Why politicians should back safe standing ... No. 5

5. Because safe standing will be strictly regulated.

All such standing areas would be governed by strict regulations. Stadium design currently comes under the scope of what is known as the Green Guide. It is anticiapated that new rules governing the design of safe standing areas would be incorporated into an updated version of the Green Guide.

Current Green Guide specifications call for barriers in standing areas to be at least 102cm high and for the gradient in such areas not to exceed 25 degrees. Rail heights in Germany range between 90cm and 115cm and the gradients of the decking on which they are mounted can be as shallow as 15 degrees. Clearly, therefore, the current Green Guide requirements of 102cm and a gradient of not more than 25 degrees can be accommodated without any problem.

Further, access would be - as to all other areas of grounds these days - by barcoded ticket, with only the specified number of fans allowed into each designated standing block (German regulations limit block sizes to 2,500 - we might do similar, or even smaller). With modern access controls it would therefore be impossible for any individual block to become overcrowded.

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