Feature

Tottenham to trial safe standing at new stadium

English Premier League football team Tottenham Hotspur is to trial safe standing at its 62,000-capacity new stadium.

The club has confirmed it would be open to safe standing in its new home in a tweet to supporters.

A photograph shows an area has been designed in the new north stand of the development, which is set to open in 2018-19, although it seems a purely visual idea at the moment.

While standing is banned at stadiums in the top two divisions of English football, several clubs have expressed an interest in introducing rail seating. Spurs said they want their new ground to be ready to incorporate standing areas should the law change.

The club responded to message on Twitter insisting: “This is part of future proofing should legislation change. These seats are only being trialled.”

See the latest images of Tottenham’s new stadium HERE

The government said earlier this year that it remains “unconvinced” by the case for safe standing in England, but Premier League clubs are known to support changes, particularly after the successful introduction of rail seating at Celtic last year.

Reports claim that Manchester United are interested in adding safe standing in a planned redevelopment of Old Trafford, while Liverpool fans are this week voting on whether to back safe standing.

KPMG recently published a report on the topic and concluded that a standing option made business sense. It said: “In addition to providing an intense match atmosphere, there is certainly a commercial case for safe standing, especially in stadia with high utilisation rates.

“Moreover, fan organisations have demonstrated their support for the introduction of safe standing and a few clubs, especially in England, have been more willing recently to approach the topic and have entered into consultation with their supporters.”

Meanwhile, fans of Shrewsbury Town are to next week launch a crowdfunding campaign to raise the money to install rail seats at their ground.

Should they be successful, Shrewsbury would become the first club in England or Wales with an all-seater stadium to introduce safe standing.

The project, which is backed by the club and fans, will go live on Wednesday, August 2.

Shrewsbury safe standing

There will be a pre-launch presentation at the club for fans, businesses and the media on Tuesday, with attendees including representatives of the club, its supporters’ parliament, the Football Supporters Federation, fan-funding specialists Tifosy and rail seat manufacturers Ferco Seating.

“This really is an exciting project, not just for our football club but for our supporters too,” said the club’s supporters’ parliament.

“The publicity we have received so far has gone beyond our wildest dreams so we urge every supporter of our football club to get behind us, back us by pledging some money and play your part in helping Shrewsbury Town become the first club to introduce safe standing in the English Football League (EFL).”

IMAGE: Tottenham Hotspur