Newcastle United digs safe standing pilot

Article posted by Coliseum, March 31^st, 2023

Image: Newcastle United

The Premier League club Newcastle United F.C. will trial safe standing at their residence – the St James’ Park in Newcastle upon Tyne, England (UK) – from the start of the 2023-2024 seasons.

‘BBC Sport’ stated that a 1,800-capacity section for home fans will be introduced in the stadium’s South-East corner, with a similar area for away supporters in the Leazes End.

The Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear (UK). The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End.

The St James’ Park is a football stadium in Newcastle upon Tyne, England (UK). It is the home of the Premier League club Newcastle United F.C. With a seating capacity of 52,305 seats, it is the eighth largest football stadium in England.

‘BBC Sport’ further stated that the Premier League clubs were permitted to introduce licensed standing areas from the start of the current season.

London (UK)-based the Premier League is the highest level of the men’s English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football League. Seasons typically run from August to May with each team playing 38 matches.

Newcastle said more than 4,000 fans had responded to an online survey, with 75 percent in favor of a standing section.

The Premier League club Chelsea F.C.’s residence – the 40,341-capacity Stamford Bridge in London, England (UK) – became the first top-flight ground to allow licensed standing in almost 30 years as part of a trial in January 2022.

Since 1994, grounds in the first and second tiers of the English football pyramid have been required by law to be all-seaters.

That followed a recommendation of the Taylor Report following the Hillsborough (UK) disaster in 1989, when 97 fans died following a crush.

However, in recent seasons, campaigners have called for standing to be reintroduced – and rail seating has been developed at some grounds to provide seats that can be converted to standing areas when desired after new guidance from the Sports Grounds Safety Authority.

The Hillsborough Stadium Disaster Inquiry report is the report of an inquiry which was overseen by Lord Justice Taylor into the causes of the Hillsborough disaster in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, on April 15^th, 1989, as a result of which, at the time of the report, 95 Premier League club Liverpool F.C. fans had died.

London (UK)-based the Sports Grounds Safety Authority (SGSA) is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). Until 2011, it was known as the Football Licensing Authority, having been set up under the Football Spectators Act 1989. The SGSA was established through the Sports Grounds Safety Authority Act 2011, which received royal assent in July 2011 and commenced on November 1^st, 2011.

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