West Ham United co-chairman David Gold has confirmed that the English Premier League football club is looking into the possibility of introducing a safe-standing area at its London Stadium home ground.
The east London club moved into the stadium, which served as the hub of the 2012 Olympic Games in the capital, at the start of the 2016-17 season.
Some supporters have expressed concern at other fans persistently standing during games at the stadium, which many feel lacks the atmosphere of Upton Park, the club’s former home.
The complaints led to the club’s vice-chairman, Karren Brady, penning an open letter to supporters on the club’s website, urging people to remain seated during games. Brady said supporters who continue to stand during games risk having their season tickets “permanently revoked”.
Standing areas are not permitted at top-tier football grounds in England in line with regulations that were brought in following the Hillsborough disaster in 1989, when 96 Liverpool supporters died in an overcrowded stand.
Such laws are not in place north of the border, and Scottish Premiership team Celtic recently had a safe-standing system fitted at its Celtic Park stadium.
Gold is keen to introduce the system, which is called Ferco Seating, at London Stadium. “I have been speaking with the people who put in the rail seating at Celtic Park,” he told West Ham news website Claret and Hugh. “I have been an advocate of this for many years and it is something that I am working on.
“It was absolutely right after the Hillsborough tragedy that the Taylor Report suggested all-seater stadiums but that was 30 years ago and technology has moved on so now – as was the case at Celtic – we need to look at these possibilities and hold talks. That’s what I am doing.”
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