Our campaign on safe standing

Safe standing can provide more space, an enhanced atmosphere, and greater safety where fans already stand in seated areas. Clubs are increasingly introducing safe standing, and it’s the right time for United to join them.

We believe the club needs to commit to introducing safe standing at the Lane at the earliest opportunity, start planning for its introduction with fan groups, and refine based on the experience of seeing safe standing in use.

  • The best safe standing examples so far are ones that have understood fans’ views and taken these into account in the planning of new safe standing areas. This can help to address some of the trickier questions, such as which areas of a stand would be most open to a standing section, whether the majority of season-ticket holders in that area would be on board, and what design might work best for the area.

    Working with the Fan Advisory Board, United should give fans an opportunity to voice their views on potential safe standing areas through a fan consultation.

  • There are a variety of good examples of safe standing across the Premier League, Championship, and beyond which can be applied to Bramall Lane. United should consider which are most applicable to Bramall Lane’s particular design, and then work with relevant safety authorites on how to bring this in most effectively.

    United should then trial safe standing with an initial implementation in home & away areas, based on the fan engagement, starting for example with the rear of the Kop.

  • By a test and refine approach, if safe standing proves to be a popular introduction in Bramall Lane, this can be expanded.

    That could be through a wider conversion on the Kop, or incorporated into plans for any new constructions at the ