Sheffield Wednesday Appealing Against Capacity Reduction

Sheffield Wednesday has appealed against a decision to lower the capacity in Hillsborough stadium's away end.

Safety concerns were raised by Newcastle United fans during an FA Cup third-round tie held on 7th January. The council review found Wednesday had not breached its safety certificate, and that the number of fans in the Lower and Upper West Stands was below the capacity permitted.

Despite this, Sheffield City Council announced on Monday that capacity in the Leppings Lane End was to be reduced by one thousand, down to 3,700.

The club voluntarily offered to reduce the capacity for last month's sold-out League One fixture against Plymouth while the review was being conducted. Since there was no breach, Sheffield Wednesday is now challenging the council's decision to enact that until the end of the season.

The review was prompted by a social media post which included an image taken nine minutes before kick-off in the Newcastle game, purported to show “fans in distress and a lack of stewarding”. However, evidence from matchday records revealed no reports of CCTV footage showing spectators in distress as recorded by event control, and stewarding numbers were in excess of safety certificate requirements.

After the council contacted the Newcastle United Supporters' Trust, about 50 travelling supporters offered their accounts of what happened during the day.

On Thursday, Newcastle boss Eddie Howe said: “With those eyewitness accounts, they should be encouraged to listen to that feedback because it is only the supporters that are living that experience.

“Anything that can help the long-term success and safety of matchday experiences of the supporters is crucial, so we need to gather those findings and try to implement the changes that improve it.”

A Sheffield Wednesday spokesperson said that the club would “continue to liaise with all relevant parties.”