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Post by rugbytoffee on Apr 9, 2018 20:02:51 GMT
West Bromwich Albion’s request to introduce a safe-standing section at the Hawthorns has been rejected by the government.
The club, who are bottom of the Premier League and 10 points adrift of safety with five games to play, had hoped to install 3,600 rail seats in the ground’s Smethwick End and have described the decision as “disappointing” and “short-sighted”.
The application was made to the Sports Grounds Safety Authority, the government agency set up to regulate sports stadia after the 1989 Hillsborough disaster, and it referred the proposal to the department of digital, culture, media and sport.
The SGSA said the club’s request was rejected by the sports minister, Tracey Crouch. “West Bromwich Albion is subject to the government’s all-seater policy and DCMS have said they have no current plans to change their position and introduce standing accommodation at grounds in the top two divisions covered by the all-seater policy,” it said.
A DCMS spokesperson confirmed they had “no plans” to change their policy but said they “will continue to monitor the issue of spectator accommodation and the use of safe standing where it is permitted”.
Widely used in Germany and successfully piloted at Celtic, rail seats can be flipped up and locked in place to provide a safe space to stand, while still assigning each fan a designated spot in the stadium. Clubs in English football’s top two tiers have, however, been forced by law to be all-seat ever since Lord Justice Taylor’s report into the tragedy at Hillsborough which left 96 Liverpool fans dead.
The anger, grief and shock caused by Hillsborough meant any debate about the rights and wrongs of standing to watch football was a non-starter for years but that has changed in the last decade. This is a result of large numbers of fans making it clear they want the choice and many safety experts pointing out that standing itself is not dangerous but standing in seated areas is. It was this last point that prompted West Brom’s director of operations, Mark Miles, to make the application.
“I find the decision from the minister of sport both surprising and disappointing,” Miles said. “It will be disappointing for many supporters I have spoken to who were in favour of what we were proposing. We have written back requesting a review.”
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