United prepare to add safe standing
...and it could be this season if safety group agrees
MANCHESTER United hope to introduce safe standing
at Old Trafford. Sportsmail can reveal that the club have requested permission to install rail seating, which could be in place later this season.
United have approached their local authority to ask for the green light to bring in 1,500 rail seats in Old Trafford’s North East Quadrant. They believe the seats, which allow people to stand against a barrier, will ‘enhance spectator safety’ in areas where there is persistent standing.
The club are waiting to hear back from the Safety Advisory Group — a partnership between the local authority and other bodies including the police and fire service — on whether to go ahead. Sources suggest a trial could take place this season.
Sportsmail revealed in September that United had launched a consultation on the matter. Aware of fan support for safe standing, the club carried out a ‘detailed and comprehensive study’ into the feasibility of installing rail seats. United lodged the request in December.
A recent change to the stadium safety guide means clubs can now install seats incorporating safety barriers. Standing was outlawed in the top two divisions by the Taylor Report into the 1989 Hillsborough disaster.
As reported by Sportsmail, the Sports Grounds Safety Authority (SGSA) compiled an interim report into their season-long study on the safety risks of standing. The findings reveal that the installation of barriers in seated areas at grounds, such as the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and Molineux, has ‘mitigated the risk of crowd collapse’.
Meanwhile, United have said they decided to cut Manchester City’s allocation for the first leg of last month’s League Cup semifinal to 3,000 as part of a pre-emptive move, because they believe they are historically ‘unfairly’ penalised by their neighbours.
United expected an allocation of signficantly less than the 5,500 they were entitled to under League Cup rules and acted to ‘ensure parity’. City would ordinarily have been allowed up to 7,200 seats at Old Trafford.
United’s claims appear to have come as a surprise to City. A City spokesperson said: ‘This position is contrary to the case put to us by United before Christmas, which was to reduce the allocation at Old Trafford on the grounds of safety and which meant that commensurate action had to be taken for the fixture at the Etihad.’
The second leg at the Etihad was marred by crowd disturbances from both sets of fans.