The tragic death of a spectator - 

Revealed: Southampton failed to act on stadium safety fears raised six years before fan death

Story by Tom Morgan - Daily Telegraph - 4th November 2024

‘The club’s lack of willingness to take reasonable steps to look after supporters is appalling,’ says Dave Davies after Brian Oakley’s brother Simon died - Heathcliff O'Malley for the Telegraph

English stadium safety worries have been raised as the family of a fan who died following a fall at Southampton called in police after learning the club were allegedly warned for years to install handrails.

Relatives of Simon Oakley, 59, who broke his back falling 10 steps after leaving his seat at St Mary’s, have been handed evidence apparently showing the club had faced safety concerns stretching back to 2017.

However, Davies has shown Telegraph Sport emails revealing he appears to have warned Southampton of his fears of a fatal fall before he found out about Simon’s death.

“The club’s lifeblood is people like Simon and Brian, who are avid, lifelong supporters,” Davies says. “The club’s lack of willingness to take reasonable steps to look after those supporters – both before this has happened and after – is appalling.”

Telegraph Sport has seen emails showing that following concerns raised by  Davies in 2018, there was an initial “thorough review” of safety standards at Southampton. However, despite club officials allegedly acknowledging potential risk then, SGSA correspondence to Davies suggests “there are no legal requirements for radial stairways leading to stadium seating areas to have hand/grab rails”.

Davies says such a position is in direct contradiction of the SGSA’s own website citing the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, which states “if a fan is injured as a result of a club’s failure to prevent a known safety risk, this is likely to be an offence under the Act”. “Under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 a club could be liable for prosecution and unlimited fines if a fan is killed as a result of serious management failures resulting in a gross breach of a duty of care,” the website also states.

“I have warned Southampton for years about the health and safety issues with stairs and they have continually ignored concerns,” he adds in a further written complaint to the SGSA this week.

Reports filed with Hampshire police

The Oakley family, meanwhile, are at a loss to explain Simon’s death after minimal evidence around the fall was presented to a coroner, who then admitted she could not conclude whether he fell or was pushed.

The father of four plunged down 10 concrete steps after leaving his seat shortly before half-time during a Championship fixture.

Last weekend, Brian filed two reports to Hampshire Police calling for a formal investigation after being dissatisfied by the coroner’s open verdict. “If the handrail had been there, it might have saved him,” Brian says . “It doesn’t end with Southampton,” he adds as he joins campaigners in urging football grounds nationwide to review potential fall hazards. “It’s right across the Football League, not just the Premier League, that we need improvement”.

Brian Oakley believes a handrail might have saved his brother Simon from his fall at St Mary’s - Heathcliff O'Malley for The Telegraph -

Brian stops short of condemning Southampton for his brother’s death, but says there has been an absence of investigative rigour to find out exactly what happened.

Davies, meanwhile, says he is “offended” by Southampton’s inaction after he met with the club in 2018. He says he has hundreds of emails on file detailing his repeated warnings to clubs and local authorities. He even sent Southampton a Leyton Orient FC risk assessment document “confirming the need for P-handrails in 2019”.

In one email seen by Telegraph Sport, Tim Greenwell, now chief operating officer at Southampton, told Davies on June 2, 2019 that “we are looking at a trial of ‘P-rails’ in the stadium and are in the process of obtaining some quotes for this”.

“It is not reasonable for the club to now say that there was no risk,” Davies says.

Andy Mather, who chairs the Saints Disabled Supporters’ Association, has also been calling for rails for at least a year. “The Saints Disabled Supporters’ Association is extremely upset that Simon fell, and if the suggestion is that someone that is not disabled or elderly may have been helped by having handles installed, for us it makes it more important to have handles installed ASAP for supporters who are less steady on their feet,” he says.

“We have written to SFC saying in the strongest terms that handles must be fitted in all stairwells throughout the stadium. As the away fans were moved and the safe standing areas set up, there are now rails there to hold, so there is only two-thirds of the stadium left to fit handles.”

