The Manchester Evening News contains a piece on Manchester United suspending it's loyalty points scheme that allows priority booking for those fans with the most points, for a forthcoming game at Bolton. The reason given is that the FLA have said that this scheme was 'rewarding those fans who are regularly persistently standing up at away games'.

Many United supporters are not surprisingly angry that it will be difficult for those who have followed the team all over the country to buy tickets for this local fixture.

Stand Up Sit Down are told that the head of the millennium stadium has complained to the football league about Manchester United fans persistent standing at the final.

West Ham supporters in the Bobby Moore Lower Tier hold up yellow cards to protest about supporters being threatened with bans for standing and to show their support for separate standing areas. The demonstration was organised by Stand Up Sit Down , with the cost of cards covered by donations from West Ham supporters.

Stand Up Sit Down are sent an email highlighting the disgraceful treatment of a Spurs supporter at their match with Blackburn the previous day:

‘Some 20 minutes into the game my son was asked by a steward if he could have a word with him, my son cooperated fully and without complaint. A few moments later I followed my son to find out what was going on and was horrified to find him surrounded by a number of police officers and stewards, his face pushed into a wall his arm behind his back. When I enquired what was going on, a not unreasonable request I think it fair to say, I along with my youngest son was bundled unceremoniously out of the ground.
 
I was extremely concerned for my sons safety in the face of such thuggish and brutal and, and I made my feelings known by banging on the doors of the ground, a short while later my son was released, details taken like some football thug.
 
And the heinous crime that he had committed that warranted such brutal behaviour? He stood up and sang at a football match, along with it must be said myself and several thousand others at the ground.
 
I have written to the chairman of the club and await his reply if I should be so lucky as to get one. I am 50 years old I have been following Spurs for over 40 years, my sons have been coming with me since they could barely walk, but for me now this is the end of the road of watching football at White Hart Lane I shall never set foot inside the ground again, if this is what watching premiership football is all about now I want no part of it neither do my sons nor will future generations of my family.
 
Thank you for taking the time to read my email and I hope you win the fight to enable true supporters to support their clubs.'

Thousands of Liverpool and Benfica fans stand throughout the Champions League match at Anfield.  Far from provoking trouble as the authorities seem to think standing does, at the end of the game television pictures showed Benfica supporters still in the stand with Liverpool supporters walking by them on their way and them exchanging scarves and shirts, all obviously in gestures of friendship.  This is a side to football that you'd think didn't exist if you read what the authorities have to say .

Thousands of Arsenal fans stand at their Champions league match versus Real Madrid.

IMUSA (Independent Manchester United Supporters Organisation) discuss SUSD at their meeting and advise that the general feeling was that they are willing to support our organisation and campaign, and will be looking to do a protest at a future match.

The Football Supporters Federation finally receive a reply from Manchester City Council, to the report sent to them 6 months ago highlighting behaviour and standing of those attending last summer's Oasis gigs at City of Manchester Stadium (see campaign section of this site for report).

The council say:

‘Your report concentrates on what you perceive is the conflict between the legislation for licensing events such as pop concerts and the controls for safety at football events. This leads to your conclusion that if standing is allowed in pop concerts then standing should be allowed in football games.

Firstly I will address the point of standing on the pitch during pop concerts. The controls on the pitch are in accordance with health and safety controls. The barrier is manned by security staff and there are points of exit which enable the dispersal of the crowd. The area is not over capacity. Points of exit are multiple and allow more rapid disposal than from stands therefore standing is permitted and safe.

On the second point of the standing in terraces it is advisable that those attending pop concerts stay seated and stewards are available to control the crowd. However, currently it is not required that audiences stay seated at pop concerts. The reason for this is that we are of the view that the crowds control for football is different from the crowd control in a football match.

In pop concerts there is no rivalry between the fans and there is one point of focus. There are more stewards at a pop concert to control any surge to the front of the terrace area and stewards do intervene and ask people to be seated when necessary. At football matches there can be rivalry between fans and the crowd dynamics can be more complicated making stewarding more challenging. If the fans are standing it is more difficult for stewards to identify areas of conflict. Statistics show that there is a large decrease in the number of arrests and fewer spectators requiring medical treatment at stadiums that are all seated.

This is not to say that all football crowds are unruly however conflict does occur and it is important that every opportunity is taken to reduce potential disorder in order to maintain the growing view that football is family entertainment. Furthermore the requirement to remain seated is a legal requirement and obviously we want to see that the ground adheres to this requirement.

