Safe Standing - Fan led consultation - online link - post #43

[OCD]

I was stood on the stairs last night, as were quite a few others. I am not sure if some people had jibbed in, as my seats were occupied and the people who were stood in my seats said their seats had been taken as well.

If we had scored, we would have gone piling down the stairs I would imagine.

There was no reason for anyone to be stood up in the away section last night and yet we all were.

I'd like to see the sitting down rule strictly enforced.

It's another reason for Safe Standing for me. If there's always going to be people persisting in standing - even when it's all seated - then having a specified area for safe standing sounds sensible to me.

[OCD]

Link to article

Blimey, this is shocking: "The dead and injured were taken from the stand, with those who had perished lain along the touchline and covered in coats. A little under half an hour after leaving the pitch, the game was restarted, with a new sawdust lined touchline separating the players from the bodies. At the end of the first-half, the players immediately changed ends and started the second half. Stanley Matthews was on the Stoke team, and later said he was sickened that the game was allowed to continue."

Has the attitude to death changed over time or something? That's quite amazing given current attitudes.

[Simon Ward]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/26158044

Further support from Lee Preece!

[dave.woodhall]

Link to article

Blimey, this is shocking: "The dead and injured were taken from the stand, with those who had perished lain along the touchline and covered in coats. A little under half an hour after leaving the pitch, the game was restarted, with a new sawdust lined touchline separating the players from the bodies. At the end of the first-half, the players immediately changed ends and started the second half. Stanley Matthews was on the Stoke team, and later said he was sickened that the game was allowed to continue."

Has the attitude to death changed over time or something? That's quite amazing given current attitudes.

The war had just ended. Stiff upper lip, play the game chaps.

[Ads]

I was stood on the stairs last night, as were quite a few others. I am not sure if some people had jibbed in, as my seats were occupied and the people who were stood in my seats said their seats had been taken as well.

If we had scored, we would have gone piling down the stairs I would imagine.

There was no reason for anyone to be stood up in the away section last night and yet we all were.

I'd like to see the sitting down rule strictly enforced.

It's another reason for Safe Standing for me. If there's always going to be people persisting in standing - even when it's all seated - then having a specified area for safe standing sounds sensible to me.

It would seem the fairest approach.

I cannot think of a single away game this season where we have sat down.

[itbrvilla]

I was stood on the stairs last night, as were quite a few others. I am not sure if some people had jibbed in, as my seats were occupied and the people who were stood in my seats said their seats had been taken as well.

If we had scored, we would have gone piling down the stairs I would imagine.

There was no reason for anyone to be stood up in the away section last night and yet we all were.

I'd like to see the sitting down rule strictly enforced.

It's another reason for Safe Standing for me. If there's always going to be people persisting in standing - even when it's all seated - then having a specified area for safe standing sounds sensible to me.

Don't be so f@#king sensible!!!!!

[b23]

Well done Amfy, Frankmoss, Faulkner, Bristol City and anybody else involved in this.

I would like the option of standing at a game.

Villa and their fans, and others, helping to drive the game forward in the right way. You should be proud of your efforts ! I am proud of you.

Well done, good work.

[pauliewalnuts]

I would have thought that safe standing (along the rail seats basis) is far safer than people standing in seated areas as we get now. it strikes me that what we have now is the worst of all worlds. You have people - mainly away fans, but not exclusively - who want to stand, and keep doing so, but amongst them, children or people who want to sit - as is their right, they've bought a seated ticket - but can't, because they can't see anything.

I entirely understand the emotions behind the stance of the Hillsborough people, and the point about if there had been seating only in 1989, it wouldn't have happened. That's true, but they are comparing apples with oranges.

Nobody is suggesting a return to the form of standing we had back then. And rightly so.

[Legion]

I am behind safe standing areas 100%. It will mean I can sit down without my view being obscured by some inconsiderate individual in front of me insisting on standing throughout the game in an area where they are legally obliged to be seated.

[Dave Clark Five]

Say what you like about West Ham fans but a bloke took his two small kids to the front in the second half of our recent game. The blokes who were there moved over and let them see the game.
That's better than knobheads standing in front of our disabled fans, in wheelchairs, at many of our games.
The Bullens Road Lower is ideal to convert back. It is still the old terrace with seats on top. The rake of the seats makes it difficult, especially at our corner, from seeing the game.
The whole issue has rarely been dealt with properly by clubs. Some stands, especially in upper tiers, have a good seated view. Others don't.
I agree with this initiative, providing they enforce sitting down in the remaining seats.

[peter w]

Well I'll go out on a limb here and disagree with the 'and rightly so' sentiments regarding standing along the previous style.Why shouldn't terraces return in some description? I'd love to have terraces as they were but realise that's unlikely to happen. People haven't died because of terraces the same way that the Hillsborough 96 didn't die because of alcohol or fans not having tickets.

