Bristol Rovers' Head of Safety and Stadium, James Hillier, speaks with BRTV about his role at the Club and all the plans for 2025!
So, James, thanks for sitting down with us today. Please could you introduce yourself with your name and job role?
"My name is James Hillier, and I’m the Head of Stadium and Safety at Bristol Rovers Football Club."
What does your job entail here?
"The role is primarily the safety of fans and all staff at the football club, as well the head of the stadium operation, particularly on matchdays and during the week."
Please can you tell us how your career and experiences have led you to Bristol Rovers?
"I was previously at Yeovil Town Football Club. I spent 20 seasons there. It was really good, and I had a great time. I really enjoyed it. The time came for a change. So, the opportunity at Rovers came up, and I’ve really enjoyed my time with the club so far."
What did you and your team achieve in 2024?
"2024 was predominantly focused on the South Stand. When I joined the club, it was in process. So, it was working with local authorities or the safety organisations to obtain the necessary licenses and permissions for the stand to be used, working very closely with Jim Buckley, the Head of Maintenance for the football club and basically finishing off the aspects of that stand so it was operational.
"In addition to that, I worked very closely with Tony Hughes, the Deputy Safety Officer, and we did quite a bit of work on steward training and steward recruitment, which is still ongoing. Just forming relationships with supporters' groups as much as possible and all the authorities in this area that I come into."
There are plenty of plans for 2025. To start, please could you tell us about the big screen?
"It is really important that we get the big screen over the line as soon as possible. I had a meeting earlier today, talking about timelines with the appointed contractor. So, there is quite a bit of work to be done behind the scenes with it. Hopefully, we are going to start seeing some progress in the coming weeks.
"We are just waiting for the contractor to firm up arrangements with their subcontractors, such as crane companies. They were down last week to take final measurements and gather further details. So, it is very much a priority for us to keep driving that forward as quickly as we can, and hopefully, we are going to see progress very soon."
Next up, can you tell us about the recruitment of personnel on matchdays?
"It’s really important for us to have a good group of matchday staff. We employ a lot of people from all the operations. From kiosks and catering in hospitality through to matchday safety and stewards. We do have some really good partner organisations that we get stewards from, but we are always keen to try and drive our own recruitment and employ people who want to come and work directly for the football club.
"So, if anyone out there wants to come and join us, then I can be contacted on the website, and it’ll be really good to try and improve and increase the numbers of our own employed staff that want to be here for the football club."
How about the fanzone?
"The fanzone is certainly on the radar for the close season. There’s lots of ideas being floated around, and I think we’ve got to consult properly with the fans to make sure we get the fanzone into the best place we can make it. I think there’s lots of opportunities to improve things and make the experience much better."
What about sustainable travel?
"As part of the South Stand in particular and obviously the EFL green code of conduct, we’re keen to try and improve our sustainable travel methods. We have brought in the scooters now on site, and we’ve got the new sustainable travel plan that’s been produced. Working with the local authorities all these things are very much at the forefront for our work for next year and trying to promote alternative methods of travel to and from the stadium for fixtures."
Finally, can you tell us about the general stadium improvements?
"We’ve recruited well, and we’ve added to the maintenance team. So, we can try and do more of the work in-house. But there are ideas and there are projects that we’re trying to do some general improvements around the place, improve some of the aesthetics as well and bring the stadium up to a slightly better condition in certain areas."