Much of your report refers to what I interpret to be the Oasis concert obviously this was not a typical pop crowd and it was clear that some of the fans behaviour was not acceptable. This isolated event in my view is not an example of the type of pop events that take place at the stadium. We do continue to look at the dynamics of the crowd at pop concerts and each concert is judged on its merits and the likely behaviour of the fans. Standing in the top tier is a cause for concern and extra stewarding will be provided for future events to ensure the audience keeps seated in these areas.

In conclusion I cannot agree with the recommendations in your report. I support the practice of all seated stadiums for football matches. The controls for pop concerts are judged on the merits of the event and I am satisfied with the current control mechanisms.'

Stand Up Sit Down dispute that that statistics show that there are less arrests and injuries at all seated grounds. We fail to understand why it can be considered safe for people to stand and dance at concerts, but it is dangerous for them to simply stand and watch a football match in the same stadium.

Stand Up Sit Down receive further information regarding the Oasis gigs at City of Manchester Stadium . A source, who was present at the safety committee meetings before each gig tells us:

‘It was agreed that a golden circle (area usually for VIP's and competition winners) was needed at the COMS due to the size of the pitch area. This was rejected by the Oasis people (Noel) as they dislike them. The council didn't/ wouldn't listen to the experts insisting that there should be one. The safety certificate was singed without question! On the Saturday night as Oasis came on stage there was a push from the back of the pitch area and this accelerated through the crowd until it hit the front and moved the barrier!.'

This appears to be yet another example of the difference between over bearing safety culture at football, and more lax standards at other events. Obviously Stand Up Sit Down want football to be safe, but believe that this can and indeed is, achieved with supporters standing, either on terraces or in front of seats.

Manchester City supporters are planning a pro-standing protest with yellow cards and banners at their FA Cup replay with Aston Villa live on Sky on 14 th March.

Stand Up Sit Down are told of supporters at Coventry and Chelsea being banned for standing. Other supporters are outraged by this measure being forced on the clubs by the FLA or Local Authorities, something that has also occurred at other clubs, but has still failed to prevent standing.

Stand Up Sit Down believe that the will of many supporters to stand is such that the authorities will never succeed in stopping it, and as there is clearly no real safety risk, managed standing areas would be the most sensible and workable solution to the problem.

West Ham supporters are ranked as the 4 th best behaved in the country in a table published this week. This is despite them being recognised as one of the clubs with the highest proportion of persistent standers. This adds further evidence to counter the authority's view that standing should not be permitted because it leads to poor behaviour.

Thousands of Chelsea and Spurs fan throughout their fixture at Stamford Bridge .

Despite being known to stand (as at recent FA Cup match, where no efforts were made to get them to sit) West Ham supporters are allocated the upper rather than lower tier for their league match at Bolton .

Stand Up Sit Down would suggest that this is yet another example that shows that clubs must view the risk from standing to be very small. If the risk was high it would be the duty of the club to minimise this, and allocate the safer lower tier.

A police officer and Coventry City supporter writes on a fans forum:

‘It would be refreshing if clubs were to actually stand up to the regulators who licence football matches, and accept that parts of the ground might be used by people who want to stand.

There was plenty of space in the ground on Saturday for anyone who wanted to move if they were upset by the standing, and the notion of "sit where your ticket says" is rubbish, as I suspect many people had tickets in the unused sections of Blocks 14.

The stadium will have its biggest crowd so far in June, when Bon Jovi come to play, and I believe that anyone who goes to that concert will be able to stand if they wish.

Is it safer to stand at a concert than it is at a football match? At the NEC recently, I saw a notice at the entrance to the area in which I was seated saying "customers are advised that some others may stand during the performance" - if it applies at this sort of event, why not football?

I sympathise with your correspondent, and try to use common sense when on duty at matches, but until the club decide that they will "tolerate" standing, then I am sorry to say that the Police will be supporting the stewards to help to "enforce" the ground regs.'

Stand Up Sit Down have noted similar sympathy from informal conversations with individual officers, and have been told officially that the police do not wish to get involved with making supporters sit, unless it becomes a safety issue or if they are needed to assist stewards.

Thousands of Manchester City fans hold up yellow cards and banners in support of safe standing areas, prior to their cup replay with Aston Villa.

