Newcastle United Supporters Trust issues statement on Leeds United's response to crowd problems

More than 120 Newcastle fans had reported concerns and distress arising from their attempted entry to the stadium for the game on January 22. Leeds made contact with NUST following the game and vice chair Thomas Concannon relayed 10 of the most detailed accounts of a ‘very difficult situation that caused a lot of stress and anger.’

A Trust statement read: “Those in attendance were amongst our most hardcore away followers, with a lot of experience following Newcastle United away from home, both domestically and abroad. The feeling that this was one of the worst experiences to have come across was a common theme across many of the reports sent in.”

Leeds United and NUST then met twice, once with West Yorkshire Police and the Football Supporters’ Association represented, and NUST raised issues over a ‘very crowded situation’ outside the ground and an apparent technology failure at the turnstiles.

The NUST statement said: “We raised concerns around the operation of the turnstiles, which were the main cause of what was to follow, citing many fans informing us that tickets were not being read by the barcode reader.

“There were also reports of the barcode being ripped from the ticket due to the perforation line on the ticket, which Leeds acknowledged was a contributing factor to the incident.”

According to the NUST report Leeds acted immediately to remove the perforated line on tickets to prevent the barcode from being separated from the main ticket.

READ: The Elland Road changes made by Leeds United after Newcastle United crowd issues“We will also be making the recommendation to Newcastle United that any future tickets with perforation lines should not be folded at the perforation line in order to fit them into the envelope before sending them out to supporters,” continued the statement.

Leeds and the police acknowledged complaints over the communication with Newcastle United fans as the problems developed at Elland Road ahead of the match and the club also took immediate action to improve the queuing system outside the away turnstiles.

Although NUST has questioned the poor reaction time of Leeds United stewards and the police and urged Premier League clubs to ensure plans are in place for such eventualities, they have expressed gratitude for the way the club has responded to the incident.

“From the very first meeting, we praise Leeds United for taking this situation very seriously and are satisfied that steps are being taken to prevent any incidents like this from happening again to any set of supporters attending Elland Road,” said the statement.

“We are pleased to learn that following this game, Leeds United took immediate steps to prevent this from happening outside the away section again and that further fixtures with Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa, and Norwich lead to no further such incidents.

“We are also pleased the West Yorkshire Police have committed to improving their communication with supporters going forward, and will seek to prevent a build-up directly outside the turnstiles should any incident like this occur again.

“We would like to place on record our thanks to Leeds United for treating Newcastle United fans with the respect they deserve following this incident and appreciate the seriousness in which they handled gathering evidence to create this report for your consumption.

“We are also happy to hear they have sought to liaise with supporter organisations of teams due to travel to Elland Road.”