Foxblogger Posted 19 August 2012 Share Posted 19 August 2012 For those who didn't make it I put together quite a bit of audio for the Foxblogger podcast. John Darch (the man behind the campaign), Stuart Ellison (the man who helped bring John to Leicester), Ian Bason (Chairman of the Foxes Trust) and the Chief Superintendent of Leicestershire Police are all in the show. http://foxblogger.wordpress.com/2012/08/19/podcast-leicester-city-2-peterborough-united-0/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Year Of The Fox Posted 20 August 2012 Author Share Posted 20 August 2012 Oh dear I hope you edited my umming and aahhing and slurring of words! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Doctor Posted 20 August 2012 Share Posted 20 August 2012 Article in the merc this morning. I take issue with the comments attributed to me though - I didn't say fans won't topple over seat anymore, that implies they do, i said there was no risk of fans being able to domino forward, unlike with shin high seats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxblogger Posted 20 August 2012 Share Posted 20 August 2012 Oh dear I hope you edited my umming and aahhing and slurring of words! All taken care of my good man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davieG Posted 20 August 2012 Share Posted 20 August 2012 Merc Football fans say they would welcome being able to stand at the King Power stadium, after seeing a display of how it could be made possible. Scores of supporters attended an exhibition at the Safe Standing system yesterday – which is widely used in Germany and Austria and involves barriers and optional fold-down metal seats. ​ Since the Hillborough disaster in which 96 people died in a stadium crush, top clubs have had to ensure their fans sit down during games. However, 23 years on, the call is growing for the right to stand at matches and the Safe Standing system is being shown off around the UK in a campaign by the Football Supporters Federation. Fan Gary Jacques, 48, of Countesthorpe, who was at the exhibition on Saturday, said: "We want to be treated like humans. "It's much safer and you're actually going to get less injuries without the seats in front digging into you legs. "With this system you couldn't surge forwards if you tried." Alistair Proudman, 19, of Wigston, said: "It's quite impressive. There is less danger because people aren't going to topple over the seats any more." City season ticket-holder Stuart Ellison arranged the demonstration of Safe Standing at the Counting House pub, in Freemans Park, Leicester, ahead of City's match against Peterborough on Saturday. He said: "It's the first time I've seen the system myself and I think it's brilliant. "We've had a lot of people looking at it and everyone seems to be in favour of it." However, the estimated costs of buying the Safe Standing system is £80 per seat space, which would mean a bill of well over £2.5 million for the whole of the King Power Stadium, before fitting costs. When asked about the campaign to change the law Leicester City Football Club said it does what the law requires. A spokesman said: "The conditions of King Power Stadium's safety licence, as prescribed under the Football Spectators Act 1989, require all parts of the stadium to be all-seater." However, some Leicester fans admitted standing despite the law. Ben Bayne, 22, of Broughton Astley, said: "It's a much better atmosphere at away games where everyone's standing." While all the fans who saw the Safe Standing system seemed to like the idea, some had doubts things would change. Steve Bates, 22, from Countesthorpe, said: "I'm for it 100 per cent. I think the club will be wary about it because they will pay all this money to replace the seats and after all that investment the fans will expect to pay less for a ticket because they're standing up." Daniel Varney, 24, of Thorpe Astley, said: "It's a good idea but it won't be supported by the politicians because of what's preceded it." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Year Of The Fox Posted 20 August 2012 Author Share Posted 20 August 2012 Potentially though what Steve said was wrong. In Germany some clubs have to people in each seat space, one behind the other hence doubling that seats capacity. Jon from the roadshow said that on average 600 seats at Old Trafford have to be replaced after every game due to damage. Ok we never have as much exitement at Filbert Way, but it is impossible to damage this rail seating. The officer who Gary invited down has invited Jon to attend a meeting in which all officers dealing with every club on matchday safety will be present. Could be a massive breakthrough Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whoareyaaa Posted 20 August 2012 Share Posted 20 August 2012 Well done to everyone in involved... lets hope the club see some sense or whoever is in a charge of making the final call. I don't think they would need to replace the whole of the ground ethier I'm sure one section(kop) or (family stand) would be more than enough for the people that want to stand, lets hope something does come out of this. keep it up!