Thread by @salbre81

THREAD re #Notts v #gtcc
I have some experience with safety at football having previously been in a number of safety meetings with council, police etc.
I have been reading the minutes of the licencing committee who issue Safety Certificates to Notts and this is my understanding

Notts ground capacity is 20,000 however if it was thought to come even close to this I am sure it would be reduced to about 16k

The away fans stand can hold up to 5775 however there is significant issues with the stand re capacity mostly relating to the size of the concourse which would not meet latest building standards if built today. This means the official capacity is 4400 and if they want to go

Higher they have to give 14 days notice and hold an Extraordinary Safety Group Meeting. This would be unlikely to pass. So capacity is 4400

The issues with the concourse mean that emergency exits need to be used at half time with an additional area created on the pavement behind. This needs significant stewarding and is very high risk due to lack of any proper barriers. The road behind the stand would also need to

Be closed during the game to lower the risk to supporters. Clubs are struggling for stewards and Notts are not an exception to this. They are also struggling to recruit other matchday staff such as teabars which would be required for larger capacity crowds.

At this point Notts Police decisions come into play. Rightly or wrongly they are currently under pressure re their policing of football due to issues at Notts and at Forest this season, which made national news (The Times) The Notts game focused on us playing Grimsby.

This video was released by the Times and can be seen here

This is what the police thought process will be - this is not my opinion, I am not accusing Grimsby fans of anything but is what the police will be considering ...

The game is on a Monday night - this gives the opportunity for a whole day of drinking and limits travel back to Grimsby after the game.

The game is high pressure, winner takes all which is very different to when Portsmouth brought a very large crowd to Notts. This makes violence more likely especially between supporters and increases the need to keep a large gap within the ground between them.

Grimsby fans threatened to invade the pitch at the last game at Meadow lane and flares and smoke bombs were used. There has been violence at other Grimsby games this season. This all means the police will request as low as number as they think they can. They also know this

Limits tickets to season ticket holders who tend to be thought of as behaving better and also easier to trace if there are issues.

So the police / safety group have most likely proposed 2000 away fans. Notts could argue for more, desperately try and find more stewards etc but there would have been little appetite to beg for more away supporters in such a crucial game.

I am no expert in this area but it is clear to me that the police would feel their are significant safety risks and Notts would not go out their way to fight any decision.

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