Safe standing

Safe standing is a term used to describe various design options in stadia to allow spectators to stand at events. It is primarily used in the context of association football in the United Kingdom, where a series of fatal incidents led to legislation requiring major clubs to develop all-seater stadiums during the 1990s. Since then, fan groups have campaigned against the ban on standing accommodation, arguing that new design options would allow designated standing areas to be built in compliance with all safety laws and guidelines. As these options are outlawed in England and Wales, safe standing in practice originated in continental Europe, primarily Germany. This occurred because although UEFA and FIFA required all-seater stadiums for international competition, it was not mandatory for domestic matches.

Traditionally most football grounds in the United Kingdom had terraces at each end and often on lower tiers along each side. Most supporters watched football standing up. In the late 1980s the average standing capacity in grounds was roughly twice the number of seats. Some football administrators saw the removal of terraces as a solution to a problem with hooliganism that had arisen in British society in the 1970s. Under the chairmanship of Jimmy Hill, Coventry City’s Highfield Road became England’s first all-seater football stadium in 1981. However, the experiment failed to prevent disorder or increase attendances and two years later seats were removed from part of the ground.

On 15 April 1989 a crush on the Leppings Lane terrace of Hillsborough during an FA Cup semi final resulted in the deaths of ninety-six Liverpool supporters. Overcrowding had resulted from a gate being opened on police instructions to relieve severe congestion outside the ground and failure to direct supporters away from the already full central pens. Fences at the front of the terrace prevented fans escaping the crush. The subsequent inquiry led by Lord Justice Taylor concluded that the immediate cause of the disaster was the failure to cut off access to the central pens when the gate was opened. His report stated that the pens were already overfull because no safe capacities had been set and there was no effective way of monitoring crowd density. Taylor showed that the turnstile access for Liverpool supporters was inadequate and that the congestion outside the ground was therefore predictable. He was highly critical of South Yorkshire Police’s planning and performance on the day and of the conduct of senior officers at the inquiry.

...
Wikipedia