Thanks to Stacey West reader John Bates, we’re able to bring you the EFL’s response to complaints made by Imps fans regarding their treatment at Forest Green Rovers earlier this week.
Thank you for your email, we note your comments and we’re sorry if you did not enjoy your match day experience.
Under EFL regulations, depending on divisional status, clubs are not required to make seats available to supporters of the away club. Of course, depending on stadium facilities/configuration this is offered at many clubs, however Forest Green have four stands, three of which are terraced and one of which is seated. The seated stand is used by home spectators. As you know the uncovered West Terrace is allocated for visiting spectators. Clubs can choose to segregate supporters in a single stand should they wish but this often depends on a number of ‘local’ factors, such as how easily configurable that stand/seating is, access to various facilities within the stand, safety advisory matters, and ultimately therefore the location of away spectators is at their discretion.
Under our rules, clubs promoted into League 2 have until 1st May following admittance as a member (May 2018) to comply with the requirement to provide accommodation for a minimum of 200 away fans undercover, if this is not already available. Please see regulations regarding Divisional Criteria here https://www.efl.com/-more/governance/efl-rules–regulations/section-3—the-league/ and here https://www.efl.com/-more/governance/efl-rules–regulations/appendix-1—membership-criteria-regulation-8/.
Inevitably, as first time members of the EFL, the club is looking to enhance its facilities moving forward, and plans are well developed for structural improvements at the stadium. We do know that to try to provide as much pre-match assistance as possible, Forest Green are liaising with away clubs in terms of ticketing matters in advance of each fixture, and alerting their opponents to the fact that away fan accommodation at present is within an uncovered terrace.
In light of your experience we would recommend you direct these to the club accordingly, they should be able to advise you on their current policies and procedures regarding matchday allocations, segregation and stewarding, and may also be able to share further information on their plans to enhance the stadium.
Should you have any further queries in this regard we would recommend you contact them via (https://www.forestgreenroversfc.com/about-forest-green-rovers/club-charter).
Once again thank you for your feedback and for contacting the EFL.
First of all I suppose the EFL have at least looked at the query that fans have raised. I’ve actually found it quite a divisive subject, many fans feel as if there is being too much made of the situation, and getting wet at an away game is part and parcel of following lower league football. I agree to an extent, if the only option is an uncovered terrace, and no covered area is available then of course there isn’t much that can be done.
This was not the case on Tuesday night, they had sparsely populated covered areas within the ground that could have been utilised to house travelling Imps, or at least the more vulnerable fans. Those of a certain age, either young or old, should not have been exposed to such conditions, indeed even in their reply the EFL state that clubs have until May 2018 to provide a minimum of 200 under cover seats for visiting fans. At present Lincoln United provide more undercover areas for visiting fans than Forest Green, although segregation isn’t an issue there.
I didn’t expect the EFL to progress our emails, I don’t think that was ever going to be the case. What I hoped would happen is that the issue would be highlighted so that in the middle of winter a group of 50 Morecambe fans are not stuck out in the freezing rain whilst a similarly small group of Forest Green fans spread out around their ground at their leisure. Whether the rain was driving into the covered stand or not is irrelevant by the way, the more vulnerable fans could have gotten to the back of the stand for at least some respite from the conditions.
I also want to point out I don’t think this is something unique to Lincoln City, not as the Stevenage treatment was to Grimsby. I believe Forest Green’s owner will continue to treat visiting fans with the same disdain that he treats his own, nothing more than a necessary evil in his master plan. I’m not criticising the vegan approach of the club, but do you think the FGR fans that were there before the hippy train rolled into town were consulted? FGR only care about their own fans marginally more than those visiting the New Lawn. Words such as ‘contempt’ and ‘irritation’ spring to mind when considering how highly the fan experience is regarded by those running Forest Green.
Those fans who want to can of course contact the club if they feel like voicing their opinions further, but I expect it to fall on deaf ears. Our displeasure has been voiced, when they come to our ground we must treat them with the respect that we would have liked to see from them. We are a Football League club and we must act like one from top to bottom. It is not the Forest Green fan’s fault that we were treated how we were, and we must extend a warm hand of gratitude when they arrive here.
To end on, I heard a story which almost made me wet my britches yesterday. at half time of Tuesday’s game, in full view of Mr Vince and the other self-knitted jumper wearing eco-warriors, a certain Mr Chris Ashton took a pork pie from his bag and munched on it, before complaining about the soya milk in his tea. Close your eyes and picture in now, our Chris, with no malice whatsoever in his entire body, munching his way through one of Lincolnshire’s finest meat-based products completely oblivious to the furore it might cause. I respect vegans, I respect the fact people have their beliefs and values, but perhaps at Forest Green, they should learn respect is a two way street.
Now, we’re just waiting on the FA to hear about the spitting incident, a wholly unsavoury occurrence that only added to the indignation and anger felt by Imps on Tuesday morning. Can you imagine how bad we’d feel if we hadn’t won the game?
What the EFL have either ignored or are not aware of is the fact that last season, not only did the majority of the away supporters get housed in a covered terrace area, but there were also approximately 100 seats under cover in the stand provided. If you look at the VT of Waterfall’s and Raggett’s goals last year, you will see that part of the stand celebrate. I was there with my young daughters and mother in law (all of whom needed a seat – and who I knew I couldn’t take this year because of the lack of those facilities – school night for kids anyway, but mother-in-law vivid!) The away fans and home fans were simply segregated by some tarpaulin over the ‘no mans land’ seats in-between – and that tarpaulin is obviously moved back and forth depending on the number of seats needed. We have done the same in the Co-op Stand in years gone by.
As ever with regulation – context is everything. I wonder whether FGR are providing the full and accurate context to the EFL in this case? Not to do so would be unethical of course…
“livid” not “vivid”! Although thinking about it…
Sounds to me as if the EFL really don’t give a shit and simply pass the baton to the club. So much for overseeing their members!
Chris Ashton, what a legend. The point here is that because of the small amount of fans behind the goal to the left of us, they could have moved them and put us in there. I was absolutely fine standing and getting soaked, I felt sorry though for the elderly and children amongst us. I reckon FGR are deliberately trying to stifle the away fans making noise – they failed. Makes the win even sweeter. Done and dusted onto Man$fi€ld.
Why exactly do football fans need to be segregated anyway? My first ever visit to Sincil Bank was in 1963, and no segregation. My last visit to a rugby union game was Gloucester v Wasps, no segregation. It’s a shameful thing that football fans need to be kept from each other’s throats, whilst rugby, cricket, and many other sporting events mix and match with no problems at all, in fact the RFU wanted to segregate fans during the 2015 World Cup and there was uproar at the very thought. Why not hug a Mansfield fan when they visit tomorrow?
I went to FGR on Tuesday, but I don’t think I will be going next season. We’ll be leagues apart!
Another good write up from Gary.
FGR have seen a massive rise in home attendances having achieved their dream of EFL 2 status, born out by the packed stand on Tuesday in lieu of the meagre Imps support there last year as they celebrated their late turn around last season in stunned silence.
Don’t think Stale Mince has been paying attention to reality? He’s clearly not seen the ‘Impossible’ video to remind him of how it actually was. EFL, like the FA, are institutionally useless, and will do nowt. Pity whoever ends up going there on a Tuesday night in February. But I’m sure a few of us ‘fondly’ remember nights behind the goal at Macc, or Carlisle, in similar conditions.
Let the b*ggers soak, serves them right for eating pork pies. (Kwiss, you’re rubbish on the radio but a legend in most other respects).