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Features
Keeping our stadiums safe
Does stewarding need a re-think?
Recent incidents have thrust stadium safety back in to the limelight. Terrorism had briefly put stadia on high alert but now the threat is coming from within, with ‘fans’ seemingly looking for fame in a moment of madness when their emotions take over to encroach on the pitch. Several reports of pitch encroachment in
Scotland with Hibernian, Rangers and Celtic fans in very quick succession seemed to spark an episode of similar incidents in England all in the space of a few weeks with issues at the Emirates Stadium, Liberty Stadium and also in an FA trophy game at Stockport County. That has followed various sporadic incidents over the course of the current season but the trend seems to be increasing. By far the most horrifying incident took place at St Andrew’s, where a Birmingham City fan physically attacked Aston Villa captain Jack Grealish in a Midland’s derby, so the question is where does this stop and what can be done? Banning orders do not seem to have
the desired deterrent for some, so does the overall safety in stadia require a re-think? The role of the steward has changed
beyond recognition over the past 25 years and now it is vital that agencies join together to re-evaluate how stewards are trained so they can do their jobs effectively and be retained to ensure the safest environment for all spectators at crowded events. In some high profile stadia it can be the nature that the club stewards still remain very transient staff, whereby at smaller clubs they can almost be voluntary supporters in high-vis. The wages are not appealing, nor is some of the abuse these stewards have to detach them-selves from each game, so to really get involved and calm some incidents prior to their escala-tion it has to come down to the correct training. Developing the roles of safety officers
and enhancing the role and responsibility of stewards is among the priorities outlined to achieve this goal. Stewards should be properly trained, equipped, managed and led to ensure
their competence to play a vital role in every event safety management operation to drive this development. Football authorities have developed
a number of training programmes, the latest which was produced by the football authorities. This training package provided an innovative and inter-active resource that, at the time, satisfied the NVQ level 2 recommendation requirements for stewards, as introduced in 2009, and represented a commitment to supporting the highest level of stewarding. But what started in 1995 with the first
Football Authorities Steward Training programme now needs to be radically reviewed, reduced and streamlined to meet the actual training needs of a steward. Also the argument of whether the Level 2 NVQ is too time consuming, bu-reaucratic and costly to sustain as the only recommended training standard, mainly due to the requirement for external assessment validation, needs consideration. Despite all the best in-tentions to ensure stewards are properly trained to deal with all the eventualities they could face whilst keeping spectators safe, the need is evident for reform before a really serious inci-dent, like the Monica Seles stabbing during a tennis match in 1993, is repeated. The time and cost involved for a steward to obtain a Level 2 NVQ can be far too onerous for many sports clubs when many of them have a high turnover rate of personnel. Despite the strict training that goes into
the Level 2 NVQ, candidates are not required to re-fresh their qualifications, leading to outdated methods in such a fast-paced industry becoming almost redundant. To ensure all stewards are on the same page and are best trained to deal with the
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