Ministers must listen to fans

Oct 25 2007 Liverpool Daily Post

MANY people will have been both surprised and dismayed at the attempt by a backbench MP to re- introduce so-called "safe standing areas" to top-flight matches.

It was assumed, quite properly, that this particular debate had been settled long ago, following the Taylor report into the 1989 Hillsborough disaster, in which 96 Liverpool supporters lost their lives.

The report recommended, among other things, the introduction of modern all- seater stadia. For the younger generation of fans, this will be the only kind of football ground they know.

But some MPs still have a hankering for what they mistakenly believe were the "good old days," and, donning their rose-tinted spectacles, reminisce fondly about the time when you could be jostled and pushed in packed standing terraces.

This ignores the evidence that – although injuries at any match are now very rare – more spectators come to harm when they are standing up.

One in every 22,000 supporters were injured when standing up at lower- league matches, where it is still allowed, compared to one in 39,000 in all-seater grounds.

But the most compelling voices of all come from those who lost loved ones at Hillsborough. Phil Hammond, chairman of the Hillsborough Family Support Group, pointed out yesterday that there was no such thing as safe standing, as it inevitably leads to fans being caged behind fences.

So it is welcome news that sports minister Gerry Sutcliffe has kicked this idea into touch, saying it would be a mistake to rip apart the modern, all- seater stadia for which Britain was now admired around the football world.

Quite apart from the safety issue, all- seater stadia have made the game more family-friendly and appealing for women and children.

Although Mr Sutcliffe said he was "not shutting the door" on the idea of a re- turn to standing at football matches, both the safety record, and the sensitivit- ies of those who lost loved ones, should tell him and his fellow MPs that there can be no possibility of turning the clock back.