At today's international games Wale's entire support is noted standing in the Czech Republic , as is one end of Windsor Park as Northern Ireland play Iceland .

300 of Brighton's 750 fans at Bristol City stand throughout, ignoring stewards who ask them to sit.

Two thirds of Aston Villa's 2000 supporters stand throughout the match at Upton Park, with the front rows choosing to sit. As usual several thousand West Ham fans stand in the Bobby Moore Lower & Centenary Lower.

100 – 200 Newcastle fans at the back of Sir John Hall Tier 7 (a very high upper tier), stand for the whole game v Fulham, with no efforts made to get them to sit.

100 of Charlton's 1000 support (reduced by high ticket prices) at Chelsea stand throughout.

At Ipswich v Coventry the entire North Stand Lower stand for the whole game, with an excellent atmosphere created.

All 2000 Norwich fans stand throughout the game at Southend. Stewards make no efforts to get supporters to sit, and two PA announcements are met with ironic cheers.

An estimated 30,000 (home & away fans) stand as Man Utd play Celtic at Old Trafford, with a superb atmosphere created.

West Ham v Palermo
Despite receiving letters threatening they would be banned for persistent standing the entire Centenary Lower & Dr Martins corner, plus most of the Bobby Moore Lower stood for the whole game. Around 8000 total.
All of Palermo 's 1000 or so fans stood.
Alan Pardew & the man on the PA had urged supporters to make much noise and no efforts were made to get people to sit.

Stand Up Sit Down would ask that if it is a safety matter why do fans get hassle from stewards at lesser games, but no efforts made at all to get us to sit when they want us to make a lot of noise for big games? The answer is of course it's not a safety matter.

Most of Spurs' away support in Prague stand for the whole game.

Stand Up Sit Down receive a copy of a report ‘Football and its Communities' produced for the Football Foundation in May 2006. Research for the report had been carried out from October 2002 to October 2005, by a team of five researches from Manchester Metropolitan and Sheffield Hallam Universities . The report makes the following observations and recommendations with regard to standing:

‘Throughout this research, supporters regularly raised with us the issue of standing in stadia and its potential to improving atmosphere at games. They expressed their frustration at not being able to stand in seated areas in grounds, but more fundamentally questioned why new stadia could not incorporate ‘safe standing' areas as currently used in countries such as Germany. Standing areas can promote supporter community inclusion through cheaper prices, more flexibility stadia configurations, and by creating spaces for fans to watch friends with friends and families.

We recommend therefore that this issue should now be re-considered by government and the other relevant authorities. '

Stand Up Sit Down welcome this recommendation and urge the Government and authorities to take note of the recommendation.

Stand Up Sit Down write to the FLA asking them to define ‘persistent standing' as follows:

Dear Mr De Quidt

The term ‘Persistent Standing' is frequently used with regard to standing in seated areas, but its exact definition appears unclear.

The interpretation of ‘persistent standing' seems to vary, and we believe that this is contributing to confusion and inconsistency as to the degree of standing (if any) that is deemed acceptable.

For example:

The Ground Regulations at Upton Park say that ‘Standing in seated areas is not permitted whilst the game is in progress', but that ‘Persistent standing is strictly forbidden and may result in ejection'.

Some clubs have said it is acceptable to stand provided that this is not for the whole game, one has told supporters that they define persistent standing as standing for more than half the game, but at others stewards only tolerate standing for a few seconds after a goal is scored. Some say you may stand at ‘moments of excitement', one club said ‘when the team is attacking', and another ‘at exciting periods of play'. Some clubs only seem concerned about standing at lesser fixtures, and for their major matches encourage supporters to make as much noise as possible, making no attempt to get them to sit.
Neither clubs nor supporters seem clear as to exactly what is meant by ‘persistent standing', or when it is considered acceptable for supporters to stand.

To use my own experience as an example. I have attended all six West Ham fixtures this season. At Watford and Liverpool, and at home to Palermo I stood for the whole match, which is clearly ‘persistent standing'. However, at the home game v Charlton I stood for around 60% of the time, the Villa game around 50% and Newcastle about 35%. Do these constitute ‘persistent standing'?

