To view this mail in your browser, click here Safe Standing Allowed Subject to strict criteria What a week that was!
"From 1 Jan 2022, the UK Government will be implementing a historic change which will allow... safe standing".
That long-awaited announcement was made on Wednesday by the Sports Ground Safety Authority. Clubs that want to take part in 'early adopter' trials of safe standing now have until 6 October to submit their applications. Trials that are approved will then begin on 1 January.
It's great that the Sports Ground Safety Authority has been able to make this announcement and already has the necessary guidelines in place, as I reflected on in a Twitter thread on Saturday: I also looked back at the safe standing campaign and at the challenges that lie ahead in the first article for many months on my Safe Standing Roadshow website.
I looked there, not least, at how a row of 28 seats can end up as a row of just 23 standing fans. That's the warning in the new SGSA guidelines, which cite an example where "at least 5 seats" would have to be taken off sale. I've examined the reasons why and provided further examples in this illustrated white paper.
So, this announcement certainly means that there are exciting times ahead, but also that close attention needs to be paid to the guidelines on providing the requisite space if clubs are to avoid any cuts in capacity.
Cheers,
Jon Darch |