Sheffield United fan park high on agenda as Blades address food, service and safe-standing issues

Sheffield United are exploring the possibility of utilising a reacquired piece of land at their Bramall Lane as a matchday fan park for their supporters, minutes of their first fan advisory board recently have confirmed. The FAB was established earlier this year, with the aim of increasing two-way communication between the club and supporters, and features several representatives from both sides.

The group’s first meeting was held prior to confirmation last month that the club had bought two parcels of land on the Bramall Lane footprint, which had previously belonged to former owner Kevin McCabe and was not included in the purchase of assets mandated by the High Court after Prince Abdullah won his bitter battle with McCabe for sole control of the Blades.

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As The Star revealed at the time of purchase, the site - on the corner of Shoreham Street and Cherry Street - had previously been earmarked for a fan park if it was returned to club ownership. That piece of land, together with another one on the other side of the Kop, had previously received planning permission for residential housing, which could have proved problematic for United if they undertook any redevelopment of Bramall Lane.

The club are now exploring their options regarding opening up the space for supporters, both before and after home games, with food and drink outlets offering the potential for extra revenue. Minutes of the first FAB meeting show the club’s agreement that a fan zone is “much needed to create atmosphere, increase sales pre and post-match to capture revenues” and adding that it is “something we support.”

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Now that the Boundary Corner site has been secured by United it will be looked at as a fan zone “in the first instance”, with alternatives - including a ‘fan street’ on John Street - also being explored for the future. Other improvements to the matchday experience will be sought, including improvements to the Bramall Lane PA system after complaints that it is undecipherable on the Kop. The minutes show that the PA system is out for tender, along with the stadium fire alarm - which is “highly likely to be replaced with the infrastructure to support a new PAVA (public address and voice alarm) system for when funding is available,” according to the minutes.

A “detailed survey” of all the Bramall Lane roofs has been carried out, along with repairs and guttering clearance, amid complaints about fans getting “soaked when it’s raining” and a full roof replacement “would be considered in a larger scheme.” Another issue raised by the fan board was catering, with United recently signing a 10-year deal with the Compass group despite complaints about quality and service on matchday.

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Stephen Bettis, the United chief executive, defended the decision, explaining that in-house matchday catering is not feasible and reiterating his belief that Compass are the best provider for the job, with the Bramall Lane food “of a much higher standard than the majority of other football clubs.” There was a recognition that service, particularly on the Kop, needs improvement, with Bramall Lane’s biggest stand set for investment as the club “realise this is the area that needs it most,” according to the minutes.

The Blades are looking to install self-service drinks machines, supplying beer, spirits and soft-drinks, to “speed up service massively.” Each machine costs £16,000, with the club “looking to install a couple at each side of the tills.” Compass are also exploring different beer brands to offer to supporters and looking to improve the pie offering in the concourse kiosks.

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There seems little prospect of the loyalty points system changing any time soon, with ticketing manager Hayley Wheeler admitting that any reset of points from a system approaching 20 years of service would “cause massive issues.” The introduction of a ballot, holding back 20 per cent of tickets for an away game to be allocated randomly to applicants, has proved successful, with the percentage increased from 10 to 20 and more younger fans able to follow their side on the road.

United are also working with their IT partner to see if it would be possible to introduce public wifi for supporters in the future, with Bramall Lane’s infrastructure currently not able to support its roll-out, while Bettis reiterated United’s support for safe standing - adding that realistically the implementation would have to wait until United redevelop one of their stands, to minimise disruption to supporters.

More information about the FAB, including full minutes of the latest meeting, can be found on the United website at www.sufc.co.uk/fans.