First rail seat area for kids

Sometimes big developments on the safe standing front can be quite small in scale, but milestones nevertheless. This was the case in February 2020 when Kilmarnock FC opened two small areas of rail seating at their Rugby Park ground. Why? Because it was the first rail seating installation in the UK entirely funded by a club’s fans and because one of the areas was the first rail seating area in Britain specifically for kids.

The club’s main supporters’ group, the Killie Trust, raised the funds to pay for the two rail seat areas. One of them, adjacent to the family section in the main stand, is intended exclusively for kids aged up to 16. This makes it the first area of its kind in the UK just for youngsters, mirroring a similar set-up at VfL Wolfsburg in Germany (pictured here).

The hope is that kids will be able to let off steam and enjoy a bit of independence, while their parents or guardians sit not far away in the family section seats. If the kids duly get a taste for the standing experience, they can transfer to the main rail seat area in the stand on the opposite side of the pitch when they’re old enough to attend games without adult supervision.

It’s a bit like what in the non-PC past might have been called the ‘Boys’ Paddock’, but with a 21^st century twist.