The Football Supporters Association (FSA) have criticised the “chaotic transport failures” and “negligent crowd management” that impacted England fans for Sunday night’s European Championship match against Serbia in Gelsenkirchen.
The FSA said they were “dismayed” by the situation faced by supporters, many of whom faced up to a three-hour wait after the match, which England won 1-0, before being able to leave the stadium.
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The Veltins-Arena, home to Schalke, is over 6km from the Gelsenkirchen’s train station and the vast majority of supporters in the 62,000-capacity stadium were reliant on public transport services to travel to and from the match from the city centre.
The FSA say they had raised concerns over the stadium’s suitability for a late-night match and its ability to transport such a high volume of supporters, many of whom were based in neighbouring cities and reliant on returning via Gelsenkirchen’s main train station.
They say that the transport system from fan zones to the stadium was “chaotic with insufficient capacity”, with the shuttle service starting later than scheduled and often already being at capacity due to fans travelling from the neighbouring city of Essen.
The FSA said transport from Gelsenkirchen’s city centre to the stadium had “not enough capacity, poor queue management and communication and severe delays to services.”
It is highlighted how those with accessibility issues were not allowed to stop at the relevant tram stop designed for their needs, instead having to swap trams to return to a suitable station.
After the match, the FSA cite “dangerous levels of overcrowding” and waits of up to three hours after the match had finished to leave the stadium’s vicinity, but added that the behaviour of England fans was exemplary throughout.
Gelsenkirchen will next host Spain against Italy in Group B on June 20 before staging the Group F encounter between Portugal and Georgia on June 26, while it will host the round-of-16 stage game between the winner of Group C and a third-placed team from Group D, E or F.
(Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)