ramsbottom Posted June 27, 2017 Share Posted June 27, 2017 Shrewsbury Town have applied to install rail seats in their ground - https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/jun/27/shrewsbury-town-applies-safe-standing-rail-seats Shrewsbury Town have applied to become the first English club to introduce safe standing at their ground. The League One side want to have rail seats in use at the 10,000 capacity Greenhous Meadow stadium before the end of the 2017-18 season and have formally approached the Sports Ground Safety Authority to get permission to fit them. Crowdfunding will be used to raise the money – estimated at around £50,000 to £75,0000 – for the installation of around 500 rail seats in the Salop Leisure Stand similar to those used at Celtic last season. “There’s a clear demand from our fans for an area where they can stand safely,” said Roger Groves, the joint chairman of Shrewsbury Town fans’ group Supporters’ Parliament. “We see that at every game with several hundred choosing to stand at their seats, which is not altogether safe. Rail seats will ensure that nobody falls over no matter how wildly they celebrate a goal and, by having a dedicated standing area, we believe that the overall atmosphere in the stadium will also be enhanced. For all those fans who prefer to sit, it will additionally mean that there will be no standing fans in their part of the ground spoiling their view.” Since the 1990 Taylor Report into the Hillsborough disaster, clubs that have played for three seasons in the top two tiers of the English football pyramid are required by law to provide all-seater accommodation in time for any subsequent season at that level but clubs that have not played for three seasons at tier two or above since the legislation came into force, such as Shrewsbury, are still able to offer their fans a choice of seating or standing. “As a Scot, I am very familiar with the great success that Celtic have had with their rail seating section,” said Shrewsbury Town’s chief executive, Brian Caldwell. “So when the Supporters’ Parliament approached me about introducing the same concept here, I was immediately keen on the idea. Our Safety Officer has also visited Celtic Park recently and is all for it. We see it as an enhancement in spectator safety and a welcome provision of supporter choice. We hope, too, that by pioneering the use of rail seating in the EFL, we will be playing a useful part in paving the way for other clubs in England and Wales to follow suit in due course.” Shrewsbury’s safety officer visited Celtic Park to see how the safe standing section worked there. West Bromwich Albion recently expressed an interest in re-introducing a standing sections at The Hawthorns on a trial basis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RadioactiveWaste Posted June 27, 2017 Share Posted June 27, 2017 I hope this proves successful. It'll be better than everyone standing in front of a seat and not like the terraces of old (which I dont remember anyway) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RamBamFan Posted June 27, 2017 Share Posted June 27, 2017 I read an interesting article in the Guardian not too long ago, making the point that standing in seated areas (like most away fans do) is much more dangerous than safe standing would be. Even families of 'the 96' were supporting the idea which obviously speaks volumes. Sooner the better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Day Posted June 27, 2017 Share Posted June 27, 2017 Liverpool as a club are against the idea aren't they? Read something yesterday that suggested their fanbase was as well. You don't need to read articles to know how unsafe in terms of injuries it is now, decent goal can see you come away with bruised shins and knees as everyone falls forwards. Some fans can barely stand straight as it is with the amount they've drank, no surprise to see them topple first. Like dominos it can be. These rails will give you some protection at least Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angieram Posted June 27, 2017 Share Posted June 27, 2017 Really want safe standing, especially in away fan areas. I'm a bit fed up of random blokes landing on me when we score. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiddingsRam Posted June 27, 2017 Share Posted June 27, 2017 In realistic terms where would we implement it at pp if it became "a thing". Obviously south stand but could it spread further around? North maybe ? Parts of East? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alph Posted June 27, 2017 Share Posted June 27, 2017 I've been unsafe standing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilkleyram Posted June 28, 2017 Share Posted June 28, 2017 If you can take a step forward when safe standing would that make it unsafe standing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mountain Ram Posted July 30, 2017 Share Posted July 30, 2017 Good article in the paper today about safe standing - really hope this gets the green light in the next season or two: This week Tottenham Hotspur’s public relations department posted a picture on social media of rail seats being installed in the club’s new stadium. The caption revealed that it was an experiment; “future-proofing” was the phrase used. Nevertheless the very fact the new White Hart Lane is being tested in this way to ensure that it might meet potential demand marked a significant moment in the campaign to introduce safe standing into English football. When Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium was opened in 2006, there was no suggestion