For many years as a youngster, I enjoyed watching Fulham from the Hammersmith End terraces. It was a throwback to the good old days.
Of course, when we were promoted to the Premier League, the terraces were living on borrowed time. The Taylor Report – to my mind a terrible over-reaction to the tragic events at Hillsborough twenty years ago – outlawed terraces at top-flight football.
But, for many years now, a campaign has been underway to reintroduce safe standing, along the lines of the German model, back to English football. The FSF have been vocal in their support, Everton have said they would consider it and a number of MPs have signed an Early Day Motion supporting it. This article has the story in fascinating detail.
I’ve been banging on about this ever since it was ‘abolished’ after the Taylor report. A knee-jerk reaction to a (another) police farce.
1) Its done perfectly safely at gigs and festivals where the number of people is many many times greater – with very few ‘safety’ measures.
2) Our continental cousins manage it without problem.
3) People continue to stand in seated areas where it is much more dangerous anyway – also without incident.
3) It DOES improve atmosphere and also capacity. Has it not occured to clubs that more people through the gates means more money? Just sell tickets like you do with seats and when they’re gone then its sold out – impossible to overcrowd.
4) The CHOICE should be there for people who want it. I can GUARANTEE that a section for standing would be sold out for every game all over the country whatever the stadium.
5) Stewarding and policing have improved in recent years so the likelyhood of trouble would be no greater than with seated areas.
I started watching football in the South Bank at Molineux and the day it was ripped down was a very sad one indeed. I’m all for renovation and improvement but stopping people from standing was a backward step and should be reversed ASAP.
Thanks for the comments Matt. It’s a worthy discussion to have and something I’ve often wondered about since the terraces disappeared at Fulham. Perhaps it’s not the day to be writing about this but I honestly don’t believe that the Hillsborough tragedy was caused solely by terraces.
Your point about festivals is a good one. I hadn’t really considered that before – because it’s a non-sport context, but it is true.
The second point about our European friends is perhaps the most important one. There is most certainly a demand for it – you only have to see how many people stand at lower league grounds (having spent four years watching Exeter whilst at university, I can attest to the enduring popularity of terracing). Also, the fact that it improves the atmosphere is undeniable.
Sadly, I’m not sure we’ll ever see standing back at the top level of English football. It would take a very brave government and some very strong people at the FA – the latter is most certainly unlikely, even if the organisation’s been making some belated strides in the right direction of late.