94% call for safe standing

A LARGE-SCALE survey will today reveal that 94 per cent of fans at Football League clubs want the option of safe standing at games,

Sportsmail can reveal. Over 33,000 completed the survey in less than two weeks, with an overwhelming majority calling for a choice between sitting and standing at stadiums and 69 per cent saying they would prefer to stand. Nearly half said they would attend more matches if standing was an option. Standing is outlawed in the top two divisions, following the Taylor Report into the 1989 Hillsborough disaster. Minister for Sport Tracey Crouch came under fire in April when she claimed only a ‘vocal minority’ backed safe standing, rejecting a request from West Bromwich Albion to run a pilot scheme. That triggered a petition signed by more than 100,000 people and the issue will be debated in Parliament on June 25. Peter Daykin of the Football Supporters’ Federation said: ‘Once again, football supporters have made it abundantly clear they want the choice between sitting and standing.’