[Official Site] CHANGES TO OUR CAR PARK OPERATION THIS SEASON

Been to loads of away matches where us fans have been given priority.

 

Do we not have a disabled supporters group? i know alot of other clubs have well developed and established disabled supporters groups who are involved in issues throughout their respective clubs to assist with developing strategies for access/egress from the ground, seating, facilities for meeting before/after fixtures, facilities for use during the game etc etc

The only reason i ask is because my other halfs step father is on the sheff utd disabled supports (SUDS) commitee/board whatever they are and these are the things he is involved with. They have monthly meetings and have a box to attend prior to games, unsure how it progressed but i think they were adding a sensory area for people with autism etc if the events or atmosphere during the game got a too much, as well as looking improving the matchday experience for disabled fans (dreaded matchday experience phrase i know)

 

The thing is gally that I get the sag are important but at some point the club need to fight back as the restrictions imposed are ridiculous, over the top and in my opinion unenforceably draconian to the point that it's affecting the club's ability to trade as a business.

Home owners must abide by planning permission however if the planning permission is refused the homeowner as the ability to appeal taking it all the way to the courts if needed which does happen fairly regularly and planning permission decisions are overturned because of it so surely the same option is available to the club if they actually add the desire to do so rather than laying down and accepting anything enforced on them at the expense of the fans. It Simply cannot be that an unelected safety advisory group can unilaterally make decisions that cannot be challenged and yet that is exactly the excuse the club have been using for a number of years now as oakwell as become a much less attractive proposition for the paying customer regardless of performance on the pitch.
It has now got the point that I actually hate coming to Oakwell because they have made it so difficult and such an horrible experience that after 30 years I'm seriously considering calling the club and asking for a refund for everything. L the elderly the infirm and the disabled are essentially being told to piss off and find another club because it is now impossible to be any of those things and be a Barnsley supporter. But then I suppose the club can't be expected to save space for disabled people according to the statement put out.

If the CEO is unable to experience the true matchday hell on earth due to obligations to greet fellow directors in the oak panelled boardroom then one of our owners needs to come out and experience the day as a supporter struggling to get to the game, struggling to get home and struggling to buy any food or drink during matches. It's all well and good soaking up the applause in the fanzone but that's not where the issusles are. the issues at this club are not with brewdog, the issues at these club are not with a bloke on a guitar, the issues at this club are with the disabled people unable to attend, the issues at this club are with the elderly people unable to attend, the issues that this club are with the working man and woman unable to attend barnsley football club matches because the experience has being turned into a living nightmare and that is what our owners need to realise yet they seem unwilling to put themselves in our shoes and experience it.

The unelected, anonymous SAG of Barnsley do not have absolute power in this country yet that is exactly what the club are telling us is the case and it's just wrong. It needs challenging and the club need to do the right thing here or they will lose fans hand over fist. I already know quite a few people who bo longer attend due to access issues and it is only going to get worse until the club get the balls to stand up to it.

 

It is t just half an hour after the game. Last season at the end of the season I sat till 11:45pm at one game.

 

"at least 30" after. Suppose it depends how many away coaches they need to see off.

 

Questions for Gally

Do any of the Supporters Groups raise issues of concern of Disabled Supporters with the Club?

Are disabled supporters represented on these groups ?

 

Safety ADVISORY Group. Advisory. Advisers are not dictators, we're being gaslighted by the Club.

 

SAGs provide a forum for discussing and advising on public safety at an event. They aim to help organisers with the planning, and management of an event and to encourage cooperation and coordination between all relevant agencies. They are non-statutory bodies and so do not have legal powers or responsibilities, and are not empowered to approve or prohibit events from taking place. Event organisers and others involved in the running of an event, retain the principal legal duties for ensuring public safety.

 

This is true but for Sports Grounds, especially with the recommendations from the Hillsborough Report, the SAG's are chaired by a representative of the local authority (usually either the regular Chairperson or the council representative from Building Control) who has the delegated authority to ensure any legal statutory requirements are complied with and can therefore prohibit events, revoke certificates etc. I've got a copy of the Oakwell Safety Advisory Group Terms of Reference somewhere, will try and post them.

All that said, I do think the SAG seem to be over zealous and a bit irrational with their restrictions in several areas, and I suspect the football club have very little wriggle room in reality. I'm also saying this as an opinion and in ignorance of any changes to statutory requirements following the Manchester Arena Bombings, and the Oakwell SAG terms of reference may have also been revised. It's a little like modern medicine where the fear of litigation now massively outweighs what used to be seen as common sense, so policies and procedures swamp day to day activities with, often, negative impacts on the very individuals they were designed to help.

I've amicably obtained a refund of my car park season pass today from BFC as I can't guarantee being at the ground 30 mins before kick off so makes "prepaying and reserving a space" pointless. Their response was swift and gave me the impression that they are cornered by the local authority decision.

 

BFC/Oakwell Safety Advisory Group Terms of Reference 2019 View attachment bfc-terms-of-reference (1).pdf

EDIT** Hadn't seen the earlier posting of the Terms of Reference

 

I've got minutes from meetings of the SAG from 2016-2019 and all of those in attendance/invited are redacted. I couldn't be ar5ed challenging it at the time but is have thought that a forum that impacts on the general public would have to be transparent in terms of who is involved?
View attachment FOI re BFC SAG October 2019 v2.pdf

 

I would have thought exactly the same. All very cloak and dagger, makes me suspicious. What do they have to hide? Is it a meeting the public can attend?

 

The SAG do not make the decisions they only recommend. It is the club who make the final decision and submit to the Council for a licence etc.

 

The club would like us to think otherwise though.

 

Not quite sure I fully understand it but I seem to recall reading something at another club and the council had said people aren’t named due to security risks

 

I don't see how the police could refuse to attend? And surely it's up to the club to be proactive and persuade the committee that what they want will be safe.