Kassam crush review - match day changes as fans relive 'frightening experience'

The Safety Advisory Group, charged with probing the panicked scenes seen after the U's tie with Manchester City in September, has already put measures in place to prevent similar incidents happening again.

It comes as fans, including a 68-year-old season ticket holder, describe their fear at getting caught up in a 'preventable' crush which they warn 'could have been far worse', as part of an in-depth review into what happened.

After the final whistle of the Carabao Cup tie, thousands of supporters were funnelled into a small area to avoid the Manchester City team bus which was parked outside the player's entrance.

The Manchester City coach arriving earlier in the day 

In an email update to those who have contributed to the investigation, Richard Rockall, lead officer for sports ground safety at Oxfordshire County Council, said parking for the away team coach would now be permanently re-located.

He wrote: "Team coaches will drop off the players as normal to the front of the stadium and then be parked in the loading bay area adjacent to the south stand and between the east and south stands and at no point relocated to the front or allowed to move.

"Players following the end of the match will exit the stadium on foot through the loading bay and board the team coaches in this location.

"Coaches will be permanently stewarded to prevent any unauthorised movements."

Match officials, guests and club staff who park in the area next to the south stand have also been told they won't be able to move for 15 minutes after the final whistle to allow fans to exit safely.

More changes could be still made once the investigation is finished, depending on its findings.

Mr Rockall said the review is seeking to establish the cause of the incident, and identify any groups or individuals who were at fault, but will not publicly blame any one individual.

Instead, the report aims to inform match day procedures to ensure all supporters are kept safe in the future.

Season ticket holder Maureen Cox has made a formal complaint to the club and is demanding to see the risk assessment for the game after what she said was 'a frightening experience.'

Upon leaving her seat in block seven of the stadium's lower south stand following the U's 3-0 loss, Mrs Cox and her family tried to reach the car park near Frankie and Benny's.

This lead her past the fenced-off bus and into the path of crowds coming the other way.

The grandmother said: "The bus was parked some yards out from the stadium building and then a crowd control barrier was erected around the bus and up to the wall.

"This seriously reduced the width of the thoroughfare for pedestrians to a few feet.

"As a result, a crush was caused by fans trying to get by in both directions.

"People were pushing in front of us and behind us – there was nowhere to go.

"I was caught in the middle of it all. I was so crushed I had to hit out in order to breathe."

The high-profile fixture was the first time the Kassam had been full to capacity since January 2017, when the club played Newcastle United.

Mrs Cox, a nurse whose husband previously policed matches at United's Manor Ground home, said stewards and the police could easily have acted to relieve pressure on the night by moving barriers to create more space – but they refused.

Fans fell over in the melee and some had to resort to escaping by climbing through hedges.

Mrs Cox said: "I cannot understand why the bus had to be parked there in the first place, at that time.

"I don’t think the away team was going to leave at that point, they would probably have still been in the shower and the exit was in any case blocked by cars leaving the car park.

"It is my belief that if it hadn’t been for the fans who managed to make a hole in the hedge for others to escape the outcome could have been far more serious."

Mrs Cox said the situation had forced her to re-evaluate whether she would renew her season ticket next year.

Oxford United and Oxfordshire County Council have stressed they take public safety at sports grounds very seriously.

The club said it could not comment further while the investigation was ongoing.