The experience

[Dan™]

Just now, bigthinrob said:

Why?

 

Or is it you just don’t agree with my post?

 

Ps Did you bother to read as far as “I don’t want to downplay the risk to certain categories”?

 

To be fair, you did say that having the virus wasn't any worse than losing a game of football. I'm sure you were merely pointing out your own experiences and not claiming other people were making up the risks, but you can see how that might come across as suggesting no one else should be concerned about it.

 

No need for the "you sound like this or that" nonsense though. There's no us vs. them, we all just want to feel safe and be treated fairly.

[JackSWFC]

Very ‘back to normal’ feeling on the south stand. Very few people wearing a mask at any time.

[Beighton Owl 87]

44 minutes ago, vulva said:

Fair enough, but I read it as though the kid was going. See quite a few at matches, and can’t fathom out why people do it. 

Start em young

[Leaping Lannys Perm]

It wasn't too bad to be honest but masks were pretty much none existent. I wore one in the concourse but maybe one in 20 people did.

 

Not passing judgement in saying that but I wouldn't have fancied standing in one of the queues at the outlets.

 

Having said that, those queues were very disciplined at half time, at least on the lower North. One distinct queue down the middle with plenty of space to pass down the the side.

 

For the record, I entered 30 minutes before the game and left on the 92nd minute. If I hadn't have gone to the toilet at half time I'd have not really really needed to get close to people at all. So you can certainly pull it off.

[ReginaldD]

I'd echo what others have said the kop felt like ' normal' if I'd had a long sleep for the past 18 months I wouldn't have known we'd had a pandemic.

[bigthinrob]

23 minutes ago, Belfast Owl 2 said:

 

I never wanted extreme lockdown, so stop making up nonsense

 

I never said anyone broke rules so see aboce.

 

I think your attitude is nonsense

I answer your points one by one & your only response is “your attitude is nonsense”,

 

Not exactly an advocate of constructive debate are you!

 

It’s your opinion or “nonsense”.

 

My opinion is that we all obeyed ‘the rules’, they keep changing ‘the rules’ as it suits them, the main initial threat has now subsided (as even the most zealotry scientific minds concede) and it is now time to regain normality & move on.

 

The initial question from the OP asked for advice / opinions on attitudes to attending a match.

 

I gave my opinion, others gave advice, you went on a pro lockdown rant & insulted any opinion others than yours & basically offered nothing of value to the OP.

 

S6 today was amazing. If you think that constitutes a reckless risk so be it. I advise the OP to go along & enjoy, (unless he falls into one of the “categories” I originally referred to).

 

[Mr. Tom]

1 hour ago, milanowl said:

Didn't go today but could do with a bit of feedback on the experience. I've got a four-month-old and have been steering clear of crowded places for the most part to be on the safe side. We're keeping an eye on Covid numbers etc and making judgement calls on what is and isn't the right kind of environment to be in without risking getting it too much.

 

I am thinking of going on Tuesday, steering clear of the crush for loos at half-time and hanging back to avoid the exodus at full-time. But has anyone else noticed anything that has been done to aid the experience of those like me who aren't convinced enough to head to Hillsborough yet? Anything that would make me think twice about going on Tuesday? Have they changed the way queueing is administered or anything similar?

 

Thanks in advance.

Me & my old man went today after having discussed it and decided we’d go but mask up throughout. Both double vaxxed, neither ‘vulnerable’, but then we also know masks protect others more than ourselves. However, we felt it was the right thing to do, and while we figured we’d be in a minority, we thought it’d be a fairly significant minority.

 

We could not have been more wrong and honestly we were a bit taken aback. 24,750 there and we counted seven other masks the entire day, one of which was a steward. Absolutely zero social distancing, obviously you can’t do it while sat down but nobody giving an inch more than normal on the concourses etc. As others have said, it was just like normal. Which to me is pretty insane.

 

Physical state of loads of people wheezing and limping their way up the gangway steps made it look like they’d expire in about 20min if they caught owt. We were dead surprised at the absolute armies of proper doddery old lads not bothering at all.

 

Each to their own etc and we’ll be back Tuesday, masked up. But a real eye-opener for us.

