Trip hazard: Why are fans falling over themselves at Reading's Madejski Stadium?

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This was published 9 years ago

Trip hazard: Why are fans falling over themselves at Reading's Madejski Stadium?

By Rupert Guinness
Updated

We can't tell you how many people are falling for Reading Football Club or the London Irish rugby team, but we can tell you that a bunch are falling over their cherished home ground Madejski Stadium in England.

Bizarrely, there is one 70cm concrete step in the grandstand fans are clearly having trouble negotiating as they walk out – to be precise, a pesky character in row S.

No matter that the step in question – like every one on the stadium - is marked with bright yellow paint to alert the emotionally fatigued footy fan to lift their tootsie a tad higher.

For some inexplicable reason, it seems what is causing so many to fall shy of clearing the step is the old 'double tap'.

Perhaps Sheldon from TV's The Big Bang Theory has the answer - if the height of a single step is off by as little as 2mm, then most people will trip.

The 24,000 seater stadium is built on the site of a former household waste dump and is surrounded by methane vents, but there is little to suggest that an ill wind is blowing.

If you have any inside knowledge about the how and why – or, even better, have been there and suffered the same fate – please let us know.

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