STATEMENT | Stockport Home League Fixture

Southport Football Club are aware of instances that took place during the Southport v Stockport County league fixture on Saturday 11 August and would like to provide some clarity to supporters.

Well in advance of the date, Stockport received 1,000 tickets to sell prior to the game, as well as having the option of purchasing online. This process went extremely well and the club would like to thank the ticketing staff from both sides for their co-operation and assistance as queues were kept to a minimum.

On the day of the game, the police advised the club that a cash only away turnstile needed to be an option for safety reasons due to the intel received regarding a large crowd were attending. Merseyside Police in partnership with Greater Manchester Police, assigned the appropriate number of uniformed officers to the game for this reason.

As a result, working with Exclusec, there was an increased number of stewards within the ground. The 28 deployed to the game were briefed pre-match on expectations and responsibilities. Like every home game so far this season, the club will conduct a detailed post-match review with the company to further improve standards.

The fixture was segregated but the club are aware that a designated gate was opened during the game. This was not part of the operational plan and a thorough investigation is currently taking place to find out the reason why and to ensure this doesn’t happen again as the safety of all those in the ground is of paramount importance to Southport FC.

As the atmosphere grew within the ground, those overseeing the game constantly montiored and reviewed the situation. That is why the bars were closed 15-minutes after the second-half begun.

Southport Football Club would like to apologise to those who attended and felt threatened by the behaviour from a small minority of Stockport County supporters.

No further comment will be made by the club on the matter.