appealing to supporters for information with the FA also pledging to investigate the events.
Jack Bryan, a 20-year-old Newcastle United supporter from Chester-le-Street said described the scene outside the stadium as 'crammed' as fans tried to get to the turnstiles with only a 'little' amount of stewards present to help.
The entrances and exits to the stadium concourse were 'the smallest' he had witnessed while following Newcastle and, according to his account, there was only one steward on duty on each of them.
He explained: "The outside of the stadium had a metal barrier with only two entrances before you got to the turnstiles with little stewards meaning everyone was crammed just trying to get to the turnstiles.
"I was in the upper so I’m not sure what the lower was like but when I got in there, [it] was the smallest concourse I’ve seen filled with people. When you were trying to come out the concourse there was the smallest of exits and only one steward on each so it took 10 minutes to actually get into the stadium from there."
He added that he felt that he felt 'unsafe' at the ground and felt the stand was not fit for purpose.
"I’d say[it felt unsafe] yeah, it could’ve went wrong. [I] think everyone would say the same."
Fellow supporter Kev Grahamslaw, from Newcastle, echoed Jack's recollection of events at Hillsborough on Saturday and said that the management of crowds 'could have been better', describing the scene at a stairwell inside the stand as a 'bottleneck'.
He was misdirected to his turnstile by stewards and said he was 'unable' to turn around once he was part of the crowd at the stairwell.
He said: "Events could have been better managed by stewards who directed us to the wrong end of the stand when we said we had to be at the turnstile on our tickets.
"The overcrowding and flow of fans was bottlenecked coming up the stairwell where we could not turn around. It certainly seems no lessons have been learnt or the stewards [could] not deal with the larger attendance."
He added that the he felt the situation has 'the potential to be unsafe' but acknowledged that the mood seemed 'panicked'.
"I just personally think the stewards could've been better equipped to deal with the allocation of fans. We were sent to turnstile 8-10 when the actual turnstile on our tickets was 20-23.
"Coming up the stairwell you could already see the amount of fans on the very narrow concourse. This was around 17:20pm [and] we had to fight our way across the concourse to get to the other side of the stand.
"Stewards have a duty of care and responsibility to ensure safety but you were basically herded like cattle. It obviously had potential to be unsafe.
"Thankfully no immediate harm was done. [It was] just a bit panicked with the amount of fans in small tight congested areas and limited access as the two stairwells are not fit for purpose [being] very narrow, limiting access and leaving points."
Adam Stoker, 26, from Newcastle, also attended the match and expressed concerns surrounding the stewarding, saying that he felt more could have been done to help direct fans to the most practical queue at the entrance of the stadium to make this process 'more smooth'.
While waiting for a friend for around half an hour, he observed the scene and noted that the situation seemed 'strange'.
He said: "My main issue was my ticket directed me to the central gangway tunnel when I should’ve used the one at the far left - I wouldn’t be surprised if many others had this issue also.
"First of all I was outside the away end for a considerable amount of time waiting to meet someone so I observed fans approaching the stadium for around 30 minutes and thought it was strange. There were multiple metal barriers for the crowd to walk to to head to the turnstiles.
"You could either approach from left or right and as such fans joined their closest queue. For a long period the queue on each side was long but the middle was quiet.
"I thought it was strange that at no stage the stewards made fans aware of this and balanced the queues out which would’ve helped to make entrance into the stadium more smooth and balanced in terms of how fast fans flowed in and where."
Adam also recounts a police officer having seemingly ignored the request of a fan for assistance for directions as to where best to head.
He said: "I will also note that I saw a fan walk towards a male police officer with his ticket asking 'where do I go please?'. The policeman stopped looked at him said nothing, nor did he point in a direction.
"He then walked away without assisting the fans. This was incredibly strange - I will however note I was next to two female police officers for most this period who were friendly and I saw assist several fans.
"On going through the turnstiles I checked my ticket again. It said to use Gangway 2 - Turnstiles 14-19. On the image on the back of the ticket it looks like this is on the right hand side of the goal."
Adam detailed his experience upon entering the ground through the turnstiles. He entered the concourse through the central tunnel at the lower Leppings Lane end and noticed that this was much further from his seat than an alternative gangway.
