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Safe standing at Bristol City

KenilworthSpur

Well-Known Member
Apr 16, 2007
1,148
696
Safe standing will happen within the next five years in the Premier League. I would hope that we have given this some consideration in our updated plans. We have a chance of being the first club to go back to standing and we'd be the envy of every club. Imagine our kop stand having the capacity to be utilised as both. It would be immense
 

deckchair

Well-Known Member
Feb 22, 2006
118
292
i dont believe we should be the first club to go back to having standing areas. I do not believe we should see standing areas in any ground again. I was lucky enough to experience standing at White Hart Lane from a very young age and it was always an enjoyable experience, however....
I was 16 at the time of the Hillsborough and two lads from the year below me at school were unlucky enough to be at Hillsborough, but lucky enough to come home. Listening to their story of that day in a school assembly is something that has remained with me and even brings a tear to my eye now.

I understand that we now have generations of football fans that have not experienced standing but for all those that have, no matter what we miss from those times, surely spectator safety has to be paramount and I cannot be convinced that such a thing as 'safe standing' could be possible.

This one is not for me.
 

Kalim

Pakispur
Dec 10, 2006
1,285
996
i dont believe we should be the first club to go back to having standing areas. I do not believe we should see standing areas in any ground again. I was lucky enough to experience standing at White Hart Lane from a very young age and it was always an enjoyable experience, however....
I was 16 at the time of the Hillsborough and two lads from the year below me at school were unlucky enough to be at Hillsborough, but lucky enough to come home. Listening to their story of that day in a school assembly is something that has remained with me and even brings a tear to my eye now.

I understand that we now have generations of football fans that have not experienced standing but for all those that have, no matter what we miss from those times, surely spectator safety has to be paramount and I cannot be convinced that such a thing as 'safe standing' could be possible


I take the opposite view, even allowing for the fact that i once passed out due to the pressure and am only still alive because i could not fall down and came to a minute or too later.

The crush in those days was because of two main reasons, turn up at the turnstile ticketing meaning thousands came with no hope of getting in so you had crushes outside and no barriers on the terraces except at the bottom, so you had people surging forward especially when goals were scored.

Match ticketing and these new seating arrangements with barriers do away with these problems and will give a much much safer atmosphere.
 

Lufti

Well-Known Member
Jan 3, 2013
7,994
16,635
i dont believe we should be the first club to go back to having standing areas. I do not believe we should see standing areas in any ground again. I was lucky enough to experience standing at White Hart Lane from a very young age and it was always an enjoyable experience, however....
I was 16 at the time of the Hillsborough and two lads from the year below me at school were unlucky enough to be at Hillsborough, but lucky enough to come home. Listening to their story of that day in a school assembly is something that has remained with me and even brings a tear to my eye now.

I understand that we now have generations of football fans that have not experienced standing but for all those that have, no matter what we miss from those times, surely spectator safety has to be paramount and I cannot be convinced that such a thing as 'safe standing' could be possible.

This one is not for me.

Safe standing has existed in Germany for years and years, of course it's possible. Hillsborough was a tragedy, but one car crash doesn't means cars aren't safe to drive. Besides, architecture and safety in general has improved greatly and if they can build a safe standing section then I don't see any reason why they shouldn't.
 

beats1

Well-Known Member
Feb 22, 2010
30,006
29,551
i dont believe we should be the first club to go back to having standing areas. I do not believe we should see standing areas in any ground again. I was lucky enough to experience standing at White Hart Lane from a very young age and it was always an enjoyable experience, however....
I was 16 at the time of the Hillsborough and two lads from the year below me at school were unlucky enough to be at Hillsborough, but lucky enough to come home. Listening to their story of that day in a school assembly is something that has remained with me and even brings a tear to my eye now.

I understand that we now have generations of football fans that have not experienced standing but for all those that have, no matter what we miss from those times, surely spectator safety has to be paramount and I cannot be convinced that such a thing as 'safe standing' could be possible.

This one is not for me.
why take the risk? I cant see the point.
This is the problem with the country regarding safe standing, that people who were affected by hillsborough have too much say imo.

It was a terrible tragedy and I hope nobody has to go through that

HOWEVER that incident should have no bearing on safe standing.

The times are totally different and the culture is different.

