Safe Standing and Atmosphere

[Oohaah! Bob Bookah!]

I like to stand at matches so applaud the club in making this move, but what about all those that prefer to sit that are now in the safe standing areas. will they be forced to move to the seating areas?

 

[Bladeloyal]

At Anfield the Kop stands the whole game, no rail seating no ones dares say a word about it or even suggests what they are doing is unsafe

Liverpool have 13300 safe standing rail seats

 

[Panini]

At Anfield the Kop stands the whole game, no rail seating no ones dares say a word about it or even suggests what they are doing is unsafe

Did you consider checking this bollocks before posting it?

The Kop at Anfield is 100% rail seats.

 

[HighfieldBlade]

Seats remain where they are. Basically a barrier in front of you and you are allowed to stand. Its not the traditional standing as we knew it. You'll still be in your usual position and can't move around the Kop.

Thanks for the answer.
Here's me thinking you could move freely within the designated standing area!

 

[Harry's Game]

Did you consider checking this bollocks before posting it?

The Kop at Anfield is 100% rail seats.

Not a rail seat in sight

 

[Karaoke Blade]

Not a rail seat in sight

View attachment 220833

Liverpool announce safe standing expansion for ENTIRE Kop

Another big development at Anfield.

www.thisisanfield.com

 

[Harry's Game]

Liverpool announce safe standing expansion for ENTIRE Kop

Another big development at Anfield.

www.thisisanfield.com

They have stood in those seats for a decade with nothing been said regardless if they have installed them in the last few weeks

 

[Panini]

Not a rail seat in sight

View attachment 220833

That's an old picture, from a 2022 article with a headline of "Announcement - Rail seating to be expanded in the Kop"

Here's Liverpool announcing in April 2024 that "the remainder" of the Kop will have rail seating for the start of 2024/25:

Rail seating to be installed in remainder of the Kop - Liverpool FC

Liverpool FC can confirm rail seating will be installed in the remainder of the Kop for the 2024-25 season.

www.liverpoolfc.com

 

[Harry's Game]

That's an old picture, from a 2022 article with a headline of "Announcement - Rail seating to be expanded in the Kop"

Here's Liverpool announcing in April 2024 that "the remainder" of the Kop will have rail seating for the start of 2024/25:

Rail seating to be installed in remainder of the Kop - Liverpool FC

Liverpool FC can confirm rail seating will be installed in the remainder of the Kop for the 2024-25 season.

www.liverpoolfc.com

View attachment 220834

They have all stood in those seats for a decade or more.. the tv pictures are easy to find on any YouTube video from back when Gerrard was playing and nothing was said or done about it

 

[Panini]

They have all stood in those seats for a decade or more.. the tv pictures are easy to find on any YouTube video from back when Gerrard was playing and nothing was said or done about it

Again there are easy-to-find examples of Liverpool supporters being ejected for persistent standing, Liverpool contacting supporters to remind them of the stadium regulations (which became more of an issue when some but not all of the Kop was rail seated) and Liverpool's concerns at the risk of having to reduce capacity.

Let's ignore that for a second ... fans in every single home end have stood up for decades. What's your point?

 

[HighfieldBlade]

Well I’m right above the letter S and I’ve paid for a seat this season so I shall be sitting come what may ( given the start to the season I don’t suppose I will be missing much), I know a lot of people around me (practically all of them actually) are not happy at this being foist upon them with zero consultation, so I’m guessing the atmosphere will be significantly worse rather than improved. UTB

Apologies mate, I only just read this post now. This would've answered my earlier daft question.
Also, very very poor of the club not to let you know beforehand that your seat falls within the designated standing area.

 

[Panini]

Reading back over the club's announcement ten days ago:



They were possibly waiting for the work to be completed and, now we don't have a home game for 3 weeks, will be contacting ticket holders in the affected area.

It's unfortunate if you're in this area and don't want it, but the reality is you're in a minority.

The club will be telling you it's happened and asking what you want to do. They won't be asking for your permission to do it.

 

[Pedro's Winger]

Reading back over the club's announcement ten days ago:

View attachment 220838

They were possibly waiting for the work to be completed and, now we don't have a home game for 3 weeks, will be contacting ticket holders in the affected area.

It's unfortunate if you're in this area and don't want it, but the reality is you're in a minority.

The club will be telling you it's happened and asking what you want to do. They won't be asking for your permission to do it.

