Southampton FC boosts safety, security, and efficiency

Southampton FC is a professional football club based in Hampshire, with St Mary’s Stadium welcoming more than 32,000 supporters on match days. Since opening in 2001, the stadium has grown into a major venue for football, events, and community activity.

Now, the club is undertaking an ambitious redevelopment to enhance the visitor experience and transform St Mary’s into a modern, multi-purpose destination.

Before deployment, 2CL and Southampton FC held numerous meetings, and 2CL organised a series of demonstrations and trials, including on match days, as proof of concept. 2CL and Southampton FC also visited Motorola Solutions’ London Innovation Centre to further learn about how the ecosystem can work together to deliver effective outcomes.

“The quality of work provided by 2CL has been nothing short of exceptional. From start to finish, their team demonstrated an impressive level of expertise, professionalism, and responsiveness to our needs. The new system has truly elevated our stadium’s safety and security and we couldn’t be more satisfied with the results.”

— Andy Darbyshire, Event Safety Officer & Head of Security

Solution

Over 350 stewards and security staff can be present at the stadium on match days or at large-scale events. These security teams, as well as catering staff, utilise the new MOTOTRBO radio system for effective coordination to deliver a positive and safe experience for the 30,000-plus fans. The club also uses the system for day-to-day operations, both in and around St Mary’s Stadium and at its Staplewood training ground.

The radios are perfectly suited to the environment, with their noise suppression and feedback cancellation technology, integrated GPS, rugged design, and long battery life. Moreover devices are equipped with emergency buttons and lone worker apps for worker safety during incidents.

Operators in the central control room use DM4600 mobile radios and TRBOnet Enterprise to coordinate the teams. Andy Darbyshire, Head of Event Safety and Security at Southampton FC, explains how they use the platform:

“TRBOnet acts as the control hub for our radio network at matches and events, giving our team a live overview of staff movements, incidents, and communications. It also provides me with the ability to review transmissions for organisational learning, ensuring our team can continually improve how we operate. In the event of an external enquiry, every transmission is recorded, time- and date-stamped, and available for review, giving us a clear evidential record to support accountability and decision-making.”

Following the radio communications upgrade, cameras were installed in a progressive, phased deployment, starting with the stadium bowl, then the external areas, including the training ground, and finally the internal, hospitality and concourse areas. Southampton FC collaborated with the 2CL video engineers to strategically place cameras for comprehensive coverage of all key areas, both inside and outside the stadium. The deployed cameras include outdoor and indoor IR domes, multisensor cameras, pan-tilt-zoom pendants, and 40-megapixel Avigilon Pro cameras; the latter have been installed within the bowl and allow operators to zoom from one end of the stadium to the other, while retaining pinpoint precision and crystal-clear imagery.

“As a Motorola Solutions Ecosystem Solutions partner, we are in a position to provide the best possible range of technologies to our customers. I believe that this is the first stadium in the UK to deploy the ecosystem. More are bound to follow suit.”

— Jack Wilkinson, Director of Business Development at 2CL

Southampton FC is using a wide range of the system’s AI analytics, including Focus of Attention (FoA), Unusual Activity Detection (UAD), Unusual Motion Detection (UMD), Licence Plate Recognition (LPR), Crowd Analytics, and Appearance Search. These intelligent analytics help controllers focus on and quickly make sense of incidents, or track or flag persons of interest on match days (for example, missing children, or individuals who have been banned from the stadium).

Out of hours, meanwhile, the UMD and UAD technology, which continuously learns what is typical activity, detects and flags issues without the need for predefined rules or setup, and Southampton FC has configured various alarms, which are flagged to the mobile phones and desktops of the heads of security for a 24/7 response. On match days or at events, Radio Alert has been configured on specified devices, so that security personnel receive direct messages on their radios for fast investigation when the video system recognises unauthorised or unusual behaviour. The club is also introducing Crowd Analytics for occupancy monitoring to ensure no spaces within the stadium or the wider entertainment areas become overcrowded.

Alongside the fixed video system, Southampton FC has also equipped some security guards with VB400 body cameras linked to the Avigilon Unity software, enabling control room operators to livestream or review first-hand footage alongside fixed video streams. The VB400’s pre-recording and peer-assisted features ensure the cameras capture the moments that matter. The cameras are paired with the users’ radios, so recording commences automatically if radios enter emergency mode.

In line with GDPR regulations for video systems, authorised personnel only within Southampton FC can download, view, and share video footage for both training and potential prosecution purposes. Indeed, in case of incidents requiring investigation, footage can be shared with the local police, who are present in the control room on match days and at events. The fact that the camera system could deliver high-quality, evidence-grade footage, in the case of the fixed video even when operators zoomed from one end of the stadium bowl to the other, was a key factor in Southampton FC’s system selection.

Outcome

The flexibility of the solution means that the core security team can use the same system to efficiently monitor daily operations as on match days. Due to the performance and connectivity of the technology, Southampton FC estimates it has seen a 20% increase in staff productivity and efficiency. Feedback has been positive. Users appreciate the advanced capabilities of the system and find it more user-friendly, effective, and easy to manage.

Andy Darbyshire summarises the positive impact of the video system:

“It has been a game-changer for our operations, saving us up to 80% time when we search and review post-match incidents. However, we can also watch live incidents, with the ability to zoom in and capture clear evidential footage. This not only allows us to provide stakeholders with the necessary material for prosecution when required, but also supports organisational learning by helping us identify and prevent future issues.”

The system is already proving its worth: one recent incident during a game involved a person throwing an item onto the pitch, followed by a pitch incursion. Footage was reviewed during the match, and the person was successfully identified and detained at the scene.

Having a connected ecosystem that works seamlessly together to deliver the fastest, best possible outcomes for improved safety, security, and efficiency at the stadium has made this deployment a huge success. The resilience, redundancy, and ongoing support, meanwhile, ensure Southampton FC has a reliable system for business-critical operations, both now and into the future, ultimately creating a safe and enjoyable experience for fans.

Read the Full Case Study (PDF)

More information

To find out more about how an integrated digital radio and CCTV system can enhance the security at your stadium or venue, please contact us:

Also see

• Sector: Stadiums Sector Page
• News: Southampton FC Extends Partnership with 2CL for a Second Season of Security Technology Excellence
• News: 2CL become the Official Venue Security Technology Supplier of Southampton Football Club
• Accreditations: 2CL is a member of the Football Safety Officers Association