STEWARDING A PROBLEM AT TANNADICE?

One of the main talking points of yesterday afternoon against Aberdeen was the stewarding with fans of both sides unhappy with the way the game was policed and stewarded. This follows on directly from the ICT game two weeks ago, when Caley fans were also disgruntled about their treatment from our own stewards. The stewards it seems are heavy handed and inconsistent – you may be thrown out for standing up for a few minutes, whereas people in other sections can get away with standing the whole game, especially away fans. It is wholly understandable that an Arab would feel disgruntled about being ejected for standing up, when the entire away end is doing the same thing!! The stewards really need to take a look at the way the manage the crowd, as the current methods do little more than upset the faithful, and will no doubt affect attendances in the future. Also, several sets of away fans have now lodged complaints (official and unofficial), and how many of these will be saying ‘we are not going to Tannadice again’? The stewards should be friendly, and on the fans’ side – they are not the Gestapo, they are there to help, not harass.

Of course now the debate about the return of standing areas raises its head, and I myself am 100% in favour of seeing a return of small sections of standing only areas. For one, people clearly want to stand. Also, if small sections of stands were converted to standing, say 10 or 12 rows at the front or back, there would be no risk to safety through over-crowding – the polices’ main concern. Also, standing sections could be made all ticket, restricting the numbers and again avoiding over-crowding, which has, as we all too painfully know, has led to problems in the past.

Bring back standing! Improve atmosphere. And ‘fer goad’s sake’, pass a bottle of ‘Kalms’ around the stewards before the game. It’s the fans that pay everyone's wages, and they deserve to be treated better.

I hope United can raise this point on an official level, as it certainly appears to be becoming a problem.