Staffing issues forced cut in Dale capacity
Crown Oil Arena almost back up to full 9,000 quota after temporary problem
THE capacity of Rochdale Football Club’s home ground has been cut as the company that runs the stadium failed to complete some of the required safety tests and inspections last year.
The maximum number of fans allowed into Dale’s Crown Oil Arena home – known for decades as Spotland – has been reduced by Rochdale Council due to omissions by stadium operators Denehurst Park.
The ground, which can hold more than 9,000 supporters, had been downgraded to a capacity of just below 7,500 – although this has now been increased to nearly 8,900.
However, attendances for Dale home games only average around 3,500 – and club chiefs insist that the issues relate to ‘paperwork and certification’ and fans have never been put at risk.
In a statement Paul Moore, the council’s head of planning services, said measures to bring down the stadium’s capacity had been taken as a precaution.
He said: “Due to a temporary staffing issue at the Crown Oil Arena, the stadium company failed to complete all their inspections and testing of safety related systems and provisions during 2018.
“As a precautionary measure during that period, the council temporarily downgraded the safety factors used to determine permitted spectator numbers, meaning that the maximum crowd capacity of the stadium was reduced from 9309 to 7447.”
He continued: “The majority of the outstanding testing and inspections have now been completed to our satisfaction, so the stadium capacity has now increased to 8844. We are confident they will be able to return to their maximum capacity once the rest of the outstanding information is submitted.”
The club says that, since David Bottomley’s appointment as the chief executive in December, its board has been ‘committed to rectifying issues around the ground’s capacity’.
Mr Bottomley, who is also a director of Denehurst Park, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the ground had always been run in a ‘safe and legal way’ and that spectator safety had ‘at no point been compromised’.
A club spokesman added: “The stadium manager has been working closely with the council since his return to the club, and due to our compliance over the last two months, all but a few of the outstanding documents have now been submitted and completed to the council’s satisfaction, resulting in the capacity being increased. The outstanding documents also relate to paperwork and certification matters.
“We must stress that the safety of supporters is paramount, and we would like to reassure fans that we would not have operated, or would have been allowed by the council to continue operating if there had been any concerns for supporter and staff safety on a matchday. Although we have a slightly reduced capacity, we continue to operate with the council’s full support and assistance.
“We will continue to cooperate with Rochdale Council and are confident that we will be able to return to maximum capacity once the outstanding information has been submitted to them.”
Dale – who play in League One – have not attracted a crowd that would have troubled even the lowest authorised capacity of 7,447 this season.
Even last season’s glamour FA Cup game against Premier League giants Tottenham Hotspur failed to sell out, as not all the away tickets were snapped up by supporters of the north London club.
Colin Cavanah, chairman of fan group Rochdale Supporters Trust, was unaware of the capacity reduction, but said he was not unduly worried.
He said: “I’m not especially concerned, as we were not approaching capacity as it was; we have not had a crowd over 6,000 for quite some time.
“I would take great comfort from the fact that it is coming back up. If you were telling me it was going to 7,400 and that was it, that would be a bigger concern.
“The fact it’s going back up suggests the club is aware and working hard to get back to the former capacity.”
Mr Cavanah said it would have been a frustration had the club been involved in a high profile game with the potential to sell out while the ground was operating at a reduced capacity.
But he added: “I’m not going to say it’s not a concern but it sounds like it’s being addressed by the club and hopefully we will be back to its former level very soon.”