[bigthinrob]

42 minutes ago, Dan™ said:

 

To be fair, you did say that having the virus wasn't any worse than losing a game of football. I'm sure you were merely pointing out your own experiences and not claiming other people were making up the risks, but you can see how that might come across as suggesting no one else should be concerned about it.

 

No need for the "you sound like this or that" nonsense though. There's no us vs. them, we all just want to feel safe and be treated fairly.

I would have thought the “not downplaying certain categories” covered that.

 

As for “not being worse than losing to the pigs”. Have we all lost any irony / sense of humour?

[Tony Pulis]

It's completely your call whether to go or not. The club advise mask-wearing but nobody followed that, although it is outdoors so the risk of transmission is considerably lower. I would avoid going in the concourse as much as possible and bring hand sanitizer. It's fun to go, but make your call for you.

[Belfast Owl 2]

13 minutes ago, bigthinrob said:

I answer your points one by one & your only response is “your attitude is nonsense”,

 

Not exactly an advocate of constructive debate are you!

 

It’s your opinion or “nonsense”.

 

My opinion is that we all obeyed ‘the rules’, they keep changing ‘the rules’ as it suits them, the main initial threat has now subsided (as even the most zealotry scientific minds concede) and it is now time to regain normality & move on.

 

The initial question from the OP asked for advice / opinions on attitudes to attending a match.

 

I gave my opinion, others gave advice, you went on a pro lockdown rant & insulted any opinion others than yours & basically offered nothing of value to the OP.

 

S6 today was amazing. If you think that constitutes a reckless risk so be it. I advise the OP to go along & enjoy, (unless he falls into one of the “categories” I originally referred to).

 

 

Lying again.

 

Provide examples of wanting a NZ extreme lockdown.

 

Where did I say today was a reckless risk?

 

Go on

 

Btw Im heading over for a game soon and feel safe to do so.

[Mr. Tom]

59 minutes ago, Aingarth said:

The club strongly advised wearing of face masks except when eating and drinking - what percentage were wearing masks?

Basically nobody. Me and my dad included, I still saw fewer than 10. Genuinely no exaggeration.

[Belfast Owl 2]

You whinge about consteuctive debate but just lie.

 

Grow up.

[Aingarth]

5 minutes ago, Tony Pulis said:

It's completely your call whether to go or not. The club advise mask-wearing but nobody followed that, although it is outdoors so the risk of transmission is considerably lower. I would avoid going in the concourse as much as possible and bring hand sanitizer. It's fun to go, but make your call for you.

 

2 minutes ago, Mr. Tom said:

Basically nobody. Me and my dad included, I still saw fewer than 10. Genuinely no exaggeration.

Maybe I won’t go Tuesday and wait until my proper season ticket arrives. I have seen too many people I know die from COVID( 11 so far) to take a stupid risk. If most people think the whole thing is a set of lies and a wind up, then that’s up to you. I have had 2 vaccines but I am still wearing a mask in shops, on trains and on the underground and whenever there are crowds( the mask protects you not me) and 24k plus even outdoors is a crowd. 
The club asked us to wear masks. 

[Mr. Tom]

2 minutes ago, Aingarth said:

 

Maybe I won’t go Tuesday and wait until my proper season ticket arrives. I have seen too many people I know die from COVID( 11 so far) to take a stupid risk. If most people think the whole thing is a set of lies and a wind up, then that’s up to you. I have had 2 vaccines but I am still wearing a mask in shops, on trains and on the underground and whenever there are crowds( the mask protects you not me) and 24k plus even outdoors is a crowd. 
The club asked us to wear masks. 

I’m barely 40 and not classed as vulnerable in any way, but this is my approach too. Indoors, public transport etc seems a no-brainier to me. Like I said, masks protect others more than they protect me. Just seems a common courtesy, and why wouldn’t I? It’s hardly a big hassle.

 

Re: Hillsborough, I’d be the first to admit the 24,750 attendance today is pretty meaningless in COVID terms - you’re fully outdoors (I didn’t go on the concourse once), so in reality it’s only the 30 or so people within about 3-4m of you that really make any difference. I’d say base your decision on that, if you think you can successfully avoid any other major choke points. Wouldn’t want to discourage people from going but honestly I was a bit shocked that the club’s request to wear masks as much as possible was ignored almost to a man.

