Rotherham United can confirm that following conversations between the club’s safety personnel, the Safety Advisory Group and South Yorkshire Police, and following feedback from our supporters, that we have revised our Exit Strategy for games at AESSEAL New York Stadium.
The barrier plan that has now been in place for a number of seasons was initially installed as the method that we believed would most effectively ensure the safety of everyone leaving the stadium footprint after first team fixtures.
The new exit strategy will no longer totally separate home and away supporters – to leave via Don Street and New York Way respectively – and will instead only feature a barrier line that runs halfway up New York Way.
Following consultation on the safety front with SYP and the SAG, we are satisfied that this will provide an adequate period of time for home and away supporters to be able to leave the grounds, whilst also keeping the two apart at potential ‘flash points’ on the stadium footprint.
It will permit home supporters wishing to use New York Way as an exit point the opportunity to rejoin the traffic further up New York Way as indicated on the diagram below.
The club would like to point out that there will be ‘high risk’ fixtures in which the previous Exit Strategy will be deployed in the interest of supporter safety and the above measures will only remain in-place provided they do not compromise the welfare of anyone leaving the stadium.
As ever, we thank you for your feedback on the matter and welcome any further input as we continue to ensure that we deploy the most safe and effective methods possible on matchdays.
Blue line indicates exit route for away supporters, Red line indicates exit routes for home supporters, Yellow line indicates where barriers will be placed to separate supporters.