How 4ft-tall wooden FENCE at Premier League ground sparked war between ‘fuming’ fans & landowner – & who came out on top
A ‘DANGEROUS’ 4ft fence slammed as a health hazard by outraged fans and Newcastle United has been mysteriously removed overnight.
Fans took to social media to brand the now-vanished fence a fire hazard after it was built outside the East stand of the stadium on Leazes Terrace.
A post on X has reported the fence was ‘removed overnight’ but supporters remain angry and confused at why the fence was initially built.
One user responded: “That’s all well and good but why was it there in the first place – I need to know.”
Another wrote: “Love to have been a fly on the wall for the conversations with the tosser who put it up.”
A third user guessed why it was taken down: “Only because they knew that fence was getting smashed to bits today.”
It remains unclear exactly why the landowner, a real estate manager named St James Terrace Land Ltd, built the fence – leaving fans enraged.
The company is not associated or affiliated with the football club but the fence would have become an obstacle for hundreds of fans as they attempted to leave the stadium.
This is made clear by a capitalised sign pinned to the door stating “The land adjacent to the east stand is not owned by Newcastle United” with ‘not’ clearly underlined.
Positioned a few metres from the door, it would slow down the speed in which big crowds could exit the venue, which raised major safety issues with overcrowding.
It’s disgraceful to display such openly petty behaviour
Adam Stoker
The East Stand is one of the most congested area on matchday according to Newcastle United Supporters Trust (NUST) causing extra concern.
A similar incident happened last month where a large yellow portable container was placed in the same area outside the East Stand in August but it has since been removed.
Co vice-chair of NUST Adam Stoker said: “Naturally we are concerned about the serious health and safety concerns that the structure poses, given the impact this would have on queues when accessing and departing the East Stand.
“The area of the ground right by where this has been constructed is a very busy area on matchdays and putting obstacles in the way of supporters could have dangerous consequences and result in significant overcrowding.
“It’s disgraceful to display such openly petty behaviour, while showing blatant disregard for the potential of their actions to put the safety of our fans at risk.”
Newcastle United has also reached out to season ticket holders to ask how the ‘recent usage of land’ that they have no control over had affected them.
Fans were fuming and there were a flurry of comments suggesting if the landowner doesn’t take the wooden barrier down it would be at the mercy of stampeding fans anyway.
After facing this immense backlash online, the fence feud came to a finish when it was mysteriously removed overnight according to tweet posted on X by NUST.
The post simply stated: “We are happy to report that the fence outside the East Stand has been removed overnight.”
St James Terrace Land Ltd is yet to reveal the reasons behind the 4ft barrier and hasn’t claimed it were responsible for pulling it back down.