[Aingarth]

37 minutes ago, Mr. Tom said:

I’m barely 40 and not classed as vulnerable in any way, but this is my approach too. Indoors, public transport etc seems a no-brainier to me. Like I said, masks protect others more than they protect me. Just seems a common courtesy, and why wouldn’t I? It’s hardly a big hassle.

 

Re: Hillsborough, I’d be the first to admit the 24,750 attendance today is pretty meaningless in COVID terms - you’re fully outdoors (I didn’t go on the concourse once), so in reality it’s only the 30 or so people within about 3-4m of you that really make any difference. I’d say base your decision on that, if you think you can successfully avoid any other major choke points. Wouldn’t want to discourage people from going but honestly I was a bit shocked that the club’s request to wear masks as much as possible was ignored almost to a man.

I agree with you. What I don’t understand is that, walking  down my own road everybody still gives a 2m space. Even though Hillsborough is outside the seats are spaced at about 0.5m and we know that 1 in 65 people currently have the virus.Although  I remain very unhappy with the club management on a range of issues(season ticket posting fiasco even though mine was purchased in Feb 2019) but their SAFETY advice is to wear a mask.

Why did nobody hear or bother?

[unkastav]

Make sure you print your ticket at home so to avoid the ticket office queues

[Mr. Tom]

3 minutes ago, Aingarth said:

I agree with you. What I don’t understand is that, walking  down my own road everybody still gives a 2m space. Even though Hillsborough is outside the seats are spaced at about 0.5m and we know that 1 in 65 people currently have the virus.Although  I remain very unhappy with the club management on a range of issues(season ticket posting fiasco even though mine was purchased in Feb 2019) but their SAFETY advice is to wear a mask.

Why did nobody hear or bother?

 

To be perfectly honest i hadn't heard that the club were asking people to wear masks where possible until I opened this thread, I'm just assuming others had heard but maybe they hadn't either in fairness.

 

Funny about the S/T fiasco, we got ours earlier this week. Think we only decided to renew about a month ago.

[Aingarth]

4 minutes ago, Mr. Tom said:

 

To be perfectly honest i hadn't heard that the club were asking people to wear masks where possible until I opened this thread, I'm just assuming others had heard but maybe they hadn't either in fairness.

 

Funny about the S/T fiasco, we got ours earlier this week. Think we only decided to renew about a month ago.

This is from the guidance on the official website for today’s game. 
 

COVID-19 guidance 
At this moment in time, there is no requirement to provide COVID-19 passports or similar. We will communicate any change to this policy, based on Government guidelines, should the need arise. Everyone entering the stadium is advised to wear a face covering when not eating or drinking. This is not a regulation but we are adapting this advice with safety first paramount in our thinking.

 

[VBQ24]

Be prepared to see 20,000 people together, with no masks or social distancing. If it's your first time it can be a bit anxiety-enducing.

 

However, arrive early as possible, sit in a less popular area of the ground, avoid concourse at half time and hang around 15 mins after kick off. Should allow you to remain 2M+ most of the time.

[1867Heaven]

3 hours ago, milanowl said:

Didn't go today but could do with a bit of feedback on the experience. I've got a four-month-old and have been steering clear of crowded places for the most part to be on the safe side. We're keeping an eye on Covid numbers etc and making judgement calls on what is and isn't the right kind of environment to be in without risking getting it too much.

 

I am thinking of going on Tuesday, steering clear of the crush for loos at half-time and hanging back to avoid the exodus at full-time. But has anyone else noticed anything that has been done to aid the experience of those like me who aren't convinced enough to head to Hillsborough yet? Anything that would make me think twice about going on Tuesday? Have they changed the way queueing is administered or anything similar?

 

Thanks in advance.

Just seemed like a normal match, saw a few masks but nowhere near what you’d see out and about, can’t get away from being close to people so I suppose it’s up to how people want to judge themselves covid wise, I’ve no problem with people being cautious or even over cautious but the reality is if you want to steer clear from contact get in very early, don’t leave your seat and find a quite place on kop or south stand, then leave when most have gone.