that it might have such provision. Back then, standing at football was associated with the bad old days of crumbling, urine-flooded terraces, of discomfort and danger. The new, all-seater stadiums gave an architectural statement of changed values: in the modern world there was no place for standing at the game. But over the last year, those who had long backed the idea of giving fans the option of remaining vertical while watching a match, have seen attitudes change dramatically. The Football League consulted its members to discover they overwhelmingly support such an idea; the Welsh Government has made the introduction of safe standing official policy; individual Premier League club executives like Manchester United’s Ed Woodward have come out in support the proposition: the momentum is gathering at a pace many now believe to be unstoppable. “It used to be a closed door,” said David Rose from the Football Supporters Federation. “Now I think the consensus has changed and there is a real sense that if football wants safe standing, it will happen.” Rose traces the shift in attitudes to the beginning of last season when a safe standing section was introduced at Celtic Park. Glasgow City Council had long worried that the act of mass standing in seated areas of the Celtic stadium was fundamentally unsafe, with the danger of tripping over the seats genuine and ever-present. So persistent was the habit at their home matches that the club, threatened by the council with the withdrawl of appropriate licensing consent, installed at the beginning of last season a section of rail seating like that in wide use in the Bundesliga. This involves metal rails into which flip-down seats can be locked in place, effectively providing crash barriers on every step. It proved an immediate success. Those who enjoyed standing flocked to the area, leaving those who preferred to watch from a seated position with their view unencumbered. What’s more, gathering together in one place, the 2,600 noisy standers significantly improved the atmosphere. Plus there was tangible social benefit: given that the club charged no more than £26 for a ticket, many who had been previously unable to afford the cost of a conventional seat were able to return to the ground. So successful was the experiment, it was made permanent, beginning this coming season. Many representatives from English clubs and supporters organisations have journeyed to Glasgow to inspect the new facility. David Gold, the chairman of West Ham, saw its merit in resolving the kind of conflict that erupted at the London Stadium soon after his club moved there, when fans who had grown used to standing at the Boleyn Ground found themselves allocated season tickets at their new home alongside those who preferred to remain seated. West Bromwich Albion too announced it was keen to introduce a standing section at the Hawthorns. Shrewsbury, Southend and Plymouth all announced they were seeking to offer similar provision to Celtic. However, there was a major block to any adoption of the concept south of the border. At Liverpool the club and the fans had long been reticent about engaging in the debate about safe standing. And no wonder: 96 of their number had died in the horror of a terrace crush at Hillsborough. “Whenever we were asked our view on the issue, we always said our first priority was seeking truth and justice for those who had lost loved ones in the disaster,” said Jay McKenna of the Spirit of Shankly, the largest Liverpool supporters group. “We just felt it would have been a distraction.” Although, in the attempt to improve the atmosphere at Anfield, a group called Reclaim the Kop had persuaded the club as long ago as 2008 unofficially to tolerate a standing section in Block 306 in the all-seated Kop, few felt it appropriate to support any wider campaign. The sensitivities involved were just too raw. But things changed in April 2016 after the belated Hillsborough inquest reached its conclusion. “We had had the verdict and we had the criminal proceedings, so we felt we had reached a place where we could include the families and survivors in the debate,” adds McKenna. “What we didn’t want to happen was for the conversation to carry on around us with us not included.” To that end, 'SoS' organised a meeting last weekend with Hillsborough families to test their feeling about the idea of conducting a vote on the issue among Liverpool supporters. While some individuals expressed considerable reservations about the idea of safe standing, the two bodies representing the families gave their consent. So this week, 'SoS' conducted an online poll which asked whether Liverpool fans for their view of the idea in theory; there was no mention of introducing safe standing areas to Anfield. Tomorrow the results will be made public. And the expectation is, of the several thousand votes cast, the overwhelming majority will be in favour. Many of those involved in the campaign believe Liverpool’s backing (the club’s position is it will support whatever line the fans take) will be the deciding factor in bringing about the introduction of safe standing to the English game. Largely because, they insist, there would be no need to change the law. Legislation brought in after the Taylor Report only requires football clubs to provide seats for every spectator; it does not oblige spectators to sit in them. The point about the rail seat system is it fits the current legislation because every fan would be provided with a seat (albeit that it is pinned back). The point is, such a system enables fans to stand much more safely that they already do in conventional seated areas. Which means any change would be a matter of consensus rather than law. And with the Premier League currently consulting its member clubs on the issue, if Liverpool’s support is forthcoming, that consensus could be imminent. As the Tottenham test implied, safe standing may well soon be with us. Or, as one Hillsborough survivor speaking at last weekend’s meeting put it, “everyone stands anyway, it should really be called safer standing.