The FA Applies To Install Gated Perimeter Fencing At Wembley

New gated perimeter fencing could be erected at Wembley Stadium as part of the Football Association’s response to the chaotic scenes at the Euro 2020 final, whereby numerous England fans burst through what appeared to be substandard security guarding and barriers surrounding the Stadium entry points. A resulting review conducted by Baroness Casey last year found there were more than 20 ‘near-misses’ which could have resulted in serious injury or death connected to the chaos surrounding the match between England and Italy on July 11th, 2021.

An application was submitted to Brent Council last week by Wembley National Stadium Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the FA. The application included “installation of fencing and roller shutters (B1 and B2 Steps), external alterations to existing Club Wembley, staff, media and VIP entrances and staff fire exit, with perimeter fencing introduced adjacent staff and media entrances (all at Level B2)”. An FA spokesperson said: “We have submitted a planning application to Brent Council for new secure entrance portals around the entry points on our B2 level. These are part of the works we are carrying out, based on the Casey Review recommendations.”

Baroness Casey’s review made eight recommendations in all, one of which was for the FA and Wembley National Stadium Limited to strengthen safety plans, including “physical fences and means of separating and filtering unticketed fans from those with legitimate access”. The review itself found around 2,000 ticketless individuals gained entry to Wembley on the day, with 400 ejected. The individuals were found to have gained entry by tailgating or involvement in one of 17 mass breaches of disabled access gates and emergency fire doors. According to Eric Stuart, a security expert who contributed to the review, those ticketless individuals created the extremely high likelihood of fatalities.