[adrenachrome]

Grauniad

Aston Villa give their backing to Bristol City's rail seats plan

• Only rugby at Ashton Gate can use standing areas
• Villa open to giving standing idea a chance in Premier League


    Press Association
    theguardian.com, Wednesday 12 February 2014 20.32 GMT   



Aston Villa would be keen to trial the use of rail seats to help promote the introduction of safe standing in the Premier League.

Villa's football operations manager, Lee Preece, was at Bristol City's Ashton Gate where a block of rail seats, which can be flipped into an upright position to create rows of standing areas, were installed at an English football ground for the first time.

Legislation means that when more rails seats are installed as part of City's redevelopment, only Bristol rugby supporters will be able to use them. Having watched a demonstration of the seats in action, Preece said that Villa are keen to adopt the system.

"We at Aston Villa have said we are quite happy to use an area of Villa Park as a trial so the Premier League, the authorities and the government can see a safe standing area in practice," he said.

"A survey carried out earlier in the year surveyed over 1000 of our supporters and in the region of 96-97% wanted to see a return of standing areas.

"I'd like to think it could happen in the Premier League. The main thing from Villa's perspective is we have put our head above the parapet simply to further the debate - We think people should be looking at it.

"There are clearly lots of sensitive issues and debates at high level that needs to take place if we are to get to a point where legislation can change.

"But it is the sensible and practical solution to an issue that exists in football at the moment. There is still work to do but lets have those discussions and see if we can't make it happen."

Preece believes one of the key factors behind his club's openness to change is the problems they have with supporters who persistently stand.

"Like most Premier League clubs we suffer at the moment with persistent standing in seating areas in certain parts of the ground," he said. "It would be safe to say that the vast majority of away fans at Villa Park this season have stood up and don't want to sit down, I don't think any Premier League club to my knowledge has any success with various tactics that get people to sit down. We feel there are clearly thousands of people who want to stand up and so lets do it in something which is designed for standing."

The Football Supporters' Federation has long been an advocate of rail-seating and their chairman, Malcolm Clarke said the green light from the Football League's 72 clubs at their meeting last week is a big step forward.

"What we were often told for many years is that none of the football authorities were in favour of it," he said. "But that is clearly no longer the case as the Football League, after a very thorough consultation, have shown that a large majority are in favour.

"We hope that the Premier League now, at the appropriate time, will consider this. There are a number of Premier League clubs who are openly in favour and then we can take the debate forward. It has been really useful to see rail seats installed in a proper football stadium."

[OCD]

Say what you like about West Ham fans but a bloke took his two small kids to the front in the second half of our recent game. The blokes who were there moved over and let them see the game.
That's better than knobheads standing in front of our disabled fans, in wheelchairs, at many of our games.
The Bullens Road Lower is ideal to convert back. It is still the old terrace with seats on top. The rake of the seats makes it difficult, especially at our corner, from seeing the game.
The whole issue has rarely been dealt with properly by clubs. Some stands, especially in upper tiers, have a good seated view. Others don't.
I agree with this initiative, providing they enforce sitting down in the remaining seats.

That will be the next issue when it does get introduced. It will probably start with a small standing section which will be over-subscribed and result in the standing area grow until the right balance is found.

[frankmosswasmyuncle]

Link to article

Blimey, this is shocking: "The dead and injured were taken from the stand, with those who had perished lain along the touchline and covered in coats. A little under half an hour after leaving the pitch, the game was restarted, with a new sawdust lined touchline separating the players from the bodies. At the end of the first-half, the players immediately changed ends and started the second half. Stanley Matthews was on the Stoke team, and later said he was sickened that the game was allowed to continue."

Has the attitude to death changed over time or something? That's quite amazing given current attitudes.

It is amazing OCD.
Knew nothing about this and it reads with such a cold-hearted disrespect for the dead.
My earlier point is that if you keep referring to the emotional aspect of an incident then rational discussion cannot take place. Of course, we all feel sympathy for those who have suffered, but the point is to make it better not abandon something altogether. Safe standing is not a return to terracing as we knew it - that's the whole point - it's SAFE standing - not let's ignore what happend and carry on regardless, but let's consider caqrefully what happened and see how we can make it better.

[villajk]

I was stood on the stairs last night, as were quite a few others. I am not sure if some people had jibbed in, as my seats were occupied and the people who were stood in my seats said their seats had been taken as well.

If we had scored, we would have gone piling down the stairs I would imagine.

Because of that I went down to the front on 90 minutes so I could escape into the concourse on the final whistle.  Those stairwells were quite tight for a new ground.