Club Responds to Trust: Matchday Searches and Stewarding Policy

Dear Walsall FC Trust members,

Thanks for your valuable feedback regarding searching by stewards on a match day.

As part of the ground regulations and SGSA licensing here at the Poundland Bescot Stadium, one of our conditions is that we are mandated to search fans upon entry. Our failure to do so could mean that we lose our license to admit fans and would have to play behind closed doors.

Our capacity to search everyone is not at 100% yet but it’s something that we are working towards, and this should eventually alleviate the perceived inconsistencies with the searching process.

With the introduction of Martyn’s Law, which has been born out of the failings of the horrific Manchester Arena Bombing, this searching process is becoming more under the spotlight and becoming enshrined in law.  It is our duty of care to ensure the safety of every fan on the stadium footprint and this responsibility is something we take very seriously.

However, we are the first to admit that sometimes our newer stewards may get things wrong in their approach, as well as get things right too, and it’s something we are proactively working and consistently training on and the feedback from yourselves and other fans is always helpful. We would hope that over the course of this season we will all see an improved searching process on access to the stadium.

One of our biggest challenges is the searching of minors and by law we can only use the search wands on U18’s. The wands will not pick up pyros/flares as they do not contain any metal and they are often hidden in very private areas. On the rare occasion that pyros can sneak into the ground, we have a highly effective CCTV system of identifying offenders and a zero-tolerance arrest policy that usually results in a lengthy football ban. For example, one arrest was made vs Bradford and 2 arrests were made vs Crewe this season.

We will add more information about the searching policy into our pre match information going forward. There are plans to introduce signage around the ground at entry points explaining the searching process too.

Thank you for your concern, understanding and support with this matter. Please continue to work with us constructively to improve the experience, and safety, for all who attend our matches.

Murray McKee, Head of Operations