English Premier League club Liverpool has confirmed that rail seating will be installed in the remainder of the Kop ahead of the 2024-25 season.
The club trialled rail seating last season, and announced in July last year that it was applying for a safe-standing licence at Anfield. Liverpool then began a phased installation programme throughout the Kop, with the final stages scheduled to be completed this summer.
Rail seating will be installed in all remaining areas of the Kop, with work expected to continue throughout the first few home games of the 2024-25 campaign.
In a statement, the club said that access to seats will not be affected during this time and “supporters whose seat will be changed to rail seating will be contacted directly”.
During last season’s trial, Liverpool reviewed the effectiveness of rail seating in relation to safety before successfully applying for the safe-standing licence. Rail seating was first introduced in two areas of Anfield during the 2020-21 close-season, following a safety review by the Sports Ground Safety Authority (SGSA).
Safe-standing areas are licensed by the SGSA and fans must be able to sit or stand.
Initially, the trial saw 7,800 rail seats installed on the Kop and the lower tier of the Anfield Road Stand. A second phase saw another 2,500 rail seats introduced on the Kop during the 2022-23 season.
The latest phase took place last summer, when a further 3,000 rail seats were placed on the Kop. The final installation will see rail seating installed in all remaining rows.
Previously, standing had not been permitted in the top two leagues of English football since a law was introduced in the wake of the 1989 Hillsborough disaster, which led to the deaths of 97 Liverpool fans.
Premier League and Championship clubs were permitted to introduce safe-standing from the 2022-23 season, thanks to then-UK Sports Minister Nigel Huddleston.
Share this