This second incident of damage to the roof after what are pretty routine winter gales for the UK is deeply concerning. The incident cannot be taken in isolation, as it also needs to be noted that the stadium is not structurally strong enough to take the wind loadings of full cladding, thereby requiring perforated cladding. The stadium would therefore appear to have a fundamental design flaw in its ability to withstand strong wind conditions. Looking at meteorological data from the Met office. The winds occurring today were just par for the course for wintry weather, and were nowhere near the highest recorded wind speeds in the North West. www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/nw/ A stadium is a structure that needs to be built to the highest standards possible with regard to safety.This is because any structural failure within a stadium, such as the roof blowing off, puts at risk not just one life, but countless lives. It is completely unacceptable therefore for the roof to be blowing off in conditions that are par for the course in Winter. We are not talking about damage occurring in a once in a hundred year storm. With regard to the damage occurring in the South West corner on two occasions. I think this is more down to the winds on the days the damage occurred being from the South West. The club must not fall into the trap of allowing the roofers to get away with checking only the South West corner. I would go in with the premise that the entire roof structure is currently unsound and needs a thorough inspection, probably by independent consultants alongside the roofing contractors own staff. Hopefully the roofs weakness can be solved through additional bracing. There are always engineering solutions to these types of issues. The problem with these solutions is that they can add significant additional costs into the equation.

This second incident of damage to the roof after what are pretty routine winter gales for the UK is deeply concerning. The incident cannot be taken in isolation, as it also needs to be noted that the stadium is not structurally strong enough to take the wind loadings of full cladding, thereby requiring perforated cladding. The stadium would therefore appear to have a fundamental design flaw in its ability to withstand strong wind conditions. Looking at meteorological data from the Met office. The winds occurring today were just par for the course for wintry weather, and were nowhere near the highest recorded wind speeds in the North West. www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/nw/ A stadium is a structure that needs to be built to the highest standards possible with regard to safety.This is because any structural failure within a stadium, such as the roof blowing off, puts at risk not just one life, but countless lives. It is completely unacceptable therefore for the roof to be blowing off in conditions that are par for the course in Winter. We are not talking about damage occurring in a once in a hundred year storm. With regard to the damage occurring in the South West corner on two occasions. I think this is more down to the winds on the days the damage occurred being from the South West. The club must not fall into the trap of allowing the roofers to get away with checking only the South West corner. I would go in with the premise that the entire roof structure is currently unsound and needs a thorough inspection, probably by independent consultants alongside the roofing contractors own staff. Hopefully the roofs weakness can be solved through additional bracing. There are always engineering solutions to these types of issues. The problem with these solutions is that they can add significant additional costs into the equation.

Spot on chair maker!

I think the game was abandoned.

I think mark bournville the French winger made his one and only game for saints.

I also think it nearly hit mark foster and not mercer.

Reading this Guardian article it shows a picture of the damage at Epsom downs. Interesting to note that the roof material looks the same as that used on Saints ground eg lightweight aluminium m.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/jan/ ... pe=article Better pics from the Daily Mail www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/racing ... -roof.html

Reading this Guardian article it shows a picture of the damage at Epsom downs. Interesting to note that the roof material looks the same as that used on Saints ground eg lightweight aluminium m.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/jan/ ... pe=article Better pics from the Daily Mail www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/racing ... -roof.html

Exactly chairmaker , the materials and construction methods look exactly the same, so possibly prone to the same failure type , if you look at the stadium the SW corner where the damage is , is very exposed to the SW which by a strange coincidence is where the prevailing wind is coming from, Arnold Clark was mentioned, and i think its possible that with the buildings along that end of the stadium can cause a wind tunnel effect as Tesco is very close and if the wind is forced down a narrower path it speeds up so possibly , and I am not an engineer of any kind , just possibly the wind is being funelled to that corner as there is no sign of damage in any other part of the ground

the game was abandoned, and the pice of sheeting that fell off didnt go anywhere near any player at all. I was in the seating underneath it when it happened.

Is the stadium still there?

Where is 'there'?

It seems rlwe're not the only Saints to be suffering stadium uncertainty thanks to strong winds.rl

The forecast today is dismal: heavy rain with more winds of 75mph to 80mph due in during the night.

Whilst I share your concern, I'm feel I'm a little more positve about the solution.
The roof, along with other aspects of the stadium, will come with a guarentee. I have an industrial unit in Knowsley with which the roof was given a 10 year guarentee when it was built.
Whilst the roof will have been put on by the subcontractor (from cumbria?), it will be Langtree's responsibility to fix it and I don't expect them to take to kindly to shoddy work on what is a marquee project for them that has their name plastered all over it.

A fly in the ointment, but we'll get it resolved at no extra cost, I'm sure.

Well I was there too and the roofing sheer landed on the pitch and narrowly missed Gary Mercer by no more than a few feet. In fact he has even referred to said incident in print. I actually wrote about the incident as soon as I got home and still have the report now.

The type of wind that night was very different than the winds we had yesterday. That five minute storm in 1990 was a freak event the likes I have never seen before or since when winds were sustained at anything between 70-100mph for those five minutes, coming from a breeze and going back to a breeze almost immediately. It was almost like a lengthy tornado. If that had happened yesterday it would have taken the whole bloody lot off looking at the state at what a few strong gusts have done.

Building Regulations are a lot stricter now than they once were and roofs have to be designed/constructed to withstand winds far and above the record winds ever recorded in this country. Yesterday's winds inland were not even half of that record wind speed. There has clearly been a major malfunction here and it's very concerning. In my opinion, the whole safety of the stadium has to be questioned.

With all these changes that seemed to have happened (enclosed stadium, then non-enclosed, the enclosed again; steelwork originally designed for cladding then downgraded so it's not only to discover that we do need cladding after all), I am wondering whether all things have been factored into the equation or things have been altered without the knock-on effects being considered.

Would the roof have been damaged if it hadn't been for the exposed corners allowing the wind to get into the ground and up and below the roofing for example?

For months I have expressed concerns about what I saw as some very shoddy designs. Sadly it would appear I was justified in those concerns.

What is going to happen if the entire roof is condemned as unsafe because, to me, there is no possible way any of it can be seen as safe now?

We should all be glad this has happened now as opposed to 20th January.

I know it seems like a blow to Saints but I'd much rather this happen than everyone think it's all hunky dory and for fans to get injured (or worse.)

It's more than a blow. It must have been a bloody big gust.

Just a storm in a teacup with your new sponsors.

Can someone check if the Stobart stadium is booked on our season's dates.

Meanwhile, a planning application to install perforated aluminium cladding around perimeters of the north, west and east stands, to ensure concourses are covered “as much as is technically possible”, has also been approved by St Helens Council.