Stand Up Sit Down and the FLA finally agree comprehensive notes from their meeting. These can be seen on the Campaign section of this site.

Norwich Chief Executive Neil Doncaster offers to meet Stand Up Sit Down and this is arranged for 15 th March.

Manchester City supporters make allegations of heavy handed stewards attempting to make them sit at their game with Bolton . One supporter is singled out by stewards and leaves the ground in disgust saying he will not return. He has written to the club asking for a refund on his season ticket.

The Football Supporters Party, for whom a key policy is the provision of standing areas, announce that they intend to contest 20 seats at the General Election.

Stand Up Sit Down read minutes of a meeting of Local Authorities held last November to discuss persistent standing.

Rodney Burrows from Manchester , who has been charged by the Core Cities Group of Local Authorities to deal with persistent standing, stated that a majority of FSOA (Football Safety Officers Association) members seem not to consider persistent standing as a safety issue.

John Rutherford (FSOA National Administrator) stated that the FSOA is opposed to supporters being permitted to stand within football stadia during passage of play, and that their policy is to support the FLA document ‘Standing in Seated Areas at Football Grounds'. He noted however that there is a difference of view within the FSOA, but that a number of Safety Officers support the policy.

These minutes appear to confirm that many Safety Officers do not consider standing in some seated areas to be a safety risk.

Wayne Nash, Cardiff City 's Safety Officer tells Stand Up Sit Down that in his opinion a significant proportion of fans don't want to stand, but those who do wish to stand are the most vociferous. However, he says the silent majority can be accommodated if areas for singing can be highlighted, where people are more likely to get to their feet to sing. He adds that in his personal opinion if this is done in an orderly fashion the area could be designated as Low Risk.

Barcelona fans stand for virtually the whole match at Stamford Bridge, as do many Chelsea supporters. Accusations are made of heavy handed stewarding. Interestingly the FLA have referred to ‘different fan cultures' when asked about persistent standing in Europe .

West Ham post a summary of discussion at fans forums on the official club website saying:   ‘The issue of safe standing at stadia is a more complex one and the Club is aware of well organised national supporter groups who are campaigning for the reintroduction of such areas. Although the Club respects the objectives of these groups and recognises the strength of feeling among supporters, it would be concerned that lending support to such campaigns could send mixed messages and thereby undermine its present overriding obligation to eliminate standing in seated areas in conjunction with the local Safety Advisory Group.'

Stand Up Sit Down write to the FLA asking for an explanation of why they appear to have expanded from their Statutory Remit for safety, to include comfort and security.

Reading give leaflets to West Ham supporters at the Madjeski Stadium saying that if they stand up persistently the FLA have told them that they will have to reduce the allocation of tickets given to West Ham next season. Virtually all 4000 fans stand for the entire 2 nd half.

Stand Up Sit Down produce an article suggesting that safety, crowd control and customer care may not be the reason behind the clampdown on standing and asking if there is a hidden agenda. This article has been sent to fanzines across the country and can be seen on the Campaign section of this site.

Stand Up Sit Down read an interview with an FLA Inspector in 2000, in which he appears to suggest that one of the reasons the FLA did not close part of Old Trafford due to persistent standing was that it would have a negative impact on the World Cup bid. 

This raises the question, was the World Cup bid more important than supporters' safety, or did the FLA consider that standing did not cause a significant risk?

Matt Caspell of Cambridge Fans United is publishing an article about Stand Up Sit Down in United Endeavour, a Cambridge fanzine.  The next edition will be a one off special that will be sold nationally; Please show your support to Cambridge Fans United by buying a copy of the special edition fanzine; it would be much appreciated by both us and Matt.   www.cambridgeunited.tk

A Southend supporter reports being told by a steward to ‘sit properly on your seat' not ‘perch on the front of it'

Stand Up Sit Down meet with Norwich City Chief Executive Neil Doncaster who issues the following statement:

We recognise that a small number of our supporters prefer to stand at football matches, but are not allowed to do so under current rules.   We would fully support a thorough national re-investigation into the issue of standing at matches and the possibility of standing being allowed in certain seated areas where this is safe.'

Tottenham supporters issue a Press Release announcing a joint yellow card protest against the FLA 's crackdown on standing by Spurs & Man City fans at their game on 19 th March. They say that this season approximately 30 supporters have been banned from White Hart Lane for standing.

Stand Up Sit Down understands that the Premier League has asked for a report into aspects of standing / why fans still stand up. Maybe a sign they are starting to think of solutions rather than forceful measures?

