Fulham host ‘major incident’ training event at Craven Cottage

The Club hosted a ‘major incident’ exercise in collaboration with emergency services partners at Craven Cottage this week. The exercise involved security & stewarding staff from Fulham, as well as colleagues from numerous ‘blue light’ services. 

The Metropolitan Police have been working closely with football Clubs across London conducting a series of ‘Command Post’ exercises. Each exercise is tailored specifically to immerse those taking part in real-time scenarios & test how emergency services personnel & commanders respond to differing spontaneous major incidents. Fulham were the third Club based in the capital to take part. 

The day involved a morning & afternoon session where two scenarios were played out. 

Head of Safety at Fulham Football Club John D’Arcy added: “The major incident training which took place at Craven Cottage earlier this week, provided us with essential scenario-based exercises involving many of our local multi agency stakeholders. 

“The exercises allowed us to not only test our plans but also to test our staff working alongside and collaborating with key personnel and partners. The exercise was a huge success which is also credit to the continuous work carried out behind the scenes, in preparation for and on match days.”

Chief superintendent Kris Wright, from the Metropolitan Police, who is the exercise director added: “I’m delighted we’ve been able to work with Fulham as part of our ongoing efforts to make sure we’re prepared to respond to a variety of incidents, including scenarios resembling terrorist incidents.
 
“We have visited a number of London football clubs in recent months to hold training exercises. This kind of work is vital to ensure the officers and staff involved can practice in a safe way, building their capability and experience so that, if anything happens for real, they are prepared to respond in the best possible way.
 
“This is ultimately about keeping people as safe as possible when they come to big events across London and it’s fantastic to see Fulham making the safety of their fans and local community a top priority.”

Graham Souster, Health & Safety team manager at Hammersmith & Fulham council stated:

“Emergency planning is crucial to ensure that everyone is prepared to respond in a major incident. This week’s exercise at Craven Cottage demonstrated the commitment and professionalism of the club, emergency services and other key stakeholders in responding. The realism of the exercises delivered by the Metropolitan Police was incredibly sobering, but very reassuring in terms of the collective and collaborative response by all parties involved to protect lives”.

As well as Fulham Club staff, their match day partners and police, the exercise also included staff from the London Fire Brigade & London Ambulance Service, a safety advisory group from Hammersmith & Fulham council, British Transport Police & Transport for London. 

These exercises were not carried out reacting to a specific threat. We encourage supporters to always be vigilant and if you see anything suspicious, tell a steward right away. If you see anything that could pose an immediate threat to safety, call 999. Alternatively, to make a report to the police, go to www.gov.uk/ACT or call 0800 789 321.