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Year Of The Fox Posted 20 August 2012 Author Share Posted 20 August 2012 It doesnt even need to be a whole stand! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilo Posted 20 August 2012 Share Posted 20 August 2012 A good article but the costs mentioned are slightly disingenuous because of what Stu said. I doubt there are many, if any, original seats left over at the KP from 2002; whereas the stadium manager from the Hannover tour attended by the Derby officials states he's never had to replace a single rail seat in ten years. The costs of initial installation may be higher, but these are far outweighed by the long term benefits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxes_Trust Posted 20 August 2012 Share Posted 20 August 2012 No idea why the Mercury thought an entire stadium would be done, however the £80 per seat figure stacks back to what we were told about 5 years ago if a section was converted about the size of the away section, so approx 10% of the ground Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1964FOX Posted 20 August 2012 Share Posted 20 August 2012 Not the best reporting of the facts I have ever seen but good publicity all the same. Clearly around 10% of the ground would be adequate probably providing 4000 spaces with the increase in people allowed at a cost of around £250,000 so the £2.5 million mentioned is unfortunately an uninformed quote. Perhaps he should have asked the question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trav Le Bleu Posted 20 August 2012 Share Posted 20 August 2012 ​ Bloke on the right is an ugly munter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Doctor Posted 20 August 2012 Share Posted 20 August 2012 Bloke on the right is an ugly munter. Bloke in the ind coope shirt with the beard? Looks like the model of male perfection to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1964FOX Posted 20 August 2012 Share Posted 20 August 2012 I have recieved a very nice E-mail from Susan Whelan who has personally apologised for not attending. My interpretation from her E-mail is that this has clearly been discussed at the club and collectively they do not feel they can support something that is currently against the rules. She has therefore sent me a corporate response but frm the actual wording I get the distinct feeling this attitude may change should the rules allow it. I will not reproduce the E-mail on here as she took the time to respond to me personally rather than to the group. I feel our efforts are best spent continuing to raise the profile of the campaign trying to gain political support both loally and nationally and when the time is right I think the club will look at the possibility of an introduction of a safe standing area. Yes it would be nice to have support from the club but I don't think it will happen whilst the rules need changing, best stay on side with the club so that when the rules change they will remain open minded. As with everything we have to pick our battles and look at this from a long term viewpoint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Safe Standing Roadshow Posted 20 August 2012 Share Posted 20 August 2012 I have recieved a very nice E-mail from Susan Whelan who has personally apologised for not attending. My interpretation from her E-mail is that this has clearly been discussed at the club and collectively they do not feel they can support something that is currently against the rules. She has therefore sent me a corporate response but frm the actual wording I get the distinct feeling this attitude may change should the rules allow it. I will not reproduce the E-mail on here as she took the time to respond to me personally rather than to the group. I feel our efforts are best spent continuing to raise the profile of the campaign trying to gain political support both loally and nationally and when the time is right I think the club will look at the possibility of an introduction of a safe standing area. Yes it would be nice to have support from the club but I don't think it will happen whilst the rules need changing, best stay on side with the club so that when the rules change they will remain open minded. As with everything we have to pick our battles and look at this from a long term viewpoint. I can fully understand why a club would not feel able to support something that is currently not allowed. And we're not asking them to say: "OK, you can now all stand". It might be worth you going back to Susan and asking if the club would be happy to put its name to the statement below, which several other clubs have already done (though I have not made public yet all of those that have): "As a club that works hard to put fans and spectators experiences first, we acknowledge that some fans prefer to watch football standing up. We also adhere to the ‘guide to safety at sports grounds’ and we make every effort to put the safety and security of spectators first. This means that we cannot and do not currently allow spectators to stand during a game. However, having seen a demonstration of rail seats, we believe that the concept has merit and could provide football clubs with a safe and well-managed means of watching football whilst standing. We would encourage the relevant authorities to look at the rail seat system with a view to defining appropriate criteria under which it could be introduced in future at our grounds." Personally I cannot see why any well-intentioned club chief executive with the interests of their fans at heart would feel uncomfortable in supporting such a statement (which was formulated in collaboration between me and another Championship CEO). