Safe Standing Bill

Yesterday the MP for Bath, Don Foster, introduced his 'safe standing bill' to the House of Commons.

Foster wants to see standing allowed in certain areas of both Premiership and Championship grounds. He believes the Taylor report produced after the Hillsborough Disaster which suggested all-seater stadiums needs rethinking.

Below is a little of what he said.

Today I am proposing something very different - another step forward, to more modern, safe football stands; stands that provide what fans want but do so with maximum safety.

After all standing is not inherently unsafe.

20 years later, thousands of fans in the Premiership and the Championship demonstrate that this is not the case.

And when fans stand in all-seater stadia today, it causes problems.

It ruins the experience for those who want to sit.

But equally, for many fans who prefer to stand, sitting ruins their experience.

And when they do stand - as many do - it is particularly unsafe.

Yet, as we know, preventing large numbers from standing in all-seater stadia is extremely difficult for stewards and the police.

If it can be done safely - and it can be - I believe it would be far better to have a mix of safe seating and safe standing areas in stadia where clubs chose to offer such options.

That way, children, families, and those who want a more peaceful experience could have it, while those who want to stand could exercise that right.

And it can be done.

Foster went on to mention the particular problem at Scunthorpe.

The question of standing is even more pressing for fans of Scunthorpe FC. For them, promotion has come at a very high price. After their third season in the top two tiers, they will have to have converted their ground into an all-seating venue.

This will reduce the ground's capacity - already the lowest in the Championship - from 9000 to 8000. Neither the club nor its supporters want this.

More seats means less space and so fewer supporters will get to see their team.

And if Scunthorpe is demoted in future, they will not be able to convert some of their seats back to standing areas. The conversion will have come at tremendous expense - Scunthorpe FC will have paid for the privilege of ruining their own ground.

Following the Hillsborough disaster it was right to take action against the old-style standing terraces. But modern developments mean that, as other countries have shown, it is perfectly possible to introduce safe standing into the stadia of Premiership and Championship Clubs - if the clubs want to and when stringent safety standards are met.

Whilst the bill will probably not make much progress it does highlight a particular problem which could affect Hereford United.

At present no grants are available for stands unless they are all-seater.

However there's little doubt that when the Meadow End is re-developed at Edgar Street there will be a call for it to remain a terrace. So if this bill of Foster's causes those in authority to change the rules it will have served its purpose.

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