Lib Dem MP for Cheadle, Mark Hunter, responds to the FSF's report on the Oasis concerts at City of Manchester Stadium , saying:

‘Your report makes a strong case for removing the distinction between standing policies at football matches and at music events and I am personally sympathetic to the conclusions of the report and its recommendations.'

‘As a committed football supporter therefore, I am keen to be involved in any way I can when these matters are on the Parliamentary agenda and would ask that you pass on my details to relevant contacts if I can be of further assistance.'

Stand Up Sit Down take part in a 45 minute discussion and phone in on Radio London.

Two callers in particular highlight the need for separate standing areas:

One was from a steward who said that supporters won't sit, no matter what you do.

The other from a man who's 4 year old hated standing and was so scared he cried that and wouldn't go back to football.

SUSD responded by saying that it is clear that many supporters see no risk in standing, particularly as it is allowed at moments of excitement, so the simple solution to both callers would be designated standing areas, allowing people preferring to sit and with children to choose parts of the ground where they can sit amongst like minded supporters.

A survey of football grounds receives widespread publicity for it's comments on toilet facilities, but also coves site lines. The survey says that whilst site lines are generally good in newer grounds, they are often poor where seats have been bolted on to terraces.

This supports comments from our members who say that at some grounds they stand in order to get a better view.

Yet again thousands stand throughout an England game, this time at Old Trafford as Austria are beaten one nil.

BBC Ceefax carries an item warning Fulham fans that they could be banned from Craven Cottage if they continue to stand. The club is said to have promised to crack down hard on supporters who are persistently standing

Publicity on a website results in many FC United of Manchester supporters joining Stand Up Sit Down, most of whom say they prefer the atmosphere and being able to stand at Gigg Lane .

Stand Up Sit Down membership reaches 3000. We have members supporting every league club and many non league. Most say they prefer to stand, but a significant proportion wish to sit. Members range from aged 13 to over 70, and include a good proportion of women, the majority of whom say they prefer to stand.

The London Evening Standard carries a report saying that complaints about buses have almost quadrupled in the 3 years.

8 in 10 complaints were about driver causing inconvenience because they pull away abruptly before passengers can sit down plus 3 other main reasons.

The report from the London Assembly transport committee stated that fewer seats are available on modern buses means more people are standing making them vulnerable to sudden movements.

Stand Up Sit Down wait with interest to see what action will be taken re passengers being put at risk through standing.

Thousands of England and Polish supporters stand throughout the World Cup qualifier at Old Trafford. Poland were allocated the upper tier but still most of their fans stood.

Stand Up Sit Down are told of insensitive and aggressive stewarding at the Man City v Bolton game on 18 th September.

Stewards are said to be shouting aggressively at City supporters who stood even at moments of excitement such as when City hit the bar. Police were called and reportedly grabbed a supporter and random, and treated him roughly, virtually throwing him down the steps. It is commented that the treatment of this supporter put him at far greater risk than would any standing. The supporter has had his season ticket confiscated by the club for ‘persistent standing', something which he denies.

This is yet another example of unnecessary conflict caused by heavy handed stewards attempting to force supporters to sit.

Aston Villa's full allocation of 3000, who paid £45.00 to watch their team at Birmingham , stand throughout. No PA announcements were made requesting supporters to sit, and neither City's stewards, or those who accompanied the visitors from Villa, made any effort to get them sit .

Crystal Palace Chairman Simon Jordan speaks out in favour of standing areas in his Observer column. Jordan says:

‘We and all the other clubs aren't going to do anything developing atmosphere unless we're able to reverse one thing: the ban on terraces.'

‘Watching football is a passionate, emotional experience.'

‘Today fans are standing in seated areas at grounds across Britain , contravening ground regulations by behaving totally naturally'.

‘The F.L.A. tell clubs to force fans to sit down, or face having sections of seating closed. It's bizarre that clubs should be financially punished. OK, if I was going on the tannoy and demanding our fans stand up for 90 minutes then fine, charge me, take action against us. But if I'm trying to do the exact opposite – trying everything reasonable – what then?'

‘Stewards constantly ask fans to sit, and we've even tried writing to repeat offenders threatening to withdraw tickets – a ridiculous threat for a business to make to its customers: stop enjoying my product.'

‘They need to explain two things:

•  How long is it all right to stand up for, under FLA guidelines? Which bean counter defines that? Should we have someone with a stopwatch telling us how long we're allotted for standing after a goal, or during a red card or a sustained attack?

2) Exactly what other measures do they suggest clubs take? I'm lost for ideas. Maybe they'd like to install seat belts for away fans, with airline-style stewards making sure belts are on at all times. And shouldn't there be a campaign under FLA guidelines to ban the Mexican wave? It's our responsibility to adhere to the regulations that are in place, but what if they are unenforceable?'

