Don't bring back terraces, says Hillsborough group

Oct 24 2007 by Rob Merrick, Liverpool Daily Post

FOOTBALL fans should be allowed to stand up at matches again despite the Hillsborough disaster, the government will be told today.

A 90-minute Commons debate will hear calls for terraces – banned after the deaths of 96 Liverpool supporters at the FA Cup semi-final nearly 20 years ago – to be reintroduced.

But Hillsborough campaigners last night spoke out strongly against the move.

Labour backbencher Roger Godsiff will tell ministers that the fact the Liverpool fans were standing was not the reason they were killed in April, 1989: he will blame the tragedy on incompetent stewarding and bad stadium design that packed too many fans onto a terrace enclosed by fencing to prevent pitch invasions. Hence, he will argue, with technological improvements since 1989, there is no reason to oppose “safe standing areas” – now which are common in Germany.

But Phil Hammond, chairman of the Hillsborough Family Support Group (HFSG), said he was “totally opposed” to the move reintroduction of standing at football matches.

He added: “There’s no such thing as safe standing. Once you have standing, you also have to put fences up, that is UEFA’s law. It would take us back to fans being caged in football stadiums.

“It also leads to fans jumping into the standing areas, and that’s when crushing is going to start.

“If those 96 supporters at Hillsborough had been seated, the tragedy wouldn’t have happened.”

The Commons debate comes as pressure increasesPressure is increasing for the Government to rethink its insistence on all-seater stadiums, recommended by the landmark Taylor Report that followed Hillsborough.

Last summer, the Football Supporters’ Federation published a 27-page document arguing for the all-seater regulations to be repealed and standing areas allowed under licence.

The fans’ group claimed the support of 142 MPs and is lobbying Uefa, Fifa, the chairman of every football club, police match commanders and club safety officers.

And it won cautious backing from one Hillsborough survivor, Dr Anne Eyre, who said its proposal “merits the most careful and detailed consideration”.

Earlier this year, Mr Godsiff said: “I am a strong football fan and I know there is strong support for the re-introduction of safe standing space.

“The all-seater rule was introduced following the tragic deaths at Hillsborough. But, in the cold light of day, taking into account all the studies that have been conducted, it is now thought that standing was not the problem.

“Rather, it was to do with allowing too many people into an area and the fencing that kept spectators boxed in. In practice, many fans stand anyway.”

Today, Mr Godsiff is likely to quote evidence that standing areas in Germany have brought more youngsters to top flight games – with adults paying as little as £6.34 for a ticket.

In contrast, in Britain, there are fears that many younger fans are shut out by eye-watering Premiership prices of £40-£50.

Furthermore, critics say, standing is allowed in lower-league football - as well as in rugby union, rugby league, cricket and at pop concerts.

In the past, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport has insisted it has no plans to change the rules, arguing: “Memories of Hillsborough are still very strong.”

Last year, the Daily Post revealed how Everton chief executive Keith Wyness told a House of Commons seminar his club might be interested in a pilot scheme at any new Everton stadium if the current all-seating ground regulations changed.

Mr Wyness did, however, stress he was aware of the sensitivity of the issue in the Merseyside area.