It's time for action! The current talk of stadium expansion and standing is topical. Allow EXILED TIGER to provide a strong case for both and how the FSF Safe Standing Roadshow could come to Hull... Expand, Stand AND Increase Revenue? – Could safe standing be the answers to the KC stadium expansion saga AND at the same time enable us to create more atmosphere? Those who follow my musings as the football tourist in CI know that apart from following City home and away, I regularly travel with my work and am able to take in foreign games in the process (I know it’s a hard life!) In doing so I have been able to compare the best and the worst of football grounds both in the UK, Europe and beyond. What I may have stumbled upon in doing this is a simple elegant answer to solve key issues that impact us as City fans and owners of the KC stadium yet amazingly create a WIN/ WIN/ WIN/ WIN, for the four parties involved:- - Hull City fans - Hull FC fans - The club and its owners the Allams - The City Council The problem For many City fans Mr. Allams stated dream of an expanded stadium with lower ticket prices for more social inclusion is seen as highly desirable goal yet seemingly incompatible with the desires and needs of all the parties involved. We seem to have reached an impasse. Add to the argument the current attendance economics of our current 18-20k attendance record and the dream seems to be un-achievable. In addition to the economic argument ‘our’ Stadium is ‘owned’ by the City Council i.e. Us fans, and we also share this ground with Hull FC, what should be a simple bold statement of ambition is all of a sudden threatened with complexities that simply would not face other clubs in more straight forward circumstances. It is therefore too easy to conclude that it is all too difficult so let’ give up. Sorry but we are Hull City and 100plus years says we never give up! With a sense of frustration and being constantly reminded how things could be on my travels I decided to do detailed research to see if an alternative solution could be found. I really think there is a solution that is so elegant in its simplicity the more you study it the more obvious it becomes. The answer Perhaps unbelievably there is a simple answer that on the face of it seems too good to be true, yet on further research it works on so many levels it has to be the best for all parties and would see Hull City once again stake a claim as a pioneering club just as we did when we built Boothferry park with its floodlights, the railway halt and arguably the best playing surface in the land. The answer for our situation is to introduce German style safe-standing to approximately 20% of the KC stadium capacity. We need to do this in two areas. Part of the ‘home’ East stand and part of the ‘away’ North Stand Now before you go all Hull on me, take some time to drink in the facts and arguments before you dismiss it as a pipe dream. Study the new technology consider our unique position and see if like me you are convinced it is the way to go. Economically the case is sound. With the safe standing concept existing official seated capacity can be retained but when the German model seats are set to standing mode capacity can be safely and legally increased by a factor of 1.8 to 1. This means that even with a healthy ticket discount (for those choosing safe standing) total match day revenues can be increased significantly. Secondly the fact that the seats can be set to seats or standing means RL Super league regulations on ground seating capacity can still be complied with. Indeed we could perfectly legally allow standing now for RL games and may have to operate like this in the interim. (More of that later). I will illustrate the compelling economic argument in clear detail later on but the basic conclusion you reach is that we can not only expand the capacity of the KC at very low cost, but return the investment is very quick, half a season quick, even with reduced prices for those choosing the safe-standing areas. In fact I will propose that it would result in significantly improved revenues for both clubs. Legally The German model safe standing ‘seats’ shown above in standing mode and below in seated mode mean that the stadia is legally still all-seated design and can be quickly configured for that purpose where competition regulations dictate it has to be. (E.g. for our future UEFA matches, hey I can dream!) “Ah but” you may say, “Introducing safe standing would require a change in primary legislation.” And that’s where you’d be wrong. The law – The Football Spectators Act – comes under which the secretary for culture media and sport. He has the power to insist certain grounds be all seated. In the immediate aftermath of Hillsborough (RIP 96) and the subsequent Taylor report it was suggested that all professional league Association Football grounds would be required to be all seated but in reality it was reduced (based on economics) to only require all grounds in the top two divisions to be all-seated stadia. The law does NOT legally stipulate that everyone at