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Year Of The Fox Posted 20 August 2012 Author Share Posted 20 August 2012 Jon could you not now ask her about a private behind closed door meeting? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 20 August 2012 Share Posted 20 August 2012 The Mercury is also wrong in suggesting it is illegal to stand at football games; it isn't. The law relates to the provision of all-seater stadia, but not the use of it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1964FOX Posted 20 August 2012 Share Posted 20 August 2012 The Mercury is also wrong in suggesting it is illegal to stand at football games; it isn't. The law relates to the provision of all-seater stadia, but not the use of it Yes I noticed that, not illegal just against ground regs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unreachable Posted 20 August 2012 Share Posted 20 August 2012 I can fully understand why a club would not feel able to support something that is currently not allowed. And we're not asking them to say: "OK, you can now all stand". It might be worth you going back to Susan and asking if the club would be happy to put its name to the statement below, which several other clubs have already done (though I have not made public yet all of those that have): "As a club that works hard to put fans and spectators experiences first, we acknowledge that some fans prefer to watch football standing up. We also adhere to the ‘guide to safety at sports grounds’ and we make every effort to put the safety and security of spectators first. This means that we cannot and do not currently allow spectators to stand during a game. However, having seen a demonstration of rail seats, we believe that the concept has merit and could provide football clubs with a safe and well-managed means of watching football whilst standing. We would encourage the relevant authorities to look at the rail seat system with a view to defining appropriate criteria under which it could be introduced in future at our grounds." Personally I cannot see why any well-intentioned club chief executive with the interests of their fans at heart would feel uncomfortable in supporting such a statement (which was formulated in collaboration between me and another Championship CEO). You cannot expect the club to sign such a statement when the club do allow standing in Block N throughout the match without rail seating - it wouldn't make sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Year Of The Fox Posted 20 August 2012 Author Share Posted 20 August 2012 I sound dreadful on that podcast! Its amazing how quickly words escape you once a microphone is put in your way! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Safe Standing Roadshow Posted 20 August 2012 Share Posted 20 August 2012 You cannot expect the club to sign such a statement when the club do allow standing in Block N throughout the match without rail seating - it wouldn't make sense. They would never admit that in a public statement, however, so this is the sort of wording that they would want the authorities to hear (even if it does not reflect what actually goes on). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unreachable Posted 20 August 2012 Share Posted 20 August 2012 They would never admit that in a public statement, however, so this is the sort of wording that they would want the authorities to hear (even if it does reflect what actually goes on). I don't follow. Whether it is public or not I don't think it's reasonable to expect a CEO like Susan Whelan to sign an incorrect statement since in this multi media age of disclosure and Wikileaks someone will disclose it and the club would then be made to look stupid. I wonder if the fans in Block N will want to sit down if there is rail seating in the Kop for instance. I think the think the club are just happy turning a blind eye to the standing that is currently "permitted".The terms of your draft letter haven't been thought through properly which is rather disappointing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Year Of The Fox Posted 20 August 2012 Author Share Posted 20 August 2012 Do you even go to the games? Block N,? Clearly a WUM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unreachable Posted 20 August 2012 Share Posted 20 August 2012 Do you even go to the games? Block N,? Clearly a WUM. I meant to say L1 Air Asia East Stand - the Block next to the away fans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Year Of The Fox Posted 20 August 2012 Author Share Posted 20 August 2012 No need to pick holes in someone who A isnt even a city fan and B goes out of his way to help fans across the country. His statement clearly works so leave off Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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