‘The only way to sort out this mess is to acknowledge that safe standing areas are not only realistic, but desirable.'

‘New evidence suggests that the difference in safety between small, controlled, well-engineered standing zones and seating is negligible. Some studies suggest that restrictive seating is actually more dangerous. And when people jump out of their seats you get more movement in the stadium structure than you do if people are constantly standing.'

‘The Government need to read and assess the new research, to know that what they're enforcing via the FLA is a totally lien version of spectating.'

‘People have been saying football's going away from it's roots.--- If there's a better way to win back some of what we have loved about football in the past, I'd like to know what it is.'

A week after Manchester City supporters are subjecting to over zealous stewarding forcing them to sit, West Ham fans in the lower tier at City of Manchester Stadium, and many in the upper, stand throughout the game, with no efforts made to get them to sit.

Stand Up Sit Down would once again ask why there are such inconsistencies in the authority's attempts to prevent standing.

Leeds supporters tell Stand Up Sit Down about overbearing stewarding at their fixture with Southampton . Many Leeds supporters feel very strongly about this whole issue and feel they are being treated very badly by stewards.

As Bolton play their UEFA cup fixture in Istanbul , fire engines are kept in the ground. The reason for this becomes clear at the end of the game when Turkish fans light bonfires.

In the UK supporters are being ejected or banned for simply standing, yet across Europe fans are not stopped from standing, racial abuse, lighting flares and now even bonfires. The FLA has attempted to justify why UK fans must sit, while standing is permitted elsewhere, by saying that the culture of supporters is different here. Stand Up Sit Down would agree that it certainly is - our behaviour is far better than what is regularly seen in many other European countries.

Interviewed on radio following Bolton's match in Turkey , manager Sam Allardyce mentions the Besiktas fans standing and the noise being deafening after they scored and compared it to England where we now have to sit and the atmosphere is disappearing.

A questionnaire carried out by Millwall Supporters Club did a recent questionnaire contains the question -

"Do you think there should be designated areas of the ground where you will be allowed to stand throughout the game, thereby introducing a choice for fans?"

  Of the 567 who responded to this question, 334 said yes, 160 said no and 73 said indifferent.

Stand Up Sit Down  would point out that this 2 – 1 vote in favour of standing areas is yet more evidence that the FLA 's argument that not even a significant number want to stand is totally ludicrous .

The Football League and Premier League have produced a short film for use on giant screens, concourse televisions and club websites called ‘Sit Down If You Love Football'. 

The electronic version of the film can be downloaded from the following page on the Football League website or viewed through this link 

http://www.football-league.premiumtv.co.uk/page/VideoDownload

Whilst agreeing that children should be able to attend matches without their view being blocked by standing supporters, Stand Up Sit Down believe that the best way of achieving this is to allowing designated areas for those wishing to stand. We believe that experience has shown that education and sanctions will not prevent standing and that a more realistic approach needs to be taken.

As Luton play Norwich virtually all 1800 travelling fans stand throughout, many forced to do so by the notoriously cramped seats on the converted terrace. One elderly gentleman is unable to stand and sits with his view blocked for the first 25 minutes of the match. A steward then kindly finds him an empty seat at the front , albeit it below pitch level.

Stand Up Sit Down's proposals for designated standing areas, would allow those supporters who are unable to stand, are of short stature, or simply prefer to sit, to buy tickets in the bulk of the ground that would be for sitting only. A simple solution that would help many supporters such as this gentleman from Norwich

A Newcastle supporter tells Stand Up Sit Down :

The derby match with Sunderland was the best
atmosphere St James has seen in years, a lot was due to the fact that 3,000 Sunderland fans and 2,000 Newcastle fans stood for the full 90mins in the level 7 of the leazes end, we feel this atmosphere helped our team on to a victory. PS. Keep up the great work!! We can win this battle.'

A Bournemouth supporter joining Stand Up Sit Down tells us about a common sense solution to the issue in Australia :

‘I read with interest on the AFCB rivals site about SUSD campaign and though I now live in Oz thought this may help your cause as I long miss the days of standing on the terraces back then moving around to chat with mates here and there.

I now watch my local team Queensland Roar in the newly formed professional A-League here and at the first few games there were problems with the coppers wanting to throw out those standing up behind the goal. The ground is Suncorp Stadium, a brand new 50,000 all seater where they played a few of the Rugby World Cup games. The main reason for the police acting like this was that they had complaints from season ticket holders in the same section who wanted to sit. Well common sense prevailed and there was a meeting between the landlord (Suncorp), the club and various supporter bodies. The club realised how important these supporters are in creating an atmosphere and wanted to accommodate them (standing) so everyone could be happy. The club called all season ticket holders in this bay and asked them if they wished to move as it was to be a standing area. Now this whole bay is standing and tickets are reserved for supporters groups and advice given about the standing when people wish to buy near this area. Also tickets are not sold for the couple of rows down each bay on either side as a seated view from here would probably be partially obstructed.

