This had nothing to do with the club. The club wanted fans to be able to mingle pre-match and at halftime on the concourses, but it was idiot fans who decided to change stands. Where Saints were possibly being naive is to think that there weren't selfish idiots in the fan contingent.

I think Saints should announce at the Salford match that if any fans end up in the wrong stands they will be thrown out. Then let me kick their selfish, idiotic asses.

Saints twitter states West terrace season tickets sold out.

It shouldn't be. It will be a retrograde step if it is. Easily solved with all the suggestions made thus far re tighter stewarding.

That's because only season ticket holders are being allowed in there and we're on reduced capacity. All other Saints fans are being located in the East Stand.

So if this reduced capacity carries on how much do you estimate we'll lose in revenue each game in ticket sales alone?

That's anyone's guess as the club hasn't stated what the capacity will be. But if it's 2000, say, well that's 2,000 x £18.50 minimum I should think. That's a lot of money just on ticket sales alone.

I hope those fans are really happy!

That's what I was thinking. Unless Saints sell match day tickets for the West terrace in the future the reduction will be for the whole season.

If the reduction is based on the west stand situation alone, can only see a 20% reduction there of 700 to 800 places but if they are looking at the stadium as a whole they may well double that figure.
We seem to have a similar scenario as what happened at the Halliwell Jones.

But a couple of gates makes it easily fixable. They could even make it variable, for lower crowds leave it open, for capacity shut the gates.

It says in the letter I received only season ticket holders are allowed in the West BUT, I haven't got a S T and have been told my ticket is still valid, it is only the one I bought later that is not valid.

Gates just irritate people. We've done it to death about how it can be governed by proper stewarding. KEEP THE CONCOURSE OPEN! It was designed for free flow let's keep it that way.

In light of the issues identified at the Widnes friendly its sensible to operate with a reduced capacity in the terraces.

I expect this to stay in place until Saints can show to the authorities that they can adequately police those stands in a safe manner. Once that is achieved then the club can apply for further capacity extensions to our safety certificate

If we have further issues in the terraces at the Salford game then we can expect a further reduction in terrace capacity.
Season ticket holders in the West stand will need to be on their best behaviour, otherwise they may find they no longer have a place on the terraces, as the authorities could decide that the capacity of the terraces needs to be reduced further.

I just hope the Merseyside safety authorities take a sensible approach to the terracing rather than taking a draconian safety approach. It would certainly look daft if Warrington with a smaller end terrace, were allowed more people to stand in their end terrace than Saints, merely because of differences in interpretation by local authorities on what is and isnt safe.
It also has to be said that these type of shenanigans would not have cropped up with an all seater stadium. Not that i favour such things.

Actually, no. It is the season ticket holders/other ticket holders from stands outside of the West Stand that need to be on their best behaviour as they were the reason one end of the West Stand was overcrowded and we are now having this difficulty!

Us West Standers were very good boys and girls, thankyouverymuch.

What was the original idea behind having open concourses? If it's just for the sake of people to "mingle" at half time then surely it's better/easier to segregate the concourse as well as the stands? If having open concourses is going to result in you working under a reduced capacity then surely it isn't worth it? Not trolling btw just 1st time I've read that there was this freedom around the concourses and the problems it seems to be causing.