What's happening with the Leeds seat map?

[1SimonGarner]

Does anyone know, I know BB is fairly well linked to some at the club so maybe he'll be able to shed some light.

All the sections of the JW lower DE side, including my W01 are off sale. The only two reasons I could think off are either they're cashing in on the away following and putting even more Leeds fans in there or they are worried about safety.

Either reason would be a real head in hands reaction. What's going on BB?

 

[Drog]

My money is on the safety issue.

 

[blueandwhitehalves]

Police never want to do a thing these days, it's all about prevention rather than policing. They'd have Rovers v Burnley at 7am on a Sunday morning if it were up to them.

So after the neanderthal behaviour of the Preston fans a couple of weeks ago, where about 8 got thrown out, dozens of coins and bottles were lobbed between both sets of fans, and about 20 police/stewards had to hold them back after the 2nd goal, the police will have told the club to stop home fans going in W01 in games where away fans have the whole Darwen End.

That'd be my bet anyway.

 

[Barmitzvah Boy]

Does anyone know, I know BB is fairly well linked to some at the club so maybe he'll be able to shed some light.

All the sections of the JW lower DE side, including my W01 are off sale. The only two reasons I could think off are either they're cashing in on the away following and putting even more Leeds fans in there or they are worried about safety.

Either reason would be a real head in hands reaction. What's going on BB?

I have not spoken to my contact at the Club for a while however I am aware of the dreadful behaviour of a good number of Preston ‘fans’ and no doubt the Police will want to control and manage out, as best as possible, any of the violence witnessed a couple of Friday’s back. Leeds are bringing far greater numbers than Preston and their fans have a worse reputation. Sadly W01 appears to have suffered collateral damage due to the visits of Preston and Leeds.

 

[Old Darwen Blue]

I would imagine also that the end sections of the Jack Walker upper and Riverside will also be cordoned off. We don’t want to catch anything nasty from the Leeds fans do we?

 

[1SimonGarner]

None of it makes sense really. Even for the Burnley games when their tickets weren't restricted, the only sections closed were W01 in the JW and E04 in the RS in other words the end sections. I think most would agree that these games have a higher potential for trouble than Saturday. For Leeds there's no indication that E04 has been closed so anyone wanting to buy tickets close to the away fans can just buy them there.

Also by closing all the sections of the JW lower DE side surely they're going to have to re home and potentially upset a fair few season ticket holders. It just doesn't make sense. Are we ruling out the club seeing how many tickets Leeds sell and if they want more, putting them in this section for extra money? If this was to happen I'd be beyond annoyed. It would smack of short term thinking in the extreme.

Anyway I think we'll just have to wait and see until someone finds out for sure or the club make a statement.

EDIT: Another explanation is that the club have been advised by the police to take general tickets in that section off sale to discourage any potential trouble makers to buy tickets there and buy them elsewhere in the ground while still allowing the season ticket holders to keep their regular seats. Sad if that's the case as it means those sections will be three quarters empty on Saturday.

 

[1SimonGarner]

So no official announcement from the Police or the club (as far as I know) but my last explanation was what happened. The police obviously told the club that, as well as the game having to KO early, they couldn't sell tickets in W01, W02 or W03 to non season ticket holders, meaning I couldn't stand in my usual place today and the areas were emptier than usual.

Maybe I'm in a minority of one but it really annoys me that the club quite often seem to put the money and needs of the away fans above their own. Why not block a section off in the away end if you're worried about trouble? I know the answer obviously but it still irks me, you're not telling me another 4 or 500 Rovers fans in those sections today would have made a significant difference to the likelihood of any trouble.

Maybe I'm being unfair because I was forced out of my "home", I don't know, but it has left a bit of a sour taste.