Thousands of England fans stand in all three tiers at the Millennium Stadium at the World Cup fixture v Wales .

The Football Supporters' Federation issue a report with regard to standing at music events in football grounds. The report highlights the huge difference between the Oasis concerts at City of Manchester Stadium, where even in the upper tier everyone stood, with no efforts made to get them to sit, and compares this to Manchester City games, where supporters have been ejected for standing. It shows that the behaviour of Oasis fans was far worse than anything seen at City matches, yet the authorities were prepared to allow them to stand.

The full report can be seen on the Campaign section of this site.

As Northern Ireland beat England at Windsor Park, thousands of Irish fans dance in their seats, not only during the game but also before and after in response to stirring music on the PA.

Once again SUSD cannot understand why clubs are being threatened with having parts of grounds closed, supporters are being ejected or banned and away allocations cut because of standing, yet PA announcers are allowed to play music which encourages not only standing but dancing in seated areas.

Earlier this year our request to the FLA for an explanation of this inconsistency met with no response.

An article in the Financial Times by Robert Matthews, reader in science at Aston University , discusses computer modelling of crowds. It quotes Prof. Stephen Reicher, social psychologist at St Andrews University as saying:

‘Studies of football crowds show that when police forces treat supporters as dangerous and adopt a wary stance, the level of hostility is far higher than when officers take a relaxed approach'.

SUSD would suggest that this supports our belief that a relaxed approach to allowing supporters to stand in certain managed areas, would be preferable for all concerned, to the current often confrontational approach of attempting to stop standing.

The Ashes cricket series ends with once again thousands of supporters standing at the Oval as England draw with Australia .

A weekend of Premiership games where many supporters were seen standing ends at Upton Park, where around 8,000 West Ham and 2,000 Aston Villa fans stand throughout the game. No attempts are made to get supporters to sit.

A letter is received from West Ham chairman Terrence Brown, stating that he has read our report with interest and congratulates us on the effort put into it.

As 4,000 West Ham fans stand throughout the game at Fulham, the excellent work of the stewards is noted in dealing with the few supporters who started smoking in contravention of the ground regulation. No efforts were however made to get supporters to sit.

As Grimsby beat Spurs in the Carling Cup, the whole ground is observed standing for the climax of the game.

The Daily Telegraph includes quotes from SUSD in an article on the front page of its sport section, with regard to the drop in Premiership attendances.

The Guardian carries a piece about Manchester United facing reduced ticket allocations for away fixtures this season after ‘being singled out by the Football Licensing Authority as posing a particularly high risk because of their supporters' refusal to sit down during matches'.

The article adds:

‘United have taken measures to encourage supporters to sit down, including writing letters and distributing leaflets from Chief Executive Martin Gill, the manager Sir Alex Ferguson and the captain Roy Keane. So far they have had no effect.'

The London Evening Standard gives coverage to SUSD and standing issue, in relation to reduced Premiership attendances, saying:

‘Several London Clubs have secretly given their backing to the idea of allowing sections of fans to stand up during home matches.  It is understood there is growing concern about the high turnover of stewards many of whom quote leaving after becoming fed up trying to enforce seating regulations.  The SUSD campaign - a fans pressure group - says the solution is to let fans, in designated areas, stand in their seats.  Many clubs privately agree but fear angering the FLA.  Man Utd, West Ham and Newcastle have all had their ticked allocations cut by the FLA due to their fans standing at away matches.'

At Upton Park 8,000 West Ham fans and around 1,500 Arsenal stand throughout the match. West Ham supporters in the Booby Moore Lower mockingly imitate stewards as they gesture to people to sit, and some sing ‘You might as well go home'. Some children stand on seats in order to see.

SUSD suggest that this is yet more evidence that it is unrealistic to believe that supporters can be forced to sit, and that the best solution is to provide designated standing areas.

SUSD would also suggest that to prevent the safety risk caused by standing on seats, clubs should advise supporters seeking to buy children's tickets for areas where supporters often stand, that this occurs, so that they can select another area if they prefer.

Yet another example of uncontrolled standing is seen as thousands of Man United fans stand throughout their game with Benfica.

A good example of self regulation by supporters is seen amongst the 400 visiting Torquay supporters at Leyton Orient. Seating is unallocated and about 50 fans choose to go to the back and stand throughout the game, while the remainder occupy middle and front rows, and sit.

As Liverpool play Chelsea in the Champions League, thousands of fans from both sides are seen to be standing.

Terraces are closed as Locotomiv Plovdiv play Bolton in the UEFA cup, but thousands of supporters stand in seated areas.