Cardiff City regrets MPs' stance on standing

December 2012. Cardiff City have become the eighth club in the Football League Championship to come out in support of safe standing. Following a visit by the roadshow to Cardiff in 2011 and representations from the Cardiff City Supporters Trust, the club confirmed that it supported the call on the Government to allow safe standing trials.

While acknowledging that they are currently “duty bound to enforce a no persistent standing policy in all areas of the ground” in accordance with Football League ground regulations, Cardiff City called for small-scale safe standing trials and said they “regret” the Government’s current opposition to safe standing.

In a statement given to the Trust the club said:

“Cardiff City Football Club regrets the Government’s stance in refusing to further investigate the possibility of safe standing at football matches. We continue to believe that the debate on safety has not been evidenced by empirical data or reports in practice.

"As such, it is the Club’s opinion that any standing should be dynamically risk assessed in conjunction with the local authority with subsequent recommendations and control measures put in place to ensure reasonable safety. To that end the Club supports the call on the Government to permit a limited number of small-scale safe standing trials.”

Tim Hartley, chair of the Cardiff City Supporters Trust, who organised the roadshow's visit to Cardiff last year and has had an ongoing dialogue with the club about safe standing, welcomed Cardiff City's statement: “Cardiff City has a sensible approach when dealing with fans who stand at crucial times during games," he said. "Some of our members would like to stand throughout the match and others do not. So we are glad that Cardiff has responded positively to the Trust's request to back a pilot for safe standing in football. We believe that clubs ought to have the freedom to offer fans the choice to stand safely in appropriately designed areas and we look forward to seeing the Government carry this forward.”