Seats and Standing

Ever since the Taylor report and the abolition of terraces in the top two divisions of English football, whatever their names might be this year, a new phenomenon has arisen in all-seater stadia across the country, persistent standing.

In some grounds this has become a major issue as clubs, ostensibly with the relevant safety authorities pulling the strings, have been forced to crack down using such measures as ejection and removal of the season tickets of people who refuse to sit down. There have also been reduced away ticket allocations for clubs with a track record of standing in seats.

There seems to be some variation in the line that the various councils, who issue ground safety certificates, take. In some parts of the country clubs have been forced to act against persistent standers, while in others the clubs seem able to resist whatever pressure they are under to force fans to take their seats.

Thus far at Meadow Lane there has been no real crackdown on those who stand at the back of block Z, but no doubt if the safety certificate of the club was threatened, the club would be forced to take action.

A group of fans initially from West Ham have formed pressure group StandUp-SitDown www.standupsitdown.co.uk with the aim of turning seated accommodation into designated standing areas in a small part of each ground. They are not advocating ripping the seats out, just having an area set aside where fans can stand throughout the game instead of sitting in their seat.

StandUpSitDown have managed to arrange a meeting with the Football Licensing Authority in January and are obviously hoping to demonstrate a groundswell of support for their campaign. Thus they have contacted the Trust and asked for a statement from the Trust supporting them. We believe our members should make the call on this one. Thus what’s your view, do you support them?

No I don't support them. Standing infront of seats creates a possible danger where someone larking about or fighting or just losing their balance could fall over the seat infront of them, causing possible serious injury to either themselves or to an innocent party or parties below as the fall could have a domino effect.
Have they learnt nothing from the disasters at various football grounds?