"I went down the central tunnel, and as I got to the seats looked right for the seat numbers - given the indications from my ticket - but discovered that my actual seats were level with the edge of the 18 yard box on the far left hand side.
"At this point I noticed a gangway much much closer to my seat than the one I had entered the stadium through."
Adam went on to describe the spacing on the rows at the Leppings Lane end as 'tighter' than at most other grounds he has experienced.
"The spacing between the rows felt tighter than most grounds I have experienced and took longer than usual to make my way all the way across past the people already in their seats. The middle was already quite busy - either side were pretty empty.
"Because I was doing this around 30 minutes before kick off it was not as difficult as it could’ve been but it is not remotely surprising that a bottle neck developed here when it got closer to kick off.
"It felt very strange that where I was positioned was on the edge of an empty circular area- I was confused why this was there was a pole giving a restricted view from some but not all of these seats - to which I later discovered via photos was largely due to the overcrowding of the central area. In the second half this area was much more normal."
Adam has now called on Sheffield Wednesday Football Club to supply better information to fans on tickets and for signage to be improved to this end. Further to this, he has called for more staff, be it police or stewards, to be put in place to ensure fans are directed to their seats in the safest way possible.
"Based on my experiences ticketing needs to be amended to display better accurate information for fans. Signage be improved and for there to be more staff - police or stewards to direct fans to their seats in the most convenient way possible."
He added that he feels the stadium requires upgrades as the middle tunnel seemed to be the cause of the overcrowding.
He said: "I think the Stadium definitely needs upgrades, the only options to enter the lower stand was far left, far right or middle which, when full, doesn’t feel like enough and because of the turnstiles positioning and, as mentioned earlier, my ticket, it feels like you’re being encouraged to use that middle tunnel which caused overcrowding.
"[I'm] really conscious about not wanting to compare to 1989 as Saturday obviously wasn’t that at all but being aware of the events of that day, too many people entering via that tunnel was a huge part in what happened that day and I’m almost in disbelief that they haven’t eradicated that problem."
Another supporter, Chris McKenna added that the 'whole situation felt quite unsafe' and that Saturday represented 'the worst experience' he has had inside a stadium from a safety point of view.
He said: "I do suffer from anxiety and texted my other half during the game to tell her that I didn’t feel safe. There were loads of stewards stood around and not a single one of them seemed to have any idea of the protocol of what to do or where to send me.
"I doubt any of them had witnessed 5000 away fans in the ground before and it was clear to see that none of them had been briefed on what to do and where to send people or how to offer basic advice. I was given ridiculously unhelpful advice and instructions by at least six stewards whilst at the ground.
"I would have genuinely been better off messaging my friend who is a Wednesday fan and asking him what to do. Again at the end of the match, [there was] no signage or stewards helping or pointing fans in the right direction of where to go.
"Basic procedures and things you would think would be obvious [were] just not in place all evening and therefore the away end clearly isn’t fit for purpose in the modern day. All in all it was a complete and utter shambles and was certainly my worst experience at a football ground."
Ian Byrne, a survivor of the Hillsborough Disaster in 1989 and now the MP for Liverpool West Derby leading the Hillsborough Law Now campaign, said that the pictures from the stadium at the weekend were 'chilling' to see.
He said: "The pictures from Saturday sent a chill to my heart and I’m sure it was exactly the same for all the families and survivors of the Hillsborough disaster who saw the images. To see such scenes at the same ground in 2023, 34 years on from 1989 and once again in the FA Cup, was extremely upsetting."
Mr Byrne has now called on the football authorities and Sheffield Wednesday Football Club to launch an enquiry into the events.
He added: "I’m just thankful on this occasion no Newcastle fans were injured or worse. We need the football authorities and Sheffield Wednesday to commit to a full enquiry to ensure this time they listen to the supporters and get to the truth of the events on Saturday."
A spokesperson for the FA said: "We are aware of the matter in question, and we will be looking into it. This will focus on liaising closely with the clubs, police and appropriate safety authorities."
A spokesperson for South Yorkshire Police said: "While no official reports were made to SYP, we have noted the concerns raised and will be seeking a debrief with the club and Safety Advisory Group to discuss this matter further."
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club have been approached for comment.
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