Writing in the Daily Mail, columnist Des Kelly says:

WHY IT'S TIME FOR THE FANS TO STAND UP AND BE COUNTED
FORGIVE me if I stand for this item, but I'm told it could be 'dangerous' and I can't help it. I have joined the growing army utterly sick and tired of being told what to do by jobsworths. They are everywhere. The latest example of pen-pushing banality comes from Manchester United where the club have threatened to withdraw the allocation of away tickets to their own fans for - and get this - 'standing up'

'We are coming under increasing pressure from the football authorities,' said a spolesman.
'We will be forced to take away tickets on the grounds of safety. It's dangerous,' says another.
No, it's not. It's pathetic and instead of kow-towing to every inane edict from central office, United should tell those football authorities where to go.

Fans stand at sporting events because they are excited. They leave their seats because that is what sport is all about. It will happen at Cheltenham this week. It will happen at Twickenham. It will happen at the third test. It will happen at EVERY football ground in the country.

All the claptrap about safety is a red herring. How many people have been injured getting to their feet during a match? The seats themselves prevent the historic problems caused by crowd surges, so my guess is - and it's just a wild stab here - none, if you don't include a friend who once pinched his leg in a hinge.

'Safety' has become an excuse for treating our fans like sheep. Inside our grounds, flourescent-coloured baboons have gone so far as to stop celebrations by the away team, as happened when Wigan beat Arsenal and Benfica defeated Liverpool.

These people are the enemies of sport. If we let them get away with it, watching football will be like going to the crown green bowls where success is accompanied by the rustle of a blanket and the clatter of Tupperware. So stand up for yourselves.

d.kelly@dailymail.co.uk

Manchester City FC show support for standing sections in the club programme .

The official programme for the Villa match from includes notes from ‘Points of Blue' a fans forum where fans talk over issues and then decide which to present to the club to discuss.

Standing:

‘The club are sympathetic, but have no choice in this. It is the law. The SAG monitored the Newcastle match and identified persistent standing in rows L and M of the South Stand. A different two rows may be cleared at subsequent matches. It enables stewards to reach the middle of a row. Toleration of away supporters standing is a judgment call by the licensing authority and perceptions that Manchester council is less lenient than others are unfounded and the law does not apply to other events such as pop concerts. there is a 'league table' of persistent standers and allocations elsewhere have been and will be reduced.'

‘Alistair Mackintosh is a member of the PL Attendance Working Group and admits we've lost the 'wow factor' of coming into a stadium (as a child for the first time). He (and this club) would support standing sections (and allowing drinks in seats) but there is absolutely no political will (from MP's) to change the law.'

Stand Up Sit Down welcome Manchester City's decision to allow their support for standing areas to be made public, and hope that other clubs who we know are sympathetic, but who are reluctant to say so publicly, will now be prepared to speak out.

Despite threats of bans and capacity cuts, the entire Bobby Moore Lower Tier and Centenary Lower (home), plus part of the Dr Martins Lower, stand for the whole of West Ham's cup replay with Bolton . Millions watch live on the BBC but no attempts are made to get supporters to sit.

Badly parked vehicles cause crowd congestion in Green Street following West Ham's match with Bolton . Crushing is far worse than is experienced inside grounds, yet despite this area always being extremely busy after matches, the police do not close the road to traffic.

Meanwhile supporters are being threatened with bans for simply standing in the ground, even though this has happened for ten years and there has never been any crushing. This is yet another example of illogical priorities, with the authorise seemingly more concerned in stopping standing than in dealing with other ‘real' risks outside grounds.

Middlesbrough announce that Newcastle 's allocation for their match at the Riverside will be cut to a mere 1800 due to persistent standing.

Newcastle United urge Middlesbrough to reconsider, with Chief Operating officer Russell Cushing saying on the club's official website:

‘ We are concerned because of the restriction for the forthcoming game that some supporters will purchase tickets for other parts of the Riverside Stadium and be among home supporters which could lead to public disorder issues, which on the face of it could be a more serious risk than standing in their own group.'

Stand Up Sit Down of raised this point on many previous occasions, and are pleased to see a club publicly express concern that the potential risk from lack of segregation caused by a reduced allocation, may be greater than that caused by standing.

Under the freedom of Information Act 2000, the Football Supporters Federation write to the FLA , asking for information on the numbers of injuries occurring in seated and standing areas and for statistics for injuries directly related to standing.