Paffey, MP for Southampton Itchen, said: “Mr Oakley’s tragic death raises important questions around the safety of spectators in sports grounds. All sports grounds have a responsibility to do everything possible to ensure that spectators are safe. Spectators have a right to a safe and enjoyable experience – and where this hasn’t happened it’s important that we learn the right lessons and that serious and urgent action is taken.

“I will be contacting Southampton FC and the police in the first instance to raise this matter and seek reassurance that there will be an appropriate response. I will keep in touch with Mr Oakley’s family and do everything I can to get them the answers they deserve.”
Simon’s wish to die after fall

Around 45 minutes of inquest evidence was heard at Winchester Coroners’ Court before the assistant coroner for Southampton, Kiran Chahal Musgrave, concluded “he may have tripped or been pushed, deliberately or not, but there is lack of evidence as to which of those possibilities it may have been”.

The coroner’s report makes no mention of handrails being a factor. An MRI scan showed how Simon, who lived alone, had two fractures to his spine that paralysed him from the neck down. He was told by consultants at the hospital that he would be dependent on a ventilator and a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Simon, who had to communicate by sticking out his tongue, expressed that he wished to die instead.

On Nov 13, 2023, he was visited by family and friends, as well as the hospital chaplain, before his ventilator was switched off at 3pm. Southampton paid tribute to Simon at the first home match after his death, against Bristol City on Nov 29, 2023, with applause in the 59th minute.

His family were given hospitality at the game but older brother Brian, 84, explains that the club have not been in much contact since. “It is disappointing, the lack of contact since we attended that game – I’ve been a fan of Southampton since 1948,” Brian adds.

Simon was not a heavy drinker and was said to have drunk a maximum of two pints of beer on the day of the fall. “Either he was pushed accidentally or deliberately, or fell – both of those should warrant a police investigation immediately and urgently,” Davies says, backing Brian’s decision to contact police.

Dave Davies and Brian Oakley who are campaigning for a safer stadium - Heathcliff O'Malley for the Telegraph

He says there is “no ambiguity” about the SGSA’s “clear and concise” guidance on its website that any breaches in duty of care could be a criminal offence.

“I’ve got dozens and dozens of emails, backwards and forwards to the club at a director level acknowledging the problem, continually delaying doing something,” he says.

“They had all of the information, the technical information from the seat manufacturer and Leyton Orient as to what needed to be done. With regards to cost, my view is that, actually, the cost of doing this is minimal in the scale of things in a multi-million pound football club.

“So, when you consider, if you probably allocated one player’s wages for a week, it would probably cover the cost of doing it... there was a technical solution available and there’s no reasonable argument for the club not to have proceeded with that urgently.

“It’s not like they’ve delayed for a few weeks or a few months. It’s been years. There’s a wider failure that needs to be acknowledged whereby there’s better scrutiny of health and safety at football grounds.”

He adds in a complaint this week to the SGSA: “I have campaigned for years [in addition to the Saints Disabled Supporters Association] for handrails to be installed. I met with the Director of the Sports Ground Safety Authority, the Director of Level Playing Field and the Southampton FC safety manager before a game on May 5, 2018 . No action was taken

“I submitted a Risk Assessment from Leyton Orient who had concluded that there was a safety risk at their stadium and installed handrails. I then met with the club’s Director of Operations Tim Greenwell on July 3, 2019.”

All-seat stadium rules were introduced after inquiries which followed the 1989 Hillsborough disaster, but in recent years there has been a shift towards the introduction of safe standing to inject more atmosphere at games. St Mary’s now has one of the largest safe-standing areas in the country, with over 7,000 home fans standing in the new Northam Stand.

A spokesperson for the Sports Grounds Safety Authority said: “Ensuring spectator safety at sports grounds is the priority for the SGSA. Our inspectors work closely with grounds across the country providing advice and guidance on the physical and safety management elements at a ground.”

Southampton FC and Hampshire Police were also contacted for comment.