The time for safe standing has come

It was only a few minutes into the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in 1989 when Peter Beardsley’s shot hit the crossbar. I remember briefly wondering why there was no roar from the Liverpool fans at the Leppings Lane end.

All who were at Hillsborough that day have our memories and that is one I can talk about. We were also given a few prejudices to carry into the rest of our lives and one of those concerned standing terraces at the game’s higher levels.

I became fundamentally opposed to them. Every time the subject of a revision of the Taylor report’s most obvious conclusion came up, I just shook my head and said: “Never again”.

It became illogical after conversations with members of the Football Supporters’ Federation and others who pointed out not only how standing areas could be made safe but other benefits, such as the freedom to move away from profanely noisy or otherwise offensive neighbours and relief from the dilemmas caused by large numbers of people choosing to stand in supposedly seated areas.

A trip to Dortmund helped, too. The Germans have allowed standing areas in domestic matches for years and a highlight of the Borussia experience is the so-called Yellow Wall of 24,000 fans behind one goal. They don’t complain of discomfort, let alone safety concerns. And the engineering is here. It was shown to Parliamentarians and others by the FSF at a Westminster meeting on Tuesday.

The time for safe standing has come. Even reactionaries like me have to admit it and join the clubs — including Aston Villa, half the Championship and the entire Scottish Premier League — who believe the choice between sedentary and perpendicular should be orderly. If football does its job in response to recent hideous events, inconvenience may ensue — this should be the decent fan’s compensation.