It seems to be a great solution and they do not seem unduly worried about any safety issues, and believe me they love clamping down on anything deemed to be possibly to breach H&S regulations over here.'

The Leicester Mercury carries an article by Karam Radwam following ejections at the recent Leicester v Coventry match.

Interesting extracts from the article are:

‘The right to the freedom to express yourself has been growing throughout my lifetime - except in the place I hold it most dearly. Now, expressing yourself at a football match has become as unwelcome as a bird with the sneezes.'

' But Saturday afternoon was the one time you could have off. It was a time you could stand up, vent your spleen at a stranger, sit back down again and no-one batted an eyelid. '

' Not now. There are cameras watching your every move. There are announcements over the Tannoy asking Mr Bloggs in Row Z of Block Z to sit down or face a lifetime ban.'

' If you dare stand up and shout at the ref you suddenly notice that you are no longer invisible, people are tutting at the grown-up lady who should know better. Never mind little Johnny hears worse in the school playground, this is no place for such language.'

But, amid it all, a melee broke out at the back of the Kop. Various suggestions have been made as to what made the stewards go in mob-handed to eject two fans. Rumours that

they had complained rather loudly that their coffee was a tad on the cold side may have been exaggerated. '

' Racism and outright incitement to violence aside, the only reason you should be evicted from a ground is if you are brawling with the person next to you.'

' Mention unreserved standing-only areas, and safety regulations come back at you faster than a steward from the back of the stand. '

' But if the intention is to make going to football the same as the cinema or the theatre, you are going to end up with the same atmosphere and people only turning up every month or so.

'How long before the Tannoy announcer will be yelling: 'And now . . . ensure you've switched off your mobile'.

Stand Up Sit Down are contacted by a Southampton supporter concerned about heavy handed stewarding at St Marys'.

The supporter says:

I sit in the Northam stand (season ticket holder) which is to the right of the away fans as you face the pitch. We have huge problems with the stewards. I am in row E and we mostly do sit, through choice, but from about row M and above they like to stand. We all know that, we accept that if we didn't want to stand we wouldn't get a ticket there. When the tickets are sold it could be pointed out that most people choose to stand there. We are getting very fed up when a soon as corner has been taken we get, SIT DOWN in our ears. Give us a chance!! We say 'what about them behind us' oh we start at the bottom, Please back off. Often away fans are standing and on pointing this out to a policeman once (it was Man Utd) his reply was 'there are more of them than us'.

Interestingly, about 3 weeks ago we were all stood because a player was down injured, stewards tried to get us to sit but we had noticed a clause in the club statement which says, fans must sit when play is in progress. Well it wasn't was it? Last week the steward involved came back to us and said we were right!!!!! The statement also says fans may stand when it is exciting, who decides what is exciting?'

As 2000 of West Ham's 3000 allocation at Liverpool stand throughout the game, two PA announcements are greeted with ‘Stand Up if you love West Ham' resulting in more not less standing.

Some supporters complain that children cannot see, and others that they want to stand. Stand Up Sit Down would propose an informal arrangement where supporters can request near the front. All those requesting this would be allocated front rows, leaving those preferring to stand further back, where they will not block the view of others.

Buses taking Liverpool and West Ham supporters to Anfield are heavily overcrowded, with many supporters standing in unsuitable positions, such as on stairs and against the front windscreen.

Stand Up Sit Down have often raised the inconsistency of passive standing being banned in football grounds, yet being permitted on moving vehicles, which are often loaded above capacity.

Ipswich supporters complain to Stand Up Sit Down about heavy handed stewards at in the North Stand at Portman Road , where many supporters wish to stand. Some supporters are said to have been banned for standing.

Supporters complain of heavy handed stewarding over standing at Middlesboro v Man Utd.

It is suggested by some supporters that  ‘stewards and police were there to prevent trouble and now that trouble has largely vanished inside grounds so they have found a new purpose for their presence and they have created a sort of moral code that is open to interpretation, and can be adjusted to suit what ever agenda they want. They are now the thought police who think they have carte blanch over the crowd.'

West Ham supporters in the front row are forced to stand at Anfield towards the end of the game, as stewards on the pitch perimeter block their view.

Leeds supporters, unable to purchase tickets for the away section due to a reduced allocation, buy seats in home areas of the Madjeski Stadium

Whilst there was apparently no trouble, Stand Up Sit Down have persistently maintained that if away ticket allocations are cut, then it is possible that some dedicated supporters will do their best to purchase a ticket, even if it means them sitting with the home support.

Several supporters from Millwall's 164 following to Plymouth are ejected for standing.

Supporters complain of aggressive stewarding which left a 13 year old girl in tears and a 57 year old man ejected.