Safe standing set to be introduced at English football grounds before end of this season
Football fans in England are set to be allowed to stand at games before the end of the current season, in a reversal of the 30-year rule requiring all-seater stadiums.
Many clubs in the Premier League – including Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United – have recently installed “safe standing” areas, with rail seating, ahead of an anticipated law change.
It has been reported that an official government announcement on plans to lift the ban on standing at Premier League and Championship games could come as soon as next month.
And, according to the BBC, some grounds will be able to use designated safe standing areas before the end of this season.
A new rail seating section has recently been installed at Manchester United’s Old Trafford stadium
In an interview with The Times on Saturday, Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden confirmed that legal standing would be seen at top games this season – at least in pilot form.
“It’s the sensible thing to do because fans are standing all the way through [games] anyway, and you can do it in a safer way,” he told the newspaper.
“We’ve got terrible experience in the past and more recent experience with things like the Euros, which just means we need to make sure we get this right.
“We’re engaging with the police and others, but we’ll get to the stage this season where we’ll see safe standing, at least in pilot form.”
Stadiums in England’s top two leagues have had to be all-seater since laws were introduced in 1989, in the wake of the Hillsborough disaster.
But, in recent years, pressure has grown among supporter groups for a rethink of the ban, while in Scotland, Celtic have allowed a safe standing area for a number of years.
This includes the use of rail seating, which is designed to allow fans to stand during games without the risk of falling on top of each other.
Persistent standing in all-seater stadiums has been a problem for many clubs in recent years, with many fans thinking the introduction of designated areas for standing would both be safer and boost the atmosphere at grounds.
Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said ‘safe standing’ would be seen this season
In their 2019 general election manifesto, the Conservatives promised to “work with fans and clubs towards introducing safe standing” – a vow that was also made by Labour.
The Sports Grounds Safety Authority (SGSA) – a regulatory body funded by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport – recently commissioned independent research into the safe management of standing at football.
In a final report published in June, the SGSA found that “installing barriers has had a positive impact on spectator safety in these areas, particularly in mitigating the risk of progressive crowd collapse”.
They also concluded “there has been no reported negative impact on the behaviour of spectators in either tolerated standing areas or areas where barriers have been installed”.
However, they warned that allowing standing in some parts of stadiums could see fans attempt to move from other non-standing areas of grounds.
And the report also warned of the risks of fans climbing on barriers in standing areas.
Mike Novogratz said “of course” Bitcoin could reach $200,000 if the Federal Reserve adopts a highly dovish stance following a leadership change.
Sir Keir Starmer has said the next election will be an “open fight” between Labour and Reform UK.
The prime minister, speaking at a conference alongside the leaders of Canada, Australia and Iceland, said the UK is “at a crossroads”.
“There’s a battle for the soul of this country, now, as to what sort of country do we want to be?” he said.
“Because that toxic divide, that decline with Reform, it’s built on a sense of grievance.”
It is the first time Sir Keir has explicitly said the next election would be a straight fight between his party and Reform – and comes the day before the Labour conference begins.
Just hours before, after Sky News revealed Nigel Farage is on course to replace him, as a seat-by-seat YouGov poll found an election held tomorrow would result in a hung parliament, with Reform winning 311 seats – just 15 short of the 326 needed to win overall.
Once the Speaker, whose seat is unopposed, and Sinn Fein MPs, who do not sit in parliament, are accounted for, no other party would be able to secure more MPs, so Reform would lead the government.
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YouGov: Farage set to be next PM
Sir Keir said there is a “right-wing proposition” the UK has not had before, as it has been decades of either a Labour or Tory government, “pitched usually pretty much on the centrepiece of politics, the centre ground of politics”.
The PM said Reform and its leader, Mr Farage, provide a “very different proposition” of “patriotic national renewal” under Labour and a “toxic divide”.
He described his Labour government of being “capable of expressing who and what we are as a country accurately and in a way where people feel they’re valued and they belong, and that we can actually move forward together”.
Sir Keir referenced a march down Whitehall two weeks ago, organised by Tommy Robinson, as having “sent shivers through the spines of many communities well away from London”.
Elon Musk appeared via videolink at the rally and said “violence is coming to you”, prompting accusations of inciting violence.
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The PM said Reform presents a ‘toxic divide
The prime minister said the choice for voters at the next election, set to be in 2029, “is not going to be the traditional Labour versus Conservative”.
“It’s why I’ve said the Conservative Party is dead,” he added.
“Centre-right parties in many European countries have withered on the vine and the same is happening in this country.”
Reacting to Sir Keir’s comments, a Reform UK spokesman said: “For decades, the British people have been betrayed by both Labour and the Conservatives.
“People have voted election after election for lower taxes and controlled immigration, instead, both parties have done the opposite.
“The public are now waking up to the fact Starmer is just continuing the Tory legacy of high taxes and mass immigration.”
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