The Leader of the Welsh Conservatives has called on the UK Government to look at the issue of Safe Standing again, as teams get ready for the start of the new Premier League season this weekend.
Andrew RT Davies, an Assembly Member, has called on the UK Government to hold a pilot – potentially in Wales – to assess purpose built standing areas. The National Assembly for Wales is the only legislature in the United Kingdom to have formally backed safe standing.
The recent Hillsborough Inquest had found that poor policing, rather than standing, had been to blame for the tragedy which cost 96 lives in 1989, and Welsh Conservatives have campaigned for a pilot to take place in Wales ahead of any legislative changes around the issue.
The inquest did not conclude that standing was inherently unsafe – no report ever published by the UK Government has – yet standing in the top two divisions of British football remains prohibited. Indeed research by the Adam Smith Institute has found that the biggest stadium disasters since Hillsborough have all occurred in all-seater stadiums – in Harare 2000, Johannesburg 2000, Accra 2001.
Welsh Conservative Leader, Mr Davies, said it was time to “look again” at the issue.
He said:
“There isn’t a football ground in the country that doesn’t currently have large numbers of supporters standing each week in all-seater areas.
“That’s why it makes sense to introduce purpose-built areas for those who want to stand, reducing conflicts with safety stewards and fans who don’t want to have their view obscured by persistent standing.
“Let’s face it, it would be safer than the arrangements we currently see.
“We would love to see a limited pilot at grounds here in Wales. The Hillsborough Inquiry has now reported and as we expected, the blame for that tragedy was found to sit with poor policing and management of the crowds on the day – not standing.
“Now we have an opportunity to address this discriminatory ruling which sees football fans treated in a way that fans of other sports are not.
“Advances in stadium technology have made stadiums a far more safe and comfortable environment for fans of all ages, genders and backgrounds. Safe standing won’t affect that and it’s about time we started treating football fans with a bit more respect.”
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