Yesterday (v Newcastle) I got out of my seat a total of 39 times for the following reasons: To let people past, at times of excitement, at moments of controversy, to applaud outstanding play, to applaud players leaving or joining the game at substitutions and occasionally to gain a better view of incidents in the far quarter of the pitch, which is now restricted from certain seats since West Ham erected new goals with a finer mesh and horizontal top. Other than the last 10 minutes of the game, I didn't remain standing for longer than about 3 minutes each time. Is this persistent standing? Is it acceptable? By standing at all during play I was breaking the ground regulation, but am I at risk of ejection (and banning) for persistent standing?

It would be very helpful to all concerned if the FLA could provide a clear definition of ‘persistent standing' and guidance as to when you consider it acceptable for supporters to stand.

Thank you.

Yours sincerely

Aston Villa's entire away support of 2800 at Scunthorpe stand for the whole game. Two PA announcements are met with chants of ‘Stand up if you love Villa'. Villa supporters comment that why should they sit when home fans were permitted to stand on the terrace opposite.

All of Newcastle 's support at Liverpool stand for the whole game.

Around 700 of the 1700 Wycombe supporters stand for their League Cup game at Fulham.

Disgusted at the ejection of supporters for standing, a West Ham supporter writes to the club asking for a refund on his season ticket:

RE: Refund of my Season Ticket/reasons therefore:

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing a letter to you regarding the recent home game against Newcastle United on the 17th September 2006.
I have followed West Ham United all my life but on Sunday the straw finally broke the camel's back for me and at this moment in time I cannot attend games due to the state of the game it is in, today. I, along with many other disgruntled fans in the Centenary Stand Lower were succumbed to what can only be described as 'bully boy tactics' enforced by stewards and the police on being made to remain seated throughout the entire match, or risk our season tickets being revoked due to 'persistent standing'. I found this behaviour highly unacceptable and felt appalled that us, 'The Loyal Fans', who essentially keep the Club going, had been subjected to such conditions, when you consider the high cost of attending a game nowadays comes to.

By requesting everyone to remain seated throughout a match it effectively kills off all atmosphere generated by the faithful in the ground that helps spur on our team. And to rub salt into the wounds even more, not ONCE were the away following (Newcastle United fans) asked to be seated, giving them an obvious advantage in supporting their team over ours. You could not only see a visible difference but you could also hear it in the Boleyn Ground, that the subsequent effect it had on both teams, which only achieved in getting a rewarding result for Newcastle United. And quite frankly I don't blame the away fans who remained stood in defiance, one bit. They, just as we would have (like Palermo atmosphere), sounded terrific and passionate throughout, something that simply cannot be replicated by sitting down. The result of the game for me as it turned out on Sunday was irrelevant, due to the more concerning issues we were having in the stands. And as I agreed with my fellow season ticket holders around me at half time, I would remain seated for the entire duration of the second half as requested by the stewards. I would thus applaud the subsequent goals Newcastle United would no doubt score and who would then probably go on to win in the second half. All this due to the majority of, 'Loyal West Ham United Fans', being made to remain seated throughout, even during times of sheer excitement. And that's exactly what happened and came as no coincidence to me and my fellow season ticket holders around me of what unfolded out on the pitch.

Season upon season you are going to find that the 'Loyal Fans' will and have been turning their backs on a once proud Club, because they are being made to feel like a criminal just for simply attending a match stood up, cheering on their team. I fully accept this is not just an epidemic exclusive to West Ham United but across the whole board, nationwide, with every other Club and loyal fans being victimised for just supporting their teams as loud and as proud as possible, by means of just standing. And the repercussions are going to be very damaging to all Football Clubs like West Ham United, if this carries on for much longer as the lack of atmosphere, usually generated from these pockets of standing fans, which becomes infectious throughout the whole ground, are eventually stopped from over zealous enforcing of unreasonable regulations of watching a match standing up. Football in this country, if it doesn't reverse the problem, will find itself disappearing and the 'Loyal Fans' you once relied on for far too long, taking us for granted, will subsequently turn their backs on you forever, if you don't help us to help you, now. Something I, along with many other fans thought we would never have to ever do. It brings us to tears but evidently we are left with little choice whatsoever right now, until the day it changes back to some quarters of the ground being allowed to stand, as with all Stadia in Britain should be. So we can all get fully behind our teams respectively without being subjected to being threatened constantly by stewards and police to sit at every single opportunity we stand, just like on Sunday and the countless other games over the past couple of years now.

