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As someone who understands that terraces are not intrinsically unsafe and at times has been priced out of attending a Premier League match, I fully support safe standing. Where do you lot stand?

Stand And Deliver

23 March 2011
Soccernet.com
Dale Johnson

The issue of standing areas at football grounds in England has been an emotive issue ever since the Hillsborough disaster of 1989, which led to all-seater stadia.

All four professional divisions in England were initially to remove terraces, a decision that was eventually revised with clubs in the third and fourth tiers no longer required to make changes due to the cost of updating grounds that were largely outdated and not designed for seating. Just the Premier League and the Championship require all-seater arenas.

A common misconception with the Taylor Report is that it advised the banning of standing areas. That is a fallacy. The report suggested a move to all-seater stadia but did not blame standing areas for the Hillsborough disaster - more so overcrowding, poor stadium design and errors in policing. But standing is perceived as the evil, hence "safe standing" is the term used when discussing its return.

Standing as it was in the 1980s could never return. You only have to look at the images of crowds during that period to see that terraces were dangerously overcrowded. Fans were packed in with little thought for safety or comfort. Not just football but society in general is very different today, with an obsession over health and safety. This one reason alone would prevent another Hillsborough.

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Premier League To Reject 'Safe Standing'

23 March 2011
Soccernet.com
Soccernet Staff

The Premier League has confirmed it will oppose moves by the Football Supporters' Federation (FSF) to reintroduce standing areas at top-flight matches.

Standing-only areas were removed on the recommendation of the Taylor Report following the Hillsborough disaster in 1989, but the FSF are calling for the return of terraces in the top two divisions for English football.

However, Premier League chief spokesman Dan Johnson said that the organisation will not be backing to the proposals.

"Our view is that the benefits of all-seater stadia far outweigh the return of standing areas," Johnson said. "They have led to more women and more children attending the games and no matter how safe standing can be made, seating is always safer. We will not be encouraging the Government to change the law."

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Campaign To Reinstate Standing To Go On Tour Of The Grounds
Fans To Get Chance To Try New-Style Seating Used In Germany

23 March 2011
Guardian
David Conn

The Football Supporters' Federation plans to tour the country with an example of the "rail seating" widely used in German grounds in a bid to gain support for its campaign to reintroduce standing at top-level English matches.

The Guardian revealed that the sports minister, Hugh Robertson, has agreed to consider reintroducing standing areas, which have been banned in the top two divisions since 1994, if the football authorities and police form a consensus in support. The FSF is determined to demonstrate the difference between modern standing accommodation and the old-style English football terraces in grounds at the time of the Hillsborough disaster.

John Darch, an FSF member, is working with the UK manufacturer Ferco Seating Systems, a partner to Germany company Eheim-Möbel, which has built rail seating in Hoffenheim's new stadium and the refurbished Stuttgart stadium.

"We have to help people understand we are not talking about bringing back old-style terraces," Darch said. "I will be inviting supporters at all clubs around the country to contact me asking me to visit with the mock-up. Then fans themselves, the chairmen and chief executives of clubs, safety officers and politicians can see we are talking about modern supporter accommodation, which fans and clubs enjoy, and which is passed as safe by the Bundesliga."

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