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1of4 Posted October 17, 2017 Share Posted October 17, 2017 Shrewsbury have reached their crowd funding target and hope to implement safe standing by the end of the season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViewsFromTheMiddle Posted April 9, 2018 Share Posted April 9, 2018 West Brom have had a proposal to introduce safe standing at The Hawthorns rejected by the government. The pilot scheme would have meant 3,600 seats in the Smethwick End were converted to 'rail seats', which can be locked in an upright position. West Brom - who are bottom of the Premier League - hoped to install them in time for next season. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/43701400 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sage Posted April 9, 2018 Share Posted April 9, 2018 22 minutes ago, ViewsFromTheMiddle said: West Brom have had a proposal to introduce safe standing at The Hawthorns rejected by the government. The pilot scheme would have meant 3,600 seats in the Smethwick End were converted to 'rail seats', which can be locked in an upright position. West Brom - who are bottom of the Premier League - hoped to install them in time for next season. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/43701400 Ridiculous decision. Lazy thinking if any thinking at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexxxxx Posted April 10, 2018 Share Posted April 10, 2018 15 hours ago, sage said: Ridiculous decision. Lazy thinking if any thinking at all. No thinking at all, and quite lazy. All i think english football can do is wait for Celtic's to be a success (hopefully) and then draw upon their experience... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TigerTedd Posted April 10, 2018 Share Posted April 10, 2018 So why approve Shrewsbury and not WBA. Makes no sense to me, unless they’re using different technology, or have a slightly different set up. I’m just an armchair fan mostly, so I don’t know about the atmosphere and all that. But it doesn’t take a genius to see that standing in an all seated stadium is far more dangerous than standing in an area that’s been designed for that purpose. People are always going to stand, might as well make it as safe as possible for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McRamFan Posted April 10, 2018 Share Posted April 10, 2018 1 hour ago, TigerTedd said: So why approve Shrewsbury and not WBA. Makes no sense to me, unless they’re using different technology, or have a slightly different set up. A flawed report, produced after Hillsborough, made the recommendation that all clubs in the top two divisions of English football league should be all seater. This recommendation has stood, even though it has been proven that the police slaughtered the Liverpool fans, and standing had **** all to do with it. As no tory has any interest or connection to reality or stadium seating companies, nothing will change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rynny Posted April 10, 2018 Share Posted April 10, 2018 21 minutes ago, McRamFan said: A flawed report, produced after Hillsborough, made the recommendation that all clubs in the top two divisions of English football league should be all seater. This recommendation has stood, even though it has been proven that the police slaughtered the Liverpool fans, and standing had **** all to do with it. As no tory has any interest or connection to reality or stadium seating companies, nothing will change. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/43704338 Quote "It makes no sense at all, particularly when we know that thousands of supporters are persistently standing in every single ground across the UK," said Andrew RT Davies, leader of the Welsh Conservatives and an advocate of safe standing at grounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McRamFan Posted April 10, 2018 Share Posted April 10, 2018 4 minutes ago, rynny said: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/43704338 You found the needle. There are always exceptions. Leader of Welsh tories, must have a lot of sway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rynny Posted April 10, 2018 Share Posted April 10, 2018 5 minutes ago, McRamFan said: You found the needle. There are always exceptions. Leader of Welsh tories, must have a lot of sway. You're the one that said no Tory, just found it funny as I had just read the article and then saw your post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McRamFan Posted April 10, 2018 Share Posted April 10, 2018 21 minutes ago, rynny said: You're the one that said no Tory, just found it funny as I had just read the article and then saw your post I do like a sweeping generalisation now and again, yes it was funny to see that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rsmini Posted April 10, 2018 Share Posted April 10, 2018 Shrewsbury could very well be in the Championship next season. Would this effect the plan to have safe standing within the ground? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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