The roar of the crowd. The shrill of the whistle. The clinking of the turnstiles. We have all been denied the joys of watching live football for some time now, but with the end of COVID-19 restrictions getting ever nearer, it won’t be long before stadiums are buzzing with the sounds of guts and glory from our beloved football teams once again.
With fans clamouring to return and season tickets being purchased clubs will now have to look at their infrastructure and spend time reassessing their safety measures. These will need to take into account any COVID-19 restrictions, as well as thinking about a temporary reduced capacity in the ground. One important thing to consider is whether the turnstiles that you have in place are now suitable or whether you need to think about upgrading them to keep up with the new demands that your ground will face.
To explain further, Lucinda Thorpe, Business Development Executive at Newgate, shares her insights on turnstile suitability and safety.
The history of stadium safety
The safety of football stadiums has been under the spotlight for many years. Violence and stadium disasters in the past have meant that much time and money has been spent ensuring that stadiums are as safe as they can be for fans and teams alike.
A large focus of this safety drive was on turnstiles as a way to keep a proper count of the number of fans that enter a ground in order to avoid overcrowding. They also became useful tools in the battle against fraud and increasing revenue by ensuring that the number of fans entering a ground are properly counted, pay for their entry and are restricted to keep within capacity limits.
One of the first major football tragedies that garnered attention in relation to the stadium itself occurred at Heysel Stadium in Belgium for the 1985 European Cup Final. As Liverpool took on Juventus, a crush occurred, and 39 Juventus fans sadly died. Later than year, a fire at Bradford City after a cigarette was dropped engulfed an entire stand and claimed the lives of 56 people.
The most well-remembered football disaster came in an FA Cup match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at the Hillsborough stadium in 1989. Overcrowding in the ground and a lack of police control led to a massive human crush that killed 96 people and became the worst disaster in British sporting history. These terrible tragedies forced organising bodies to look at the events and work out what went wrong. As a result, regulations were changed, safety measures were studied, and grounds were changed forever to prevent any repeat of these terrible events.
It was soon realised that turnstiles were a huge tool in the fight to keep fans safe, as they can perform so many functions. The turnstiles at football grounds are now required to be high volume, secure access control systems, and should incorporate automatic barriers and turnstiles. The Government’s Guide to Safety at Sports Grounds recommended a computerised turnstile counting system that can be monitored from a stadium control room.
These turnstiles must also have an audible alarm to warn that a stadium has almost reached its allowed capacity and allows security teams to make informed decisions about when to stop accepting more visitors or what part of the ground they should be directed to. CCTV is also required to be positioned above the turnstiles for an extra level of protection and monitoring from a central location that can allow a co-ordinated response.
Current stadium safety measures
Whilst history has shown us that non-seated terraces, wooden stands and football hooliganism were once the biggest threats to fans in football stadiums, there are now new things for clubs to consider. There is now a greater focus on technology, with a combination of both physical and cyber security solutions being necessary.
Strong, well-equipped and technological turnstiles can help to prevent the physical infiltration of those who might want to cause trouble. The use of fake or stolen credentials are often used as a way to enter a ground in order to commit theft or cybercrime. By pairing physical security with cyber security, you can add an extra layer to the levels of protection that you have in place.
Ensuring that there is a two-way communication system means that security alerts can be delivered in real time between physical and cyber security solutions. This allows actions to be taken much quicker in order to identify and prevent any potential threats.
They say that prevention is better than cure, which is why detecting threats and isolating them before they become a problem is so important. Smart cameras which can issue alerts allow security staff to act more quickly and effectively, ensuring they are in the right place at the right time. However, human intervention will not always be required, and the right technology will help security co-ordinators to decide on an appropriate response, making sure resources are always where they are most needed.
Trusted suppliers
The safety of your patrons will always be of paramount importance, so ensuring the turnstiles that you have in place are up to the job is vital. Working with a trusted supplier with knowledge and experience of designing, manufacturing and installing sports grounds security equipment is important in making sure that staff and visitors remain safe and secure. Barriers and turnstiles also need to be robust and should be customisable in order to fit in with your stadium ad work with your requirements.
When hosting big events, it is crucial that you can organise fans effectively, control their entry and limit the numbers in the stadium, all without impacting on the experience of those who are paying money to visit your facilities. Now is the perfect time to examine your current measures and assess whether they meet all of your needs.
Making sure that your turnstiles are compliant to the latest football safety solutions in important when it comes to keeping both fans and your stadium safe. It protects from physical, virtual and financial damage, and will still help to guard against the terrible tragedies that have gone before.
Lucinda Osgerby is the Business Development Executive at Newgate, which are specialists in providing businesses in the UK & overseas with secured access solutions such as security barriers and gates,…
