Stacey Morgan: A day in the life of a Stadium Steward!
Having been an avid football fan since I can remember, hearing about my latest mission to head over to the Keepmoat Stadium for the Doncaster Rovers v Coventry City match was exciting – but this was a whole new ballgame...
I wasn’t there to watch the game, but to keep an eye on the 10,000 people in the crowd!
On arriving at the stadium at 4.30pm on a chilly Tuesday for my stewards’ induction, I was given an insight into the emergency procedures in place to ensure customers and staff alike are kept safe at all times when in the stadium.
I then headed over to the stewards’ room with my trusty mentor Pauline Bennett, one of the most experienced stewards at the stadium, where I was assigned my very own fluorescent orange high-visibility coat! I must admit it wasn’t the greatest fashion statement I’d ever made, but it was very warm and helped reiterate exactly what my role was.
We then joined the rest of the Stadium Management Company’s team for our briefing to find out how many fans were expected to come through the turnstiles in less than an hour and what risk category the police had graded the game.
At this point I was starting to get a few butterflies in my stomach, the briefing having firmly confirmed just how important the role of a steward was. Would I do the stadium and myself justice?
We were all assigned a stand and section to man during the game – there was no turning back now!
Pauline and I headed over to the East Stand, which had a capacity of almost 4800 people and included the family and hospitality sections.
Before the turnstiles could be opened we did a sweep of our designated stand. This included all the toilets, the concourse and each row of seats in the area, checking for anything out of place or that could cause harm to an individual or group...All clear!
Fans started to arrive. It was just an hour to kick off – the stands were filling up fast, the teams came out for a warm up and I got to shake the hand of a legend - the one and only club mascot Donny Dog!
The more people that arrived, the more we all seemed to get into ‘steward mode’ - a mutual respect between stewards and fans which created a great atmosphere ready for kick off.
The game began and Pauline and I were keeping an eye out for fans crossing from the South stand into the East for security. During the game I also got a sneaky peak into the Control Room where the whole stadium is monitored both inside and out by more than 80 CCTV cameras.
The final whistle went. The fans had all been well behaved, the clash was a draw at one-all and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
The Stadium Management Company really does have a great team of stewards and health and safety personnel – it’s no wonder the stadium beat the likes of Anfield and Grolsch Veste in Netherlands to the Best International Match Day Experience at last year’s Stadium Business Awards!