Leeds United official statement – Reacting to problems for Newcastle United fans on Saturday | OneFootball

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The Mag

·24 January 2022

Leeds United official statement – Reacting to problems for Newcastle United fans on Saturday

Article image:Leeds United official statement – Reacting to problems for Newcastle United fans on Saturday

Leeds United have released an official statement on Monday afternoon, following complaints from Newcastle United fans.

The official Leeds United statement (see below),  says that ”The club acknowledges the complaints raised by some Newcastle United supporters regarding issues experienced entering Elland Road on Saturday.’


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The Yorkshire club stating that they are going to do a full review before making any further comment.

To give an insight into the issues faced by Newcastle United fans on Saturday, this is part of Jamie Smith’s match report from the win over Leeds that he did for The Mag, which details what he experienced trying to get safely into Elland Road:

‘I was at the 2016 Championship match at Elland Road, which was the first time I realised away fans had been moved to the end of the John Charles stand, having been behind the goal in the Hunter stand for the duration of Leeds’ earlier spell in the Premier League. However, I don’t remember the situation for getting into the ground being as farcical or dangerous as the experience here.

Going through the gates and having tickets checked and bodies searched, made you feel like you were already in, so it was an unpleasant surprise to be herded into a queue of 3,000 people shoved into a claustrophobic space that involved turning 180 degrees past some metal barriers. Squiring forward allowed you to queue up some steps before attempting to scan your ticket in some antiquated ramshackle machines that failed to read it half of the time, resulting in a pointless conversation with an unhelpful steward while the queue behind swelled further and grew more angry as kick off time approached.

There were a couple of people around me with small kids and this must have been a terrifying situation to have them in, but I have to call out massive credit to everyone in the Newcastle crowd for the patience and respect shown, especially when people realised there were little uns involved. A surge from the back would have created a horrible situation and at a time when there are people taking ill in crowds seems to get a lot of attention, there would surely be a lot of hand wringing and solemn words from Leeds should something terrible happen, as opposed to doing something about it now when it’s obvious and avoidable. Start by fixing your Sinclair ZX 1970s ticket reader.’

Leeds United official statement – 24 January 2022:

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