Bob Eastwood, the man in charge of safety at football grounds in England says reports of overcrowding at the recent Sheffield Wednesday versus Newcastle game were "premature". The EFL's head of security operations, was speaking in front of MPs at a committee meeting centred around supporter safety at matches.
A section of Newcastle supporters claimed they were subject to overcrowding during the third-round FA Cup clash on January 7 - which Wednesday won 2-1. Away supporters are housed in the Leppings Lane end of the Hillsbrough stadium, the same stand where 97 Liverpool supporters died following a crush at the 1989 FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest.
Eastwood said: "The club ( Wednesday ) have done a very quick debrief of their operation and have already instigated a number of measures in order to reduce some of the issues that caused some concerns for some fans, which didn't amount to overcrowding. At this moment in time I think it's a little premature to agree with media and social media reports that there was overcrowding."
He added that there was "possibly some issue connected to the way fans have moved around in the lower tier" during the game. Eastwood added: "The safety advisory group at Sheffield City Council have got full confidence in the club's safety operation because if they hadn't, if there were any concerns that the safety of people was compromised, especially at Sheffield Wednesday in view of the history, then the city council would issue a prohibition notice, and they haven't.
"The deputy chair of the safety advisory group was at that fixture and there are no concerns currently that there is any way that safety was compromised. But nevertheless, the fans have got legitimate complaints and it's that that we are taking very seriously."
In response to the reports, Wednesday released a lengthy statement in the days after the game saying they felt it "important to emphasise that the stewarding numbers in place within the visitors’ section of the stadium exceeded the requirements of the Safety Certificate" and that "the allocation of tickets issued to Newcastle supporters also complied absolutely with the Safety Certificate."
The FA have begun an investigation into the incident.
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