standing at the bridge?!

[will1991chelsea]

hey lads,

there are a few rumours about that prem football grounds may move towards having areas where fans can stand to watch the game. 

if this was to be put into place at stamford bridge do you think it would be a good thing?

 

post your opinions!

[President_Dan]

Certainly. A lot of politicians/football fans still have the thought of Hillsborough in their minds so it won't be an easy or popular thing to introduce in my opinion. However, 'Safe Standing' is, I am sure, much more safe than what we currently do: standing up in seated areas! It would undoubtedly improve atmosphere, increase ground capacity (so long as the local area can support it) and, hopefully (though I shall not hold my breath), decrease ticket prices.

 

So yes, I say bring on standing!

Edited February 19, 2013 by President_Dan

[Mike Carefree]

Knees up muvva brown......Yep i wanna legally stand again.......Nothing like it......

[sully]

From my point of view the main reason for the Hillsborough Disaster was the fences that prevented the supporters getting out onto the pitch,remove fences problem solved.

[bluegraham]

What happened at Hillsborough was.wrong and I'm glad the family's are getting justice but fans still barged the gates without tickets that won't happen at all ticket games. If done right standing can be safe once the people with tickets get in.I don't see the problem.

[bluedrake55]

i read somewhere that bayern munich have a standing area and it cost £10!

[JoeyN]

Never been standing before. 

 

Would love too. The Bridge needs the atmosphere. With the arrival of The Waiter, I've never seen a worse atmosphere. 

[cfcblue]

even if they do allow standing, once again in the future no doubt it will be sanitized ... everyone will be assigned a specific place to stand and we'll all have to wear high vis health & safety yellow jackets ... lads won't be able to all choose to clump/group together, as before ... u will still be sitting standing next to that Japanese tourist, etc. ... the sh*te atmosphere is hear to stay forever ... it will never be like it was ... unfortunately.

[cfcblue]

What happened at Hillsborough was.wrong and I'm glad the family's are getting justice but fans still barged the gates without tickets that won't happen at all ticket games. If done right standing can be safe once the people with tickets get in.I don't see the problem.

 

Hillsborough stadium was definitely NOT fit for purpose, full stop ... the police f**ked up & lost control ... plus a number of Liverpool fans outside the stadium contributed to the chaos outside & they do need to hold their hands up too! ... all this contributed to the tragic deaths of truly genuine innocent supporters. The famiies have our full support ... by an act of fate that could have been us ...

[c3blu2]

Hillsborough stadium was definitely NOT fit for purpose, full stop ... the police f**ked up & lost control ... plus a number of Liverpool fans outside the stadium contributed to the chaos outside & they do need to hold their hands up too! ... all this contributed to the tragic deaths of truly genuine innocent supporters. The famiies have our full support ... by an act of fate that could have been us ...

 

Tragedy for the families, nobody deserves to die on what should have been a fun day out at football but i feel your right in terms of what happened that day. Yes the police made terrible mistakes and are finally and rightly being held accountable for those mistakes, but the Liverpool fans have never held their hands up and because of this they have learned nothing. 

They tried to force entry at the Bridge a few years back in the CL, and did it again in Athens for the final where they were also robbing each other for tickets(class).

Football fell right into corporate hands after the Taylor report and although i know things will never go back to how they were in terms of vast terraced stadiums and really they shouldn't i feel strongly about having some kind of terracing at football. It will improve attendances and atmospheres all over the country, give people options regarding how the attend matches like before(sit or stand, go on my own and meet up behind the goal with pals when i get there etc) more importantly allow supporters who are currently being priced out of going to live games the chance to see their teams.

They have terracing abroad, in the lower leagues and its deemed perfectly safe for 200k people to stand at a concert smashed of their tits but put 10-15k people behind a goal in a premier league teams colors,surrounded by old bill and it becomes a death trap......i dont buy it.

I think if the clubs truly wanted it they could make it happen, but they are happy to try and squeeze a pint into a quart pot and rip the arse out of ticket prices. So i cant ever see it happening which for the reasons above is a real shame.

[Christian]

I tend to believe that, if controlled correctly, this could be a positive. When a cross goes in, everyone usually bounces to their feet anyway. I've been to quite a few Rugby matches where they still have terraces and the atmosphere is great. 

