Being forced to sit down in uncomfortable plastic seats at a football game is a bit like going to see The Clash and being asked to sit down and be quiet.
All stand together
Going to football is all about being part of the spectacle and sharing the experience with your friends, and being forced into seats miles away from each other can really spoil the fun.
There’s other reasons why fans should be allowed to stand too: if you find yourself sat next to a particularly annoying/smelly/puritanical supporter, there’s no reason why you should have to annoy each other for the next 90 minutes – with terracing you can just stroll over to a part of the stand that suits you best.
Keep some seating too
Of course, if people want to sit down and clap politely then seating should be provided for them, but as far as I’m concerned, there’s no longer any good reason to stop clubs providing safe standing areas for their fans – and that’s why the ‘Support Safe Standing’ campaign has got my signature.
The petition has been put on line by the Football Supporters’ Federation and asks fans to sign this statement:
I back the Football Supporters’ Federation’s safe standing campaign and believe that football supporters should have the choice to watch football from a safe standing area, if they so wish, at matches in England and Wales.
You can sign the petition here. Please do!
More info: The case for safe standing at major football stadia in England & Wales [PDF]
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Tricky one, but on balance I’m against. Not so much Hilsborough as memories of 70s/80s terrace violence
Football has cleaned up its act, and I think it would be a risk to go back.
Anyway, do you really want football matches to be like Clash concerts? 😀
To start, Hillsborough was no fault of the terraces or supporters. It was partly down to the police opening the wrong gates but in my opinion the overwhelming factor was the fact that the terraces were divided into pens and had perimeter fencing. if none of these were in place the fans would have spread outwards or spilled onto the pitch a lot quicker. My one question is that if there were pens and fencing at the Bradford city fire, the question is not how many would be dead but how many would still be alive as the majority of fans would not have got out in time. forget the safe standing BRING BACK THE TERRACES but do it right this time.