The Fanzone celebrations took place on the Powerleague complex just outside the stadium, with a capacity of 2900.
The entertainment consisted of celebrity look-a-likes, sponsors’ areas, penalty shoot-out, table football, beat boxers, football freestylers and a number of competitions.
The aim was to provide an exciting and interesting prelude to the match for the fans that had obtained complimentary tickets via the FA website.
The event required careful planning and consideration of factors relating to the rioting that struck London in August. As a result of this civil unrest the first planned Fanzone event was cancelled after the decision was made to cancel the main game.
According to ISC’s senior operations manager, Robert Webster: “Fans responded very positively to the event and were in good spirits.”
Crowd control and safety
The role of ISC was to provide visual security and stewarding to assist with fans’ queries, whilst acting as a deterrent against visitors contemplating unruly behaviour.
Webster said: “An important aspect was to manage the queues and control the crowd, keeping them safe within the complex and surrounding areas.
“This required ISC personnel to keep a special eye on the hazards brought about by poor weather conditions, including potentially dangerous slippery surfaces and buffeting caused by high winds.
“ISC has earned a reputation with the stadium, the local authority and its clients for ensuring that these types of events are run successfully and without incident. Our teams are carefully selected for their proactive approach and friendly demeanour which all helps to diffuse potential problems on the day.”