Premier League And Championship Clubs Given The Go-Ahead To Trial Safe Standing
Following today’s historic announcement, Football supporters will be allowed to stand in approved Premier League and Championship stadiums from January 2022 – more than 25 years since this was last permitted.
Safe standing trials are to be held from 1st January 2022 after Sports Minister Nigel Huddleston today (Wednesday, 22nd September) gave the go-ahead to the Sports Ground Safety Authority (SGSA) to begin assessing select stadia for a license to participate in the trials. The application process is open to both the Premier League and Championship clubs, though they will have to move fast, with just two weeks to apply to for the licence that will allow them to offer standing areas to their supporters.
The SGSA has confirmed that there are a number of criteria that must be strictly met in order to receive Government and SGSA approval to have licensed standing areas, including:
- The necessary infrastructure being in place – such as seats with barriers/independent barriers
– which must be in both home and away sections. - Fans must be able to sit or stand in the licensed area – the seats cannot be locked in the ‘up’
or ‘down’ position. There must also be one seat/space per person. - The licensed standing areas must not impact the viewing standards or other fans,
including disabled fans. - There must be a Code of Conduct in place for fans in the licensed standing area.
- The ground must consult with its Safety Advisory Group about plans for the licensed standing areas.
Clubs need to submit an application to the Sports Grounds Safety Authority by the 6th October to become an early adopter. If their submission is successful, they will be able to offer licensed standing areas from 1st January 2022.
Sports Minister Nigel Huddleston said: "We have been clear that we will work with fans and clubs towards introducing safe standing at football grounds providing there was evidence that installing seating with barriers would have a positive impact on crowd safety.
"With independent research now complete, and capacity crowds back at grounds across the country, now is the right time to make progress. I look forward to hearing from clubs who wish to be part of our early adopters programme during the second half of this season."
Following 1989’s Hillsborough disaster, which led to the deaths of 97 Liverpool supporters, standing areas in what has now become the Premier League and Championship were outlawed.
The introduction of select standing areas is a vital step towards fulfilling the Government’s 2019 General Election manifesto commitment to introducing safe standing areas at football grounds. The notion is popular enough to have also received cross-party backing.
Before today’s approval, research conducted by CFE Research for the SGSA during the 2019/20 season, prior to the onset of the pandemic, showed seats with barriers/independent barriers helped reduce the safety risks related to persistent standing.
Martyn Henderson, Chief Executive of the SGSA, said: “The focus of the SGSA is the safety and enjoyment of all fans at sports grounds. We know many fans want the choice to stand and, with the advent of new engineering solutions, our research has shown how this can be managed safely. Today’s announcement will enable us to properly test and evaluate licensed standing areas before the Government decides its next steps.”
Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City have all installed safe standing rail seating to their stadia over the summer, with Wolverhampton Wanderers and Tottenham Hotspur previously having installed the option in the expectation of the legislation change.