 

Sadly, I think this will be a non-starter due to many health and safety issues and everyone already drawing parallels to the Hillsborough disaster. 

[Charles Ryder]

I came across a blog post on the topic a couple of days ago, my reply to it sums up my opinion:

 

From a purely aesthetic point of view, I would absolutely love to see terraces return to top flight football in England.

Safe standing areas shouldn’t be seen as an affront to the memory of those poor souls who perished at Hillsborough, indeed they should be seen as a tribute of sorts as they represent a huge advance over the terraces of old in terms of safety.

From what I can tell, having followed the debate for a number of years, all of the arguments levelled against the return of standing are purely emotional, and the arguments in favour are based on both logic and emotion.

The clubs, I think, will be tentative to push for it, and tentative to respond to any campaign unless it hits critical mass (that is why the FSF’s campaign is so important), but surely they can see the financial opportunity that larger capacities represent?

 

[charierre]

All seater stadiums was the beginning of the end for myself attending matches. Football lost part of its atmosphere, more importantly for myself, friends who I had gone to matches for for years previously got split up and the experience gradually degraded. Add to this the high cost of seats and I eventually I said enough is enough.

Safe standing has been a success in Germany, I feel we should certainly look into how feasable it is, lower the costs and attract the everyday person back into grounds I used to love attending.

[Mike Carefree]

Cani say something on the subject, thats been on these sites in varying places, about....ATMOSPHERE at the Bridge...SEATING at the Bridge, and TOURISTS at the Bridge......Now i am aware that because we are a WEST LONDON club and reasonably vogue we attract "tourists" who i must say im not fond of....Sitting down HAS taken away lots of the atmosphere,,,,,,,(BUT).. as every club is seated (in prem) .what is the real reason for the lack of noise...I know as well as most of you do there is still sh*t hot atmosphere at many clubs, and i unfortunately have to add spurs to the top of that list (arguably)......There are many many clubs seated, with "tourists" of their own...Im envious of the sounds that come out of spurs swansea stoke etc......Why are we classed as one of the quietest on our own turf   (unless it v spurs west ham or man u)....REAL REASONS please........Surely a large quantity of fans at the Bridge are not lazy ...Are they..

[Erik]

If it means much cheaper ticket prices then I'd welcome it with open arms

[c3blu2]

the real reason for a lack of atmosphere due to seating is because people cant go and stand where they want....i.e with other like minded people who want to stand and sing. 

its hard to get songs going if you have 5 people here and 3 people there who want to stand and sing(especially with people telling them to sit down around them all the time).

 

there have been talk of 'singing areas' but that's what terracing would/should be. An area thats cheap to get into because its obviously lacking a bit in comfort and view but where people can see the game live, meet up with friends/fellow supporters during any stage of any match and get some atmosphere going.

[chelseablueboy]

 its deemed perfectly safe for 200k people to stand at a concert smashed of their tits but put 10-15k people behind a goal in a premier league teams colors,surrounded by old bill and it becomes a death trap......i dont buy it.

What an excellent point, i'd like to hear the 'powers to be' answer to that.

[RMCM]

I'm of the opinion that safe standing areas would benefit the game in England. Look at  the atmosphere in the Westfalenstadion (Dortmund's Stadium) where they have 25000 people standing. Not only that but it also looks amazing with the fans bouncing and singing, which must lift the team. 

[chelseablueboy]

Every time i go to the Bridge, (in either the MHL or the Shed lower) as soon as the whistle blows everybody stands up for the duration of the match anyway !

[andy]

Since the introduced the automated turnstiles (I say automated, it now takes two staff per turnstiles where it used to take one) the amount of time I spend queuing to get in I am glad of the seat !

[blueboy26]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/25526329

[blueboy26]

Speaking of which, did anyone in the Shed Lower have any trouble with standing during the Swansea game?

 

I remember the club circulated that letter before palace saying anyone standing would get kicked out

[bluegraham]

Speaking of which, did anyone in the Shed Lower have any trouble with standing during the Swansea game?

I stood for the 90 mins for the palace game in the shed lower I saw one person getting f**ked out but he reappeared shortly after.

I remember the club circulated that letter before palace saying anyone standing would get kicked out