ANALYSIS
By Oliver Yew
Susan Lamb has been an Arsenal supporter since her childhood and has been going to Highbury and now the Emirates since the 1970s.
She has watched matches standing in the terraces and now she sits watching Arsenal at the state of the art Emirates Stadium, a place which makes her comfortable watching football.
There was a period in the late 80s and early 90s when the 56-year-old Property Search Agent from Islington did not go to games because of safety concerns but since the move to all-seater stadiums in 1994 she has become a regular once again and feels comfortable in the crowd.
She said: “Since all-seater stadiums, it’s become safer and that’s attracted more women to the games. It’s also become more enjoyable and you can watch the match in comfort.
“I feel much more comfortable at the ground and also it is a better place to take children.”
Women now make up around 20 per cent of all fans who attend Premier League football matches. This is double the number that attended in the early 90s.
It is now normal for a mother and daughter to attend a match just as it was for a father to take his son to the football.
But while these figures may be due to the fact women feel safer in all-seater venues, the debate about whether safe standing areas in football has resurfaced.
This follows sports minister Hugh Robertson saying the government will look at the possibility and examine the evidence for safe standing at grounds being reintroduced.
The minister told a meeting of Football Supporters’ Federation (FSF), football authorities, police and the Football Licensing Authority, which took place on Monday, he would inspect whether modern stadiums would be safe, policing issues, whether fans actually want to stand and whether safe standing areas could be incorporated into new stadiums.
Currently clubs in the Premier League and the Championship do not have the option of creating standing areas in grounds after standing terraces were outlawed following the Hillsborough disaster in 1989, where 96 fans died.
After the tragedy Lord Justice Taylor recommended terracing should be outlawed and since 1994 they have been followed. Over the years though, there has been a clamour for standing areas to return to top flight football.
This has been led by the FSF, who have also launched an online petition calling for safe standing areas to be reintroduced into English football’s top two leagues.
Safety first | Can modern stadiums incorporate safe standing areas for football fans?
Michael Brunskill, an FSF spokesperson, explained: “The Football Supporters’ Federation (FSF) believes that football supporters should have the choice to watch football from a safe standing area, if they so wish, at matches in England and Wales.
“Every week thousands upon thousands of fans stand in front of their seats for the duration of the game while following the team they love – attempts by the authorities to end this practise have failed.
“Surveys regularly show the vast majority of supporters back the choice to stand or sit.
“The FSF’s National Supporters’ Survey showed that 90% of fans back the choice to stand or sit. The FSF’s Safe Standing Campaign is not just about those who prefer to stand. By giving supporters the choice, everyone benefits. Those who wish to stand can do so, while those who prefer to sit no longer have to worry about having their view blocked.”
There are still some football league grounds in England with safe standing areas. Clubs in the lower leagues allow fans to stand as long as the designated areas meet all the required safety requirements.
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“Every week thousands of fans stand in front of seats for the duration of the game watching the team they love” |
Professor Steve Frosdick, from the Centre for Applied Criminology at Birmingham City University, has built up a reputation as an expert in safety and security at sports grounds. He has worked on stadiums in England and also Germany, using the latter as case studies of safe standing areas.
He insists safe standing areas are not unheard of in English football, despite Lord Justice Taylor recommending terracing be outlawed 21 years ago.
He said: “Safe standing already exists at the 23 grounds in the Football League which still have standing areas.
“These have to comply with the standards set out in the Guide to Safety at Sports Grounds.”
One of the major problems would be how clubs would convert their current seating decks into terraces if they were ever give the opportunity to add safe standing areas to the grounds.
It is something Frosdick believes would be difficult to achieve.
He said: “There are technical reasons why it would not be possible to convert most existing seating decks to terraces.
“But there are no safety reasons why a club in the Premier League or Championship – for example Scunthorpe United – should be prevented from keeping an existing safe standing area.
“Nor are there any safety reasons why such a club should be prevented from choosing to include a safe standing area in a new ground or stand.”
But despite the views claiming standing areas are safe and a viable option for top flight clubs, the Premier League are not keen on a return to standing areas at football grounds because they fear they will alienate fans such as Susan Lamb.
Premier League chief spokesman Dan Johnson said: “Our view is that the benefits of all-seater stadia far outweigh the return of standing areas.
“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.”
He added: “We will not be encouraging the Government to change the law.”
This debate is nowhere near being over. The government may look at the evidence for safe standing areas but it will be a bold move bringing them back, as Hugh Robertson admitted to the meeting on Monday.
The Sports minister was quick to point out that if any decision to bring safe standing areas back was to be undermined by an accident, the backlash on the government would be severe.
He said: “The minister’s head would be on a spike on Tower Bridge before he could draft a resignation letter.”
But with the FSF’s petition already gaining 3,000 signatures, this issue does not seem to want to go away and with fans backing the return to safe standing areas it will be hard to ignore.
There will be so many issues to overcome though and modern stadiums will not be easily converted, but any stadiums being built could easily include a safe standing area, which have worked well in lower league clubs.
If the government did decide the evidence pointed in favour to returning standing areas in top flight football, it would allow clubs to make their own decisions. Many clubs may choose to incorporate safe standing zones, others may not want to alienate women supporters, but the important thing to remember is no-one wants to return to the problems of the past.
New safe standing zones would have to adhere to the safety guidelines and seats would remain so fans could choose whether they want to stand or sit. It may be the answer and it may bring back the dying atmosphere in Premier League grounds, but nothing will happen in the near future as the debate appears to rumble on and on.
| “Not only are Scunthorpe being punished for their success in gaining promotion, this mandatory redevelopment of the ground will seriously disadvantage fans” |
| Scunthorpe United are one of the 23 clubs who have safe standing areas in this country. They are currently in the Championship and this season represents their third in the league.
If they are in the Championship next season they will have to convert their ground into an all-seater stadium as the Government dictates that after three years in the league the club must make the change. This would mean the club would have to reduce their attendances and a number of fans would miss out watching their club. The club’s plight is fully supported by the FSF. Brunskill said: “Glanford Park is already the Championship’s smallest ground, with a total capacity of only 9,088. The redevelopment being enforced on the club would reduce this still further, losing more than 1,000 off the total capacity. “We’re pointing out that not only are Scunthorpe being punished for their success in gaining promotion to and remaining in the Championship for three years, this mandatory redevelopment of the ground will seriously disadvantage fans.” Fosdick also argues that changing the ground after it has already proved to be safe for three years makes no sense. He added: “If they do manage to stay up it makes no sense for them to have to change to an all-seater stadium when their current situation has worked out in the league already. “The ground was built in 1990 after the Hillsborough disaster and complies will all the specifications of safe standing areas.” |
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Continued here:
Can safe standing areas be introduced back into English football’s top flight?