Overwhelming vote for safe standing as Shrewsbury create history
Over the last four days we’ve run a voting poll simply asking whether you would welcome safe standing being introduced at Premier League grounds. Over the four days more than 800 of you voted.
It was an overwhelming vote in favour of the introduction of safe standing areas which also brought another debate on the message board regarding the positives and negatives should they be introduced.
The vote came about following a decision by the Premier League to seek opinion from their member clubs and our vote showed that nine out of ten of you support safe standing. Although I’m certain our club are already aware of these views, this result, as was the result of the survey we carried out a few years ago, will be forwarded to Burnley Football Club.
Our result is published on the morning when one League One club, namely Shrewsbury Town, have created history by becoming the first club with an all seater stadium to formally seek approval for the installation of rail seating.
The rules have been that clubs in the top two divisions must be all seater, although clubs with standing accommodation are given three years grace on winning promotion to the Championship. Clubs below the Championship are permitted to continue with terracing but any all seater stadia had to remain as such.
Earlier this year, the Sports Ground Safety Authority created a formal process to enable clubs with all seater stadia in the lower divisions to seek approval for the installation of rail seating and Shrewsbury Town have confirmed this morning that they have become the first to formally apply to do so having discussed it with their supporters parliament group.
Chief exec Brian Caldwell said: “As a Scot, I am very familiar with the great success that Celtic have had with their rail seating section. So when the supporters parliament approached me about introducing the same concept here, I was immediately keen on the idea.
“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.”
“It might only be a small step forward,” I wrote when reporting the news that the Premier League had sought opinion from its clubs, but each step forward takes us closer to providing what 90% of our supporters voted in favour of.
I think we’ll all keep a close eye on Shrewsbury and their plans to introduce rail seating, which has never been used in English football. Their plan is to install it at one end of the ground, in the Salop Leisure Stand, with a capacity of around 500 within their 10,000 all seater ground.
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