Wolves fans' anger over car park chaos
Wolves fans are furious after they were locked in car parks near Molineux following the first home game of the season.
Supporters were kept inside eight official car parks under a new health and safety move to allow crowds to clear on busy routes like Waterloo Road after matches.
There were angry scenes as some fans threatened to smash chains on padlocks as cars became gridlocked near exits at car parks like Whitmore Hill upper and lower.
The gates were locked 15 minutes before the full-time whistle at around and reopened at 5.11pm.
The changes to parking this season are necessary to protect pedestrians leaving matches, club bosses said.
Other car parks affected include two in Waterloo Road, the Stan Cullis car park, Sir Jack Hayward car parks and two car parks at the Steve Bull stand.
Gordon White, who said he was stuck in the Whitmore Hill car park for half-an-hour, branded the decision ‘nonsense’ and is considering demanding his £155 season ticket fee back.
The grandfather of one said he only received his parking pass and a letter mentioning the lock-in on Saturday morning before the game.
After watching Wolves beat Middlesbrough 1-0, the 74-year-old walked back to the car park to find vehicles ‘rammed and jammed’ near the exit, with supporters rattling the gates.
The retired managing director, of Shipston-on-Stour, Warwickshire, said: “Nobody could get out. Everybody was fuming. Horns were blaring, people were getting really upset. It was terrible, I have never encountered anything like it. There’s no reason for it, we have never had a problem before.”
Others took to social media and club forums to complain, with Olly Myers saying: “Great result, but parking at Whitmore Hill is a shambles, marshalls doing nothing to help while we’re all stranded here.”
Wolves head of operations, Steve Sutton, said: “In recent years we have received a large amount of correspondence from concerned supporters about their safety in leaving the stadium, and the issue has also been raised at the Fans’ Parliament.
“These car parks will be closed until pedestrians have had sufficient time to leave Molineux and, with Saturday being a sell-out crowd, this took slightly longer than might normally be expected.”
The club notified fans car parks would shut 15 minutes before the end of the game on its website on Thursday.