More and more Stand Up Sit Down members are reporting, entirely independently of each other, that there is never any trouble in the stands until the stewards come in, sometimes followed by the police, and try to make supporters sit.

Stand Up Sit Down are aware of many areas of grounds where supporters have stood at many games since they became all seated, with no problems apparent, but that the intervention of stewards to stop standing is now resulting in weekly conflict and ill feeling.

Portsmouth 's entire 2500 away support stand throughout their match at Upton Park, as do 2000 West Ham fans in the Centenary Lower, with no attempts made to get either set to sit. Meanwhile at the other end of the ground stewards constantly hassle sections of the Bobby Moore Lower Tier, with supporters under threat of bans for standing.

Once again Stand Up Sit Down would ask why the efforts to get supporters to sit very so much between grounds and even between areas of identical gradient in the same ground. Surely if it is dangerous equal efforts should be made to stop it everywhere?

The editor of Newcastle fanzine ‘True Faith' comments on Middlesbrough reducing Newcastle 's allocation for their April fixture and tells Stand Up Sit Down :

A Manchester United supporter tells Stand Up Sit Down of their experience regarding standing at West Brom :

We got into the ground 10 minutes late due to there being masses of reds getting to the ground at 5 to 3. Mine and a mates seats were pretty much right at the back. When we tried to go up the steps to our seats, stewards and police intervened and told us that the back was full. We showed them our tickets and they said we still could not go up. I asked them what they suggested we do then, the reply was simply.... ' stand where ever you like but not where your ticket says!!!!!' I couldn't believe it, this is just another example of the inconsistency that there is related to standing.

The Northern Division of the Football Supporters Federation decide to adopt safe standing as their campaigning issue.

Thousands of Manchester City and West Ham fans stand throughout their FA quarter final at The City of Manchester Stadium. No attempts are made to get supporters to sit, in contrast to other games at the same ground where supporters have been ejected and even banned for standing.

Yet again Stand Up Sit Down would ask why supporters are not prevented from standing at major matches, but are threatened with ejection at lesser fixtures. Surely any risk must be greater at more exciting games, so if this does not merit action to stop standing, what is the point in the continually hassling of supporters by stewards at more routine games?

Liverpool's 5500 supporters at St Andrews all stand for the whole of their FA Cup quarter final match with Birmingham .

Newcastle 's 3000 fans, plus many home fans stand at Stamford Bridge for the FA Cup quarter final.

In response to Manchester United suspending their loyalty scheme for tickets at the forthcoming away fixture at Bolton , in a supposed effort to stop standing, supporters are planning a protest at The Reebok, and many say they will refuse to sit.

A Chelsea supporter tells Stand Up Sit Down of yet more problems between stewards and supporters over standing, this time at the Chelsea v Newcastle FA Cup quarter final.

A Stand Up Sit Down member sends us a positive report on stewarding at Leyton Orient:

Just to advise Leyton Orient stewards were absolutely brilliant on Saturday. Wycombe took 1400 – the whole allocation – but the stewards said we could sit anywhere, which resulted in the standing fans in the back rows – this was a huge game and resulted in about half (back 10 rows) or 700 of our fans standing throughout the entire game and a superb atmosphere. No provocation from stewards to get us to sit and allowed the fans wishing to stand to do so in the back half of the stand. This was noted on our supporters internet chat room (although we lost 1-0) by many fans who thanked the stewards for their calm, friendly approach. This is surprising being so close to West Ham where they always seem to be on the backs of passionate, standing fans.'   This is not the first positive report we have received about Orient, and we question why away supporters are allowed to stand at Brisbane Road , whilst a few miles away at White Hart Lane and Upton park, supporters are under constant threat of ejection of banning if they stand.

Thousands stand as Arsenal beat Real Madrid two nil at Highbury, with no apparent efforts made to get supporters to sit.

As Wembley won't now be ready in time it is announced that this summer's Take That concerts will be moved to the Milton Keynes Bowl – an all standing venue. Once again its one rule for football fans and another for concerts.

Supporters continue to join Stand Up Sit Down at a steady rate. Total membership is now over 4,400, covering an age range from 11 to 70+, from very league club in England , Wales & Scotland .

Around 10% of members say they prefer to sit, but support choice, and 90% want to stand. Contrary to popular belief, many older supporters and women say that they prefer to stand, and we see no evidence of the claim that allowing standing areas would force women and families away from matches.