A Liverpool supporter tells Stand Up Sit Down , ‘I was at Anfield for the game against Olympiakos and the Kop stood the whole game and the atmosphere that night has been voted as the best at Anfield in the last 30 odd years'.

Stand Up Sit Down are given a copy of a letter sent from Leeds United to their supporters with regard to standing. In this they define persistent standing as ‘when supporters remain standing rather than seated for the majority of the time'. This again raises the question that if it is OK to stand for part of the game, why not all?

Stand Up Sit Down write to Leeds United asking for their support for our proposals.

Jack Fawbert, Lecturer and Researcher at De Montfort University, and sociologist specialising in the sociology of football, comments on our recent article saying:   Having read the article I agree with everything said but I think the roots of what we are now seeing go back a long way. Since the early 80s when 'hooliganism' became a real problem for 'the authorities' I think that the political and managerial classes have been looking for ways to demonise traditional working-class supporters as all thugs and hooligans and to try to marginalise them. In that respect they have only been marginally successful. Making everyone adopt the passive middle-class pose of sitting and enjoying the 'entertainment' passively is just the latest part of that project. As you say, why didn't they try to enforce this 10 years ago after all Premier League stadiums became all-seater? I think it was because they thought by hiking up ticket prices and other measures they thought the traditional working-class fan would fade away. They underestimated the loyalty of these fans who will still go to extraordinary lengths to support their clubs.

At half time in the West Ham v Leicester match the PA announcer praises the middle and east sections of the Bobby Moore Lower and part of the Centenary Stand, for their superb support. These were the parts of the ground where most supporters had stood continuously.

Another Premiership club Safety Officer tells one of our members that he is 100% behind Stand Up Sit Down , but like most others, he is unwilling to be quoted.

Stand Up Sit Down write to the Football Safety Officers Association, pointing out that the majority of safety Officers do not appear to believe that standing in some seated areas is a safety risk, and asking for their comments on our proposals .

Spurs supporters in the South Stand hold up yellow cards protesting to the FLA and asking for standing areas to be set up. The club gave permission for the protest, which was well supported and backed by Stand Up Sit Down .

The organiser of Spurs protest, a Stand Up Sit Down member, is interviewed on Radio London. She explains the protests and why supporters want a choice as to whether they stand or sit.

A Man Utd supporter joining Stand Up Sit Down makes the interesting comments – ‘The hypocrisy that really gets me though is the fact that we are still allowed to stand up in some football grounds in this country just because the club is in a lower league - WHY IS THIS ? It is like saying you can drink and drive in a rural area because there are less people about to crash into. There is just no logic to this law. It is clearly a social engineering issue.'

The Managing Director of a Championship club tells supporters that he would like Stand Up Sit Down to succeed but cannot say this publicly.

The FLA refuse to provide copies of correspondence between themselves and the FLA which a number of people had requested under the Freedom of Information Act on behalf of Stand Up Sit Down . The refused on both grounds of cost (‘it would exceed the appropriate limit of £450') and because he is of the opinion we are ‘clearly acting in concert'.

Stand Up Sit Down speak to the Information Commissioners Office, who advised that the FLA were obliged to treat each request received individually and that the quote cost appears excessive.

We write back to the FLA lodging an appeal.

Stand Up Sit Down are told that 29 Rangers supporters have had their season tickets cancelled for persistent standing. One of our members met with Ranger's Head of Safety Laurence MacIntyre, but felt that the outcome was negative and that neither the club or football authorities in Scotland are willing to listen to concerns from supporters.

Stand Up Sit Down write to the major political parties asking whether they consider that it would be beneficial to abolish the FLA , simplify the system for safety management, and save the tax payer in excess of £1 million per year.

The Norwich Evening News carries an article about the planned protest at the Norwich v Manchester United fixture, at which it is hoped 2500 yellow cards will be held up by supporters in the Lower Barclay. The protest is being organised by local Stand Up Sit Down members in conjunction with the national campaign leadership. It is aimed at the FLA and the yellow cards ask that standing areas are permitted to allow supporters choice as to how they watch football.

Stand Up Sit Down receive an encouraging reply to our letter to Leeds United's Chief Executive. He will make the Board aware of our campaign and the principle we are proposing as a compromise to try to resolve the issues. He promises to write again once results of the questionnaire sent to Leeds fans have been considered and the matter discussed with the relevant people at Leeds United.