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24
Jul 2021
Harrogate Town’s pre-season friendly against Sunderland today will be played behind closed doors after county council safety officials raised concerns.
Just 24 hours before the match, the club said it received a letter from North Yorkshire County Council's safety advisory group informing them of issues which “made them uneasy”. No further details were revealed.
About 800 Sunderland fans were believed to have been due to travel south for the match at the EnviroVent Stadium
There are just two weeks to go until Town's first match of the season at home to Rochdale.
A Sunderland AFC statement said:
County council officials said the club submitted a risk assessment and stewarding plan on Friday morning following safety concerns raised after the Rotherham United game on Wednesday night.
However, the authority said the assessment and plan was "unfortunately not sufficient". It added that "discussions continue to see what can be done to find a safe solution looking ahead".
Among the issues that needed to be addressed were medical support, stewarding and spectator safety, according to the council.
Matt O’Neill, assistant director for growth, planning and trading standards at NYCC, said:
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