I can also appreciate it's not necessarily the Clubs fault for enforcing such behaviour and it's more to do with Government/Newham Council and FLA pressure, but together we can surely find a suitable solution to suit everyone who wishes to remain seated in the majority of the ground and for just a small section of the BML (i) and CSL (ii) to remain standing. I hear the argument it is because of safety but standing in front of a designated seat has no bearing on safety whatsoever, just as Lord Justice Taylor suggested in The Taylor Report that clearly highlights – ‘Standing accommodation is not intrinsically unsafe' Lord Justice Taylor 1989. If so, how comes for instance the Newcastle United away following and most away fans remain standing throughout an entire game don't suffer from injuries etc, that we are being made to believe, when it just doesn't exist?

One other point I'd like to make, is some people say, 'well if you don't like it, don't attend', but people who say this, just don't get it. West Ham isn't like any other lines of business where I can simply choose to go elsewhere, like if I'm not happy with the service and value for money I get from Tesco's I instead choose to go shopping at ASDA. No, West Ham United and Football is in the blood, it's not just a saying, it's true. The way I've been brought up by my father who has been to every Cup Final going has instilled the passion and heart for West Ham in me and it'll never leave me till the day I die. I have no choice, but I won't be made to feel a victim in my own Club just for supporting my team standing up, roaring on the team as loud as ever.

After a lot of contemplating, I am asking for a refund on my Season Ticket this season (until rules are relaxed once more then I shall return), and from reading this letter I am sure you can understand my reasons behind it. Obviously I do not expect a refund on the games I have already attended but a refund from the Reading home game onwards, please.

Please could you also pass a copy of this letter onto the Chairman Terence Brown, John Ball the safety officer, Paul Aldridge, Steve Kitchener, Alan Pardew and anyone else connected within the Club and/or the FLA/Council/Government, so they too can hear what is actually being said in the stands and what the fans want, so to enjoy the beautiful game and are therefore fully aware of the issues at hand. I still believe in the Club to represent us, 'The Loyal Fans', so we can make a stand together. Then hopefully enjoy more memorable nights like the one on Thursday at home to Palermo in what I can only best describe as my BEST EVER night at the Boleyn Ground. Freely standing, cheering on my beloved with everyone else around me. Whilst hoisting up my huge West Ham Flag, which incidentally also passed over head, along the CSL and DML (iii) to the half way line on Sunday. We 'The Loyal Fans' make no end of sacrifices on following and spending out vast amounts of money and time on the Club and to ask to stand in designated areas in front of our seats as it is, is not asking for too much to ask, surely?

I'd like to take this opportunity in thanking you for taking the time in reading this letter and I look forward to your immediate response regarding this difficult matter.

Yours Faithfully,

23rd September 2006

Around 1800 of Middlesbrough 's 3000 supporters at Sheffield United stand for the whole game, with the remainder standing for long periods. No attempts are made to get them to sit.

Stand Up Sit Down note the widespread standing reported this season (we have posted information on only a small proportion of games where supporters stood). As it is clear that the clubs, local authorities, FLA & Government are unable to get supporters to sit, we once again urge them to adopt our solution of managing the situation, rather than either ignoring it or using heavy handed and unnecessary tactics to try to stop standing.

Stand Up Sit Down receive the following letter from FLA Chief Executive John de Quidt, in reply to our request for him to provide a definition of ‘persistent standing'.

ear Peter

Thank you for your letter of 18th September.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines 'persistent' as 'continuing obstinately', 'enduring' or 'constantly repeated'.

The precise interpretation of this in each case must rest with the individual club, having regard to the configuration of the area concerned and the club's risk assessment.

With best wishes

John De Quidt