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Time to reintroduce standing areas at football grounds?
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
OK, since the late eighties and the report after hilsborough etc... clubs in the top 2 flights are now required to have all seater stadiums and have to comply within 3 years (unless special permission granted)
There are still quite a few football fans who prefer to stand at grounds whereas the stewards and some other fans feel differently. Well at Turf Moor (my ground) there are a few hundred who will stand throughout a game and the stewards seem really powerless against it and usually the police have greater things to deal with than making people sit down, so it usually involves a steward telling them to sit down, the steward getting told where to go, repeat.
i for one would really like to see a safe standing area re-introduced, when i get the chance to stand on the terraces at any ground that would always be my first choice, this was re-itterated by a lot of burnley fans in our recent game at cardiff, where it was the same price to sit but the majority went for standing.
what are your views on it?
mike hancock mp has started a EDM to re-assess the regulations on this:
http://edmi.parliament.uk/edmi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=31670%09%09%09%09%09%09%09&SESSION=885
currently signed by 71 MP's, my home town MP Kittie Usher refuses to sign the EDM however, and at the moment refuses to give any reasons why. her only comment is she has received as many letters supporting it as being against it...hmmm
i dont see how a standing area could effect anyone, if it was a seperate section it wouldnt be blocking anyones view etc..
There are still quite a few football fans who prefer to stand at grounds whereas the stewards and some other fans feel differently. Well at Turf Moor (my ground) there are a few hundred who will stand throughout a game and the stewards seem really powerless against it and usually the police have greater things to deal with than making people sit down, so it usually involves a steward telling them to sit down, the steward getting told where to go, repeat.
i for one would really like to see a safe standing area re-introduced, when i get the chance to stand on the terraces at any ground that would always be my first choice, this was re-itterated by a lot of burnley fans in our recent game at cardiff, where it was the same price to sit but the majority went for standing.
what are your views on it?
mike hancock mp has started a EDM to re-assess the regulations on this:
http://edmi.parliament.uk/edmi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=31670%09%09%09%09%09%09%09&SESSION=885
currently signed by 71 MP's, my home town MP Kittie Usher refuses to sign the EDM however, and at the moment refuses to give any reasons why. her only comment is she has received as many letters supporting it as being against it...hmmm
i dont see how a standing area could effect anyone, if it was a seperate section it wouldnt be blocking anyones view etc..
Post edited by JustV on
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Comments
All in all a tragedy, and not surprised there was call for improvements.
i think from what i know it was a mixture of problems, people jumping fences to get in, bad ticket control, insufficient policing, a tradgedy none the less, but i think in this day and age a standing area could be done safely and without much hassle.
Leeds away support are being punished by other clubs by getting less tickets made available due to persistant standing and when I visit the kop at Elland road I stand throughout the game as do the majority of people and the same happens with the stewards getting everyone to sit down and then seconds later a chorus of "stand up if you hate Man U" rings out and everyones back standing again hehe
For me it really is a MUST, I'm 6'2"-6'3" and its basically impossible for me to get my legs behind the chair in front, if I sat for 90mins I would not be able to walk afterwards.
to be perfectly honest, at many away grounds the stewards dont seem to bother about people standing, im sure its not worth their measly pay. Its the same at the turf, majority of the old long side all stand up, and its unlikely to change.
you do occasionally get an odd steward who thinks he's robocop, but very rarely away, in fact ive had some quite good chats with stewards at away grounds who say its a lot better for everyone if they just leave some of the more unfavourable away fans leeds, stoke, cardiff, burnley etc.. to just get on with it as they usually aint causing much bother inside the ground due to segregation anyway, which i agree with.
Coventry last season was a joke tho, the whole home end behind the net was stood up throughout and the stewards were actually evicting any burnley fans who were stood up, even just once. no need for that.
was quite
Weird with Leeds away, I can't actually go to Elland road and get a ticket, think I have to pay something like £20-30 to become a striker member before I can get tickets for any away game. Probably to do with the trouble Leeds used to take to grounds.
Or the other way is to be a season ticket holder but I haven't won the lottery yet
I'd love to see standing come back, I honestly believe that a modern terrace is safer than modern seating (the Kop at Valley Parade used to clear in 5 mins when full, it takes 10-15 for the replacement stand to clear when full). It won't happen, though- all-seater stadia won't be converted, and so a change of rules wouldn't make any difference to most teams.