Hillsborough survivor calls for Leppings Lane demolition after 2023 ‘near miss’

A spokesman for a Hillsborough survivors’ group has said the Leppings Lane End of Sheffield Wednesday’s stadium “needs to be knocked down” after an overcrowding incident last January was labelled a “near miss”.

Newcastle fans reported safety issues before their third-round FA Cup tie against Sheffield Wednesday in January 2023, with some choosing to rip netting from seats to make space.

Sheffield Wednesday commissioned a review with Sheffield City Council which recommended increased CCTV and stewarding as well as a significant reduction in capacity to the Leppings Lane end.

The upper tier has been reduced from 3,200 to 2,400 and the lower tier from 1,500 to 1300, but no structural changes were suggested.

The Leppings Lane end was where 97 Liverpool fans were unlawfully killed during the 1989 FA Cup semi-final.

Sheffield City Council’s sports grounds and events lead officer Matt Proctor told a meeting: “The initial concerns were raised by a journalist’s photograph and we actually reached out to Newcastle United supporters to give their insight into exactly what their actual concerns were about being at that particular end of that particular stadium.

“When we received responses from Newcastle supporters they raised different issues to the issues raised by the journalist and we carried out a full investigation.

“We classed it as a near miss and alterations have been made to the operation of that particular stadium as a result of the feedback.”

Peter Scarfe from the Hillsborough Survivors Support Alliance told i: “Realistically that end needs to be knocked down and rebuilt. It’s a very old stadium, it’s not very well designed, it suited its purpose 100-odd years ago but now it doesn’t align with safety. It needs to be changed.

“We tend to go back to Hillsborough quite often, part of the therapy and healing. The stadium hasn’t changed a great deal, it’s still quite a daunting-looking place. It’s still a dangerous stadium, it doesn’t matter whether you reduce it by 50 per cent, it still needs to be policed in the right manner.”

Scarfe added: “The Leppings Lane end is so dated and poorly marked. It bottlenecks, it’s on the corner between the river and terraced houses.

“It’s not the most accessible area, and then once you go through those turnstiles, there’s no direction to go left, right or down the tunnel. You know the term ‘tunnel vision’, that’s what you see in front of you so that’s where you go.

“They have done a few modifications, but not enough, when you hear the announcement that they’ve put extra CCTV in and they’re going to speak to extra stewards, it’s still not enough.”