We've got maybe a thousand fans who want to stand all game and that's absolutely fine and should be accommodated.
Don't think it's likely we've got a third of the kop who want it.

 

[nopigfansintown]

i can assume that the reason you didn’t say the actual number is because it was so small. How about this, we restrict the number of safe standing places to the number of people on the kop who voted for it. I’m going to guess it’s less than 1000. Anyway it’s a fait accompli now so I don’t suppose it matters. UTB

I believe it was 40,000. Or maybe I just don't know. It isn't relevant information so I couldn't care less tbh. Did you take part in the democratic process and get your voice heard?

 

[LBA_Blade]

We've got maybe a thousand fans who want to stand all game and that's absolutely fine and should be accommodated.
Don't think it's likely we've got a third of the kop who want it.

I wonder if a full consultation would have been done, could it have been trailed for whole of the old Pukka pie/North East Corner to be turned into rail seating. Inviting season ticket transfers giving 1st choice to anyone already there. If they didn't want to, they could be re-seated elsewhere but without the need to upset the kop "lifers" although I am not there. I know there are season ticket holders on the kop that have been there for decades, the Pukka pie stand would have been easier to invite people in. I think it has a capacity of about 900, then if the trial was successful based on results with the Kop, they could have not gone down as far say a further 1000 rather than a straight 3,000.

 

[nopigfansintown]

When was this please?

It was either during Prince's sole ownership or just before iirc. It was discussed at a fan's forum I attended. Bettis has recognised the mandate for change on a few occasions but under the previous ownership it was somewhat neutered by the "when the ground is developed" disclaimer.

Fans should keep their eyes out for club related questionnaires, surveys et al. The last one was re the fanzone.

 

[Panini]

We've got maybe a thousand fans who want to stand all game and that's absolutely fine and should be accommodated.
Don't think it's likely we've got a third of the kop who want it.

The survey the club conducted polled 500 supporters. Obviously that doesn't include everyone on the Kop but it's fair to say it's a reasonable sample size that will capture the majority of opinions from one extreme to the other.

91% wanted to trial safe standing within two years.

88% wanted its introduction right now.

91% felt the Kop would be the best area to install it.

86% believed it will improve the stadium atmosphere.

If you believe we only have 1000 fans who want to stand then that's fine, but 455 out of the 500 who were asked said they did.

 

[Pedro's Winger]

I wonder if a full consultation would have been done, could it have been trailed for whole of the old Pukka pie/North East Corner to be turned into rail seating. Inviting season ticket transfers giving 1st choice to anyone already there. If they didn't want to, they could be re-seated elsewhere but without the need to upset the kop "lifers" although I am not there. I know there are season ticket holders on the kop that have been there for decades, the Pukka pie stand would have been easier to invite people in. I think it has a capacity of about 900, then if the trial was successful based on results with the Kop, they could have not gone down as far say a further 1000 rather than a straight 3,000.

I think the Dairylea is aimed at families and it was always going to be the kop and there's no problem with the idea in itself.
But they didn't consult and as far as I know didn't advise people this would happen when they sold season tickets which could leave them open to challenge over mis selling.
I thought they'd go as far as where the aisles narrow at most but instead they've taken a large chunk of the stand.

 

[nopigfansintown]

The survey the club conducted polled 500 supporters. Obviously that doesn't include everyone on the Kop but it's fair to say it's a reasonable sample size that will capture the majority of opinions from one extreme to the other.

91% wanted to trial safe standing within two years.

88% wanted its introduction right now.

91% felt the Kop would be the best area to install it.

86% believed it will improve the stadium atmosphere.

If you believe we only have 1000 fans who want to stand then that's fine, but 455 out of the 500 who were asked said they did.

Thanks for that

 

[Pedro's Winger]

The survey the club conducted polled 500 supporters. Obviously that doesn't include everyone on the Kop but it's fair to say it's a reasonable sample size that will capture the majority of opinions from one extreme to the other.

91% wanted to trial safe standing within two years.

88% wanted its introduction right now.

91% felt the Kop would be the best area to install it.

86% believed it will improve the stadium atmosphere.

If you believe we only have 1000 fans who want to stand then that's fine, but 455 out of the 500 who were asked said they did.

Surely the people to ask were the actual people who sit in the seats affected not just a random survey.
It wasn't the 500 who were asked, it was the 500 who responded.