  • You can no longer go to stadium and just turn up, you have to ensure that you have a ticket before hand
  • The amount of people going to games is now closely monitored so there is less chance of overcrowding
  • Safe standing actually gives the person a seat/area number meaning that there is plenty of space for everyone(so no more pushing to get a seat
  • The Police actually work with the clubs closely and have also taken out that hooligan culture at stadiums itself(I know that hooliganism wasn't the reason for hillsborough)
  • Standing at Grounds with seats is more unsafe than safe standing especially at a stadium like WHL where there isn't much leg room
  • There is now rows of rails on every row rather than every couple of rows meaning fans cant push forward
  • The cages wouldn't necessarily be brought back either

Now the Taylor report blamed overcrowding, stadium layout and policing for Hillsborough but safe standing today would have no issues with any of those points.

Also lets not forget that safe standing works perfectly fine in Germany, US and Canada

Finally Hooliganism didn't go away because of seats it went away because of a change in culture towards the problem and good policing
 

Ian Kane

Well-Known Member
May 22, 2012
572
818
There's no reason a safe standing area can't be implemented, the only inhibitor would be cost. A row of plastic seats must be peanuts compared to the rail design they use abroad. The bonus is we're building a new stadium so there would be no 'retrofit' costs should we install them from the off. Sadly, I don't think we will.
 

muppetman

Well-Known Member
Jul 29, 2011
8,901
24,815
I really hope that we have this in the new stadium. The average age in the ground is now north of 40 I believe. We need a cheap standing area to bring in the younger fans and get the atmosphere rocking.


I'm aware that my whole argument falls down with the word 'cheap' but I'm an optimist!
 

worcestersauce

"I'm no optimist I'm just a prisoner of hope
Jan 23, 2006
26,891
45,040
We could try standing this time without forcing people into cages as well, Standing with no fences now that's a safer idea for a start.
 

jambreck

Well-Known Member
Jul 20, 2013
3,200
5,879
There's no reason a safe standing area can't be implemented, the only inhibitor would be cost. A row of plastic seats must be peanuts compared to the rail design they use abroad. The bonus is we're building a new stadium so there would be no 'retrofit' costs should we install them from the off. Sadly, I don't think we will.

In terms of the overall cost of building or redeveloping a stadium, safe standing / rail seating would be but a drop in the ocean.
 

Spurger King

can't smile without glue
Jul 22, 2008
43,881
95,147
Regarding the thread title, Bristol City won't have safe-standing when they finish developing the stadium - at least not yet.

They couldn't get permission as they're still waiting for the law to be changed.
 

jambreck

Well-Known Member
Jul 20, 2013
3,200
5,879
Safe standing is every bit as safe as seating. Possibly even more so. The issues that were of concern back in the 80's - inappropriate policing, insufficient stewarding, at-the-turnstile ticketing, hooliganism, cage fences, wide expanses of terracing without crush barriers etc. - no longer exist.

It took 25 years for the official judgement on the causes of the Hillsborough disaster to be determined. And one of the outcomes was that standing terraces were NOT to blame. I remember watching the events of that day unfold on French television. And I feel huge sympathy for those who were there and went through it and, above all, for those who lost family and friends. These people bravely fought for answers and accountability for more than two decades. But now that they have their answers, they cannot have it both ways.

Standing at football was found NOT to be the cause of the tragedy. So there is now no justification for denying those who wish to stand at football the pleasure of doing so.
 

shelfmonkey

Weird is different, different is interesting.
Mar 21, 2007
6,690
8,040
This is the problem with the country regarding safe standing, that people who were affected by hillsborough have too much say imo.

It was a terrible tragedy and I hope nobody has to go through that

HOWEVER that incident should have no bearing on safe standing.

The times are totally different and the culture is different.

  • You can no longer go to stadium and just turn up, you have to ensure that you have a ticket before hand
  • The amount of people going to games is now closely monitored so there is less chance of overcrowding
  • Safe standing actually gives the person a seat/area number meaning that there is plenty of space for everyone(so no more pushing to get a seat
  • The Police actually work with the clubs closely and have also taken out that hooligan culture at stadiums itself(I know that hooliganism wasn't the reason for hillsborough)
  • Standing at Grounds with seats is more unsafe than safe standing especially at a stadium like WHL where there isn't much leg room
  • There is now rows of rails on every row rather than every couple of rows meaning fans cant push forward
  • The cages wouldn't necessarily be brought back either

Now the Taylor report blamed overcrowding, stadium layout and policing for Hillsborough but safe standing today would have no issues with any of those points.

Also lets not forget that safe standing works perfectly fine in Germany, US and Canada

Finally Hooliganism didn't go away because of seats it went away because of a change in culture towards the problem and good policing

The voice (or, more accurately, the finger tapping on a keyboard) of reason!!!!
 
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