EVEN LIVERPOOL FANS BACK IT, SO LET’S LISTEN

It is when Dave Golding says, in his unassuming way, that it is time to move on and consider the idea of safe standing at Anfield, that you really feel it is time to listen. He experienced the unimaginably desperate events at Hillsborough in a way which would remain with any one of us for a lifetime: walking down into the Leppings Lane terrace on that warm Spring day in 1989 with his uncle and brother; being jolted down on to the concrete terrace; cracking his head in the chaos; surviving. And then discovering his uncle had not. the independent inquiry and inquests into a disaster which claimed 96 lives demonstrated beyond all doubt that institutional negligence was to blame, not the act of standing at a football match, says Golding. time has also played its part in making the idea of something akin to the terraces seem palatable once again. Golding stood on them for years and worries for the ‘kids who want to watch the game like I did,’ as he puts it. He said: ‘If they bring safe standing in and make it affordable and properly stewarded, then I would be in favour of that. My personal view is it’s not a problem.’ Not all of those whose lives were changed indelibly by the tragedy can say they feel the same. the Hillsborough Family Support Group is opposed to safe standing, even though the Hillsborough Justice Campaign (HJC) supports a debate. ‘It was 28 years ago,’ says HJC’s Steve Kelly, who lost his 38-yearold brother Michael at the FA Cup semi-final. ‘the new generation want to experience games in the way we did. Hillsborough was about negligence and lessons have been learned.’ Kelly was a guest of Liverpool’s at the home game against Bournemouth in April when the Jurgen Klopp team’s push for a late goal had fans on their feet, while a supporter emerged from the toilet and tried to make his way past. Several fans who weren’t looking lost their balance and fell forward or back. ‘People do stand up. Putting a rail in place, as they’re suggesting, would make things safer if it’s managed correctly,’ he says. As long as some remain opposed to the idea, Liverpool will not agree to safe standing — even though the future construction of a new Anfield Road stand would create the opportunity. It will be a long and emotive road for the club — and almost as much so for Everton, who have always stood with their neighbours on this issue. But a shifting tide of opinion on Merseyside should strengthen football’s resolve to introduce safe standing at the clubs which do not live under the shadow of such a disaster, because there is no doubt that football fans want it and the kind of atmosphere it has brought at Celtic. the Spirit of Shankly supporter organisation’s James McKenna said Liverpool’s inevitably slow path should not prevent the very many other Premier League clubs who want safe standing to make the move. ‘Just because we don’t think it can be done doesn’t mean other clubs should,’ he said. At SoS’s AGM last year, 93 per cent voted in favour of ‘rail seat’ safe standing, 4.7 per cent were against, 2.3 per cent abstained. SoS is canvassing opinions ahead of a formal vote of its thousands of members on the subject this summer. those against it are reluctant to discuss their reasons publicly but the city has lived with the disaster’s consequences for long enough to respect that. ‘We walk a mile in their shoes — that’s why,’ says McKenna.