Albion fans’ stampede at Brighton Station prompts concern

A stampede by Brighton and Hove Albion fans at Brighton Station before the play-off match last night (Thursday 8 May) has prompted safety concerns.

The incident has been the subject of dozens of comments today (Friday 9 May) on the fans’ forum North Stand Chat.

One commenter, Grapes of Wrath, from Worthing, said: “Like many others, got to Brighton Station just before 7pm and got to the ground just in time to see first goal.

“Last night was not only a shambles at the station, but dangerous. Someone is going to get hurt one day.

“I grabbed a kid as he got pushed in the crush to get on the train and started to fall in the gap between the train and the platform and had got separated from his dad. Frightening!”

Another commenter, the Kid Frankie, said: “Anyone else caught up in the absolute shambles?

“Hundreds of fans queuing on one platform only for the train to come in on the one on the other side.

“Suddenly there is a surge from the back and all hell breaks loose.

“Those of us at the front (who had been their longest) ended up not being able to get on the train.

“Missed the first 20 minutes as a result.”

A commenter calling himself Marty McFly said: “It’s just not worth getting a train to an evening match any more as it is such a shambles.”

Another commenter, Hawk the Seagull, from Eastbourne, said: “Longer trains were needed. Southern know that but where can they get trains from when they are already in use on commuter services which take priority on weekdays ?

“Crowd control – police need to take more of a part in as Southern staff are badly trained at it.

“Some of the time (and I know I will probably get some stick for this), fans really don’t help themselves by becoming impatient and selfish, ie, ‘crushing’ on to trains by forcing and even pushing others on to trains to get on to it before other people, which is incredibly dangerous.

“The same people will also block up the doors and not move down, causing people to get left behind … much like these peoples common sense when they walk out the door on the way to the Amex it seems.”

Inspector Gary Ancell, from the British Transport Police (BTP), said: “The crowds took the barriers down. We still had 400 people still in the queue.

“It was agreed that we would get 150 people on a train to Ashford that doesn’t normally stop at Falmer.

“People at the back of the queue broke the barriers and surged across.

“It was quite frightening for the people involved in it and it was quite frightening for the rail staff and police too.

“It also caused overcrowding on that train.

“There was lots of angst to get to that match which is understandable. And there was criticism about why there weren’t more trains.”

Inspector Ancell said that it was easier on Saturdays but on weekdays the train operator Southern had fewer trains available as they were bringing commuters home from London.

He said that between now and the start of next season he would be talking to Southern, Albion and the stewarding companies to come up with solutions.

He added: “Don’t forget the capacity of the stadium has been increased by 10,000 and that’s meant an increase in the number of people travelling by train.”

Ins pector Ancell said that when the Albion played a midweek match the situation complicated by the number of people trying to make it home from work before heading to the game.

He said: “There is a queuing system in place and we would ask people to respect that and to try to reach the station a little earlier than they might feel they need to.”

A North Stand Chat commenter, Tom Hark Preston Park, said: “Why not ask Southern Water if the club could rent out the humungous car park on their near derelict site across the road from the stadium?

“There are so many ways the transport system could be improved.

“As things stand, more and more people are being put off going to evening games, which will start to affect the club’s bottom line sooner rather than later.”