Football club stewards accused of arrogant and aggressive behaviour

Following the game against Bristol Rovers on Saturday 13 January , stewards at Spotland Stadium have, not for the first time, come in for criticism from travelling supporters for their "arrogant and aggressive behaviour".

In an email to Rochdale Online Rovers supporter Kevin Dixon said he had to "endure the ridiculous, trouble-making behaviour of the seemingly untrained and unprofessional stewards employed by Rochdale FC at Spotland."

He went on to say: "A good day out was once again ruined by the unruly, yobbish behaviour of the so-called stewards towards the travelling supporters.  I wouldn't normally bother to write, if this was an isolated incident.  Unfortunately this was a repeat performance of last season, when one of the female stewards was so foul-mouthed and aggressive in her behaviour, she had to be warned by one of the duty Police Constables at half time. 

"This season, once again, the arrogant and aggressive behaviour of a number of the stewards, not all, appeared to be a deliberate attempt to stir up trouble, where no trouble existed. Their over-zealous, irritating and petty stewarding of the travelling paying customers was the problem once again.

"It is important to ensure the safety of the public and yes there is an element within football that unfortunately does need to be controlled, thankfully very few at Bristol Rovers"

"The odd standing up incident in a ground so sparsely populated does not constitute a significant safety hazard.  It certainly did not require the heavy-handed mass half-time evictions from the ground that my family and I had to witness on what was otherwise a pleasant day out. 

"Could I respectfully request that Rochdale FC invests in a little training for their ground supervisory staff?"

Dave Butterworth, Ground Safety Officer at Spotland Stadium, responded to the critcism: "The Club's policy is one prescribed by law. The law was made (following the Taylor Report into the Hillsborough disaster) in the interest of safety.

"In order to obtain and continue to hold a licence to stage Public Events, the club is legally obliged to ensure the safety of all spectators attending.

"Parts of Spotland Stadium have been adapted for spectators to be seated. It is not safe for spectators to stand throughout the match. This is because seated areas do not have crowd control barriers. The potential therefore exists for crowd surging.

"It is an offence under the Ground Regulations to stand in a seated area whilst a match is in progress.

"The seven spectators ejected on the day were asked three times to remain seated and on the third time were informed of the consequences if they disobeyed this request.

"Not only did they ignore the warnings they also taunted and swore at the stewards throughout - as witnessed on the CCTV coverage.

"The other complaint made is the way they were ejected at half time.  Ejecting spectators when they go to the kiosk or toilets is the safest way for both stewards and spectators.

"Some seasons ago we had cause to eject a supporter from the Main Stand for throwing a firework towards the pitch. The stewards went into the stand and the fan became violent towards them. The police went to their assistance and in the ensuing struggle the officer was pushed down the steps. He suffered serious back injuries and has not worked since.

"We have a very strict and comprehensive training policy and most of our stewards have achieved their  Football Stewarding Qualification (FSQ) and are currently sitting their examinations for the NVQ.

"A very important part of the training is ‘Customer Relations’ and they are told to treat everyone the way they would expect to be treated themselves."