these grounds have to sit down. That is a directive made by the Football Licensing Authority, together with the relevant leagues and local authorities. We could convert the KC tomorrow and Hull FC supporters could legally and safely stand now. Ultimately then the current situation was based on advice from the then Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport – Not an Act of Parliament. A change of mind by one person, one council, and one club could therefore, at a stroke see safe standing permitted in an all-seated ground with no need for a change in the law. Indeed it is surely destiny that it SHOULD be us in HULL who pioneers this as our Rugby FOOTBALL team co-habitants can already ‘legally’ stand throughout the game according to their governing body but our association FOOTBALL fans cannot. It’s ludicrous really. So here is where the council comes in. With our council owning the stadium we have a great opportunity here to not only get the necessary support from them but a clear demonstrable reason to push it through the other bodies. The football supporters federation (FSF) actively support the safe standing movement and it is gathering pace with other clubs already in exploratory mode:- Bristol City, Portsmouth, Cardiff City, Oxford United, Peterborough United (who have a similar scenario to us in that London road is council owned and need developing.) Their council has already stated it is not against safe standing after seeing and sampling the technology of so-called rail seats shown below. Check http://www.safestandingroadshow.co.uk/myt hs for the busting of the ill-informed myths that safe standing would:- Discourage women, be harder to police, difficult to convert grounds, obstruct views etc. etc. Write to you MP / Councillor at www.writetothem.com you simply type in your post code and select who you want the message to go to We need to get the FSF Safe Standing Roadshow to the KC. Watch this space... The article size limit on here won't let me post the full article, but you'll find the full version here... http://www.hullcityindependent.net/?page=news&news_id=832
fantastic article, the relevant authorities have for too long now ignored the issue.. forcing there hand could leave us as pioneers
Thats really good stuff. I fully support this as it gives the supporter a choice. Let's get campagning and make sure the Hull City Council know about this.
This is not just a Hull thing, the campaign is to get safe standing allowed nationwide, several message boards have taken up the baton. Obviously this article is written by Exiled from CI, so is written from a City perspective and in addition to CI, I'm posting all details on here, they're also going up on Amber Nectar and Vital. Follow the links at the bottom of the full artile to see what you can do.
Best thing about this is I'd be able to get away with going for a piss and having a *** in the stands like I used to.
Coming from the perspective of a person who has experience is Sports Ground legislation and licencing I think it will be very hard for any local authority to put their name to such a move. They ultimately grant the safety certificate on the ground and without a certificate the ground is closed. The issue for me coming from this perspective is that you would be hard pressed for anyone to grant the increase in capacity without an increase in area for standing. My thoughts are that if, and it is if this got the go ahead it would be based on the seat numbers, not the terraced area. From recall the East Stand holds about 8,000 people and to say (for example) we have 8,000 seats but proposed a standing capacity of 10,000 then it is more than likely this won't be sanctioned. Although it is common knowledge that the capacity of the old Wembley (pre all seater) was more for football than for Rugby because on average Rugby fans are larger and take up more space. The guys at the council may indeed look at this favourably as would I, but without some dynamic modelling on crowd movements and a controlled trial I would not allow anywhere near the 20% suggested for adaptation. A very good article though and I am behind the idea 100%.
Having read the article in full I am in favour. I would have to have a good read of the Green Guide and the associated legislation but think it is a good idea. If the SMC can put forward a safe, reasoned argument for it then the council can't knock it back. I would love to see 10-12,000 people rocking the East Stand. One question which will come up is how to seperate those who opt for safe standing and those in seats, especially in the away stand. Imagine going to the North Stand, you wanted a standing cheap ticket but they had all sold out. You are stuck with a seated ticket 5 rows from the front. There has to be a way of stopping someone just accessing the standing area without compromising on safety. Altering the turnstiles and vomitories could do this but it would need some planning because we have a concourse design which doesn't suit that design without splitting it up. All details but those are the questions I would ask.
