Sheffield Wednesday have announced they are appealing against Sheffield City Council’s imposed capacity reduction in Hillsborough stadium.
The decision from the council on Monday followed an investigation into the club’s January fixture against Newcastle United in the FA cup, where the visiting fans were vocal about the discomfort caused by the rough atmosphere of Hillsborough’s Leppings Lane End stand.
Accounts from fans alleged overcrowded access points and a lack of crowd control, leading to crushing, with supporters having to carry children on their shoulders for safety.
The council were provided with roughly 50 fan statements from Newcastle United Supporters’ Trust, which when asked if he found the accounts he read distressing, Newcastle boss Eddie Howe said: “Absolutely, especially with the history attached to the stadium. That was hugely concerning for me.”
Leppings Lane End is widely regarded as the host of one of football’s biggest catastrophes, the Hillsborough disaster 1989, where 97 Liverpool fans tragically lost their lives.
In February, the council’s Safety Advisory Group conducted an investigation into the match and a review of the stadium’s safety measures following the event, where they said Wednesday had not breached its safety certificate.
They noted that CCTV showed no signs of spectators in distress, numbers of spectators in the West stands was lower than the max capacity, and stewarding numbers exceeded the required levels on the certificate.
The findings of the investigation were not released publicly until Newcastle used a Freedom of Information (FOI) request and published the details.
Sheffield Wednesday said they provided this information freely and not as a result of an FOI request, insisting they were not trying to withhold information from the public.
Despite the findings of the investigation, the council announced that the club’s certificate is now invalid, and a 1,000 spectator reduction should be put in place.
The club soon after announced it is challenging the imposed reduction, insisting that they did not breach their safety certificate.