Stand up for your right to Stand!

If you’re fed up with having to pay over the odds for a seat you don’t want and you think that terracing should be re-introduced in the top two divisions, you’ll be glad to know that the Football Supporters’ Federation and are hard at work on your behalf.

Since the clubs in the top two divisions were forced to go all-seater in the summer of 1994, ticket prices have gone through the roof, while stadium capacities have been limited so it can be hard to get tickets for matches, especially for away games. Every survey on the issue has shown that many fans prefer to stand, but so far the Government and the Premier League have refused to budge and allow the re-introduction of terracing.

But thankfully the onward march of technology is on our side, and things are very different in Germany, where clubs in the top flight have kept their large standing areas with the aid of new stadium designs, which ensure that terracing can be used without any fear of a repeat of the Hillsborough disaster. For years the Football Supporters' Federation (FSF) has campaigned for these systems to be introduced to British grounds, and they have now enlisted the support of MP Roger Godsiff .

Godsiff has tabled Early Day Motion 573 which calls for the introduction of pilot safe standing areas in the Premier League and Championship. In other words one or two clubs in the top divisions will be allowed to introduce safe standing to demonstrate that with the latest technology terracing can be re-introduced without any problems, with the benefit of allowing a modest increase in stadium capacity and reduction in ticket prices.

And if the government could be persuaded to allow such a trial, we won’t be short of volunteers to put the idea into practise. The latest clubs in the top two divisions to declare their support for the FSF’s campaign are Burnley and Watford, following on from Aston Villa, Bristol City, Crystal Palace, Derby County, Hull City, Peterborough United.

This is where you come in, as the more MPs who sign EDM 573, the more likely the Government will listen and act. We need to prove to them that the majority of supporters do want to have the choice whether to sit or to stand, so we need as many fans as possible to ask their MP to sign the EDM.

Please click here for more information about the FSF and the campaign, to find out how you can contact your MP, and what else you can do to help.

Then one day we can make top flight football affordable for the masses once again and get the atmosphere back into our football grounds.

What to read next: