Are the Austrians mad? The case for safe standing

When I'm not cheering City on, I'm often off on my travels to watch football on mainland Europe. During the last international break, I spent a few days in Austria and watched games in Vienna and the southern city of Klagenfurt. The stadium in the latter is brand new. It was finished only last month and was constructed to full UEFA specifications, as it will be one of the venues for Euro 2008. Yet is it a post-Taylor identikit, all-seater bowl? Is it heck! The whole of the lower tier behind the goal at the 'home' end is designed for standing.

So are the Austrian authorities cavalier and playing fast and loose with the safety of fans in their stadia? Is the Austrian FA - and by extension UEFA, who agreed the stadium design - totally unaware that standing areas are a death trap and certain to lead to unruly behaviour? Or could it be that officials in what is after all one of Europe's most orderly countries actually regard standing as a fundamental part of football and see no negative safety or public order issues associated with it all?!

Seats here in the 'down' position. Bolted 'up' for league matches.

Nor is Austria an exception! As you are probably well aware, safe standing areas are part and parcel of the football scene in Germany as well. Yes, Germany - and we all know how much Fritz likes his rules and regulations! Not exactly the sort of people you'd expect to allow disorderly behaviour in their football stadia, are they! Yet at every Bundesliga ground there are standing areas for fans of both sides.

So why don't we have them here? What's so different?

Well, they never had a Hillsborough in Germany or Austria. There was no German or Austrian team involved at Heysel. And Lord Justice Taylor was English.

However, those are not the key reasons. The most fundamental reason is that the English authorities fail to understand what is meant by the concept of 'safe standing'. They have images of swaying masses on The Kop or Stretford End stuck in their heads. They have boyhood memories of being swept ten or more rows up and down a terrace during moments of excitement lodged at the back of their minds, and although they may have enjoyed it then, regard it now as highly dangerous. They have nightmares about crumbling terracing, insufficient barriers and stadium policing of over a quarter a century ago.

Back in Klagenfurt by contrast, in that brand new Euro 2008 stadium complete with standing area, what has been built is light-years away from that image. The standing area is in fact, to all intense and purposes, a seated area with a waist high rail in front of every row. The seats, however, are of a flat metal design that can be easily folded back almost completely out of the way (even bolted into the up position by the club prior to domestic games). The steps on which they are mounted are deep, solid, new concrete structures and the barriers run the full length of every row. One ticket is sold per seat space. Thus, when used as a standing area, this section provides every fan with the same space that they would get if they were sitting, plus their very own personal handrail. As every row is separated by such a rail, the swaying masses of yesteryear are simply that - a thing of the past. There is no possibility of anyone falling forwards or backwards - unlike when standing behind low-backed plastic seats, as so often happens at English grounds today up and down the country. The fans can stand in perfect safety and 'sing their hearts out for the lads' - after all it is a prerequisite of singing well that you have to stand … or why is it that church choirs and opera singers take to their feet!?

Football fans deserve to be given back the choice to stand or sit. It was amusing at the recent friendly international between England and Germany at Wembley to watch the German fans. They had an area that is partially behind the goal and partially sideways on to the pitch. The fans behind the goal stood for the entire match, while those sideways on sat. It was a case of the natural order of things taking its course. Clearly those fans that preferred to stand had bought tickets behind the goal, regarding this as the 'standing area', while those that wanted to sit had bought tickets in what was duly accepted as the 'sitting area', i.e. sideways on. It worked perfectly, and - as is already the norm at the new Wembley - the stewards made no effort to change this natural order - they let the standing fans stand. It is clear from this and countless other examples every week - just watch Match of the Day any Saturday and look at the fans behind the goal at almost every match - that a large number of football fans prefer to stand. Would it not be sensible, therefore to provide these fans with accommodation specifically designed to enable them to do so in exceptional safety?!

How about this behind the goal in the new East End?

Ah, you might say, but that would need a change in the law. No, I say, that's where you're wrong. The law says that all stadia in our top two divisions have to be all-seater. It does NOT say that everyone has to sit down. That directive comes from the Football Licensing Authority, a government quango. The FLA takes it cue from the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and draws up it guidelines in consultation with, amongst others, the relevant leagues and local authorities. Ultimately, however, its directives are only that - they are not primary legislation and if the instruction given to the FLA by the Secretary of State were to change, the directives given to football clubs could be amended overnight. A change in primary legislation is NOT required to permit standing in the top two divisions of English football.

So what needs to be done to enable fans to stand safely at football and sing their hearts out for the boys? Well, politicians need to realise that we are NOT calling for a return terracing. No politician will ever agree to take a backward step on any policy. This campaign must therefore never be presented as a 'return' to anything. The word 'terracing' is also far too emotive and conjures up all the wrong images of swaying crowds and crumbling old grounds, so should be avoided like the plague! What needs to be stressed is that fans continue to stand come what may and are doing so in areas simply not designed for the purpose, i.e. behind low-backed seats, often in stands with a steep pitch and certainly without any handrails / barriers. This is clearly unsafe. The constant arguments between standing fans and stewards is also no fun for either the fans or the stewards and shows no signs of abating. What is needed is a progressive, forward-thinking solution that enables the fans to exercise their democratic right to stand in much safer conditions and simultaneously removes a major area of friction between fans and stadium stewards. In other words, NOT a 'return to terracing' but the introduction of 'safe standing areas'. As these areas would be fitted with metal flip-back seats they would comply fully with the legislation for all-seater stadia. All it would then need is for the Secretary of State to instruct that fans be allowed to stand in these sections of the ground and everyone would be happy!

Fans are standing en bloc at grounds all around the country as it is - it is incumbent on our politicians to ensure that they are allowed to do so in safety!

Quite as a by-product, this would also bring a better atmosphere to the grounds, for as I mentioned above, even church choirs stand in order to exercise their lungs to the full!

The Germans and the Austrians have got it right. Even our government conceded earlier this year that 'standing is not intrinsically unsafe'. There is no logical justification for prohibiting the introduction into English football of safe standing areas such as those in the new Euro 2008 stadium in Klagenfurt. The ongoing ban on standing at football in this country simply doesn't stack up. Therefore keep pressing the point with administrators and politicians and eventually logic will win the day! Who knows - maybe even in time for incorporation of a safe standing area into the new East End!

Blagdon red