 

[Valley Blade]

It was either during Prince's sole ownership or just before iirc. It was discussed at a fan's forum I attended. Bettis has recognised the mandate for change on a few occasions but under the previous ownership it was somewhat neutered by the "when the ground is developed" disclaimer.

Fans should keep their eyes out for club related questionnaires, surveys et al. The last one was re the fanzone.

It shouldn't be our responsibility to go looking for things like this. We should have each received a simple communication asking for our opinion. If you don't respond to that then fair enough, but to risk upsetting a sizable percentage of 3,000 people is not right, in my opinion.

 

[Panini]

Surely the people to ask were the actual people who sit in the seats affected not just a random survey.
It wasn't the 500 who were asked, it was the 500 who responded.

I can't find details of this and it's possible they weren't disclosed but I'm a season ticket in a different stand and I didn't receive the survey.

The club may well have tried to survey the affected ticket holders, or picked 1000 from within that area and taken the first 500 responses.

Either way, we've no reason to believe otherwise. Why would 91% of John Street season ticket holders say they want rail seats on the Kop? It stands to logic that the responders are from the Kop.

 

[Valley Blade]

The survey the club conducted polled 500 supporters. Obviously that doesn't include everyone on the Kop but it's fair to say it's a reasonable sample size that will capture the majority of opinions from one extreme to the other.

91% wanted to trial safe standing within two years.

88% wanted its introduction right now.

91% felt the Kop would be the best area to install it.

86% believed it will improve the stadium atmosphere.

If you believe we only have 1000 fans who want to stand then that's fine, but 455 out of the 500 who were asked said they did.

Its not a reasonable sample size at all. Its 5% of the people it might affect. Was it made clear to the 500 they might in effect lose their seat? How many of the 500 actually sit on the Kop? Do we know that? Easy to vote for something if you don't think it will affect you. I highly doubt the vast majority of the 3,000 will be in favour of this. The 3,000 who really count, not the 500.

 

[Pedro's Winger]

I can't find details of this and it's possible they weren't disclosed but I'm a season ticket in a different stand and I didn't receive the survey.

The club may well have tried to survey the affected ticket holders, or picked 1000 from within that area and taken the first 500 responses.

Either way, we've no reason to believe otherwise. Why would 91% of John Street season ticket holders say they want rail seats on the Kop? It stands to logic that the responders are from the Kop.

Given we don't know who responded we've no idea where they sit.
If you're going to affect 3,000 seats the club should have asked all season ticket holders in that area.

 

[nopigfansintown]

Panini was there a more generalised survey from the club? I'm pretty sure I filled on one that was about myriad things with a section about safe standing. I'm sure someone has the whole history of the "standing movement", its interaction with the club and the fam consultation that has happened. It'd be interesting to get chapter and verse.

 

[Panini]

Its not a reasonable sample size at all. Its 5% of the people it might affect. Was it made clear to the 500 they might in effect lose their seat? How many of the 500 actually sit on the Kop? Do we know that? Easy to vote for something if you don't think it will affect you. I highly doubt the vast majority of the 3,000 will be in favour of this. The 3,000 who really count, not the 500.

I've explained my understanding of how these things work, and why.

It's not up to me to justify the process or convince you.

You can email the club via the dedicated address on the official announcement last week.

For what it's worth, the EFL conducted a wider survey in 2018 that had 33,000 responses. The results were published on the Blades website. Key points:

 

[Panini]

Given we don't know who responded we've no idea where they sit.
If you're going to affect 3,000 seats the club should have asked all season ticket holders in that area.

By extension, we don't know they didn't do that and take the first 500 responses.

 

[Pedro's Winger]

By extension, we don't know they didn't do that and take the first 500 responses.

I'm one of them and pretty sure I wasn't told when I renewed and wasn't asked just simply told it was happening.

 

[Panini]

Panini was there a more generalised survey from the club? I'm pretty sure I filled on one that was about myriad things with a section about safe standing. I'm sure someone has the whole history of the "standing movement", its interaction with the club and the fam consultation that has happened. It'd be interesting to get chapter and verse.

I've also filled a survey in that covered many topics including safe standing.

I can't find it but I'm sure it was from Stand United , who is undoubtedly the reference point overall here.

 

[the young spaniard]

I am 62 years old and lose my seat to safe standing.My right knee is 73 years old and my left knee is almost 80 years old.I am sick of being crippled at The Lane.It usually takes an hour to untwist my arthritis riddled body after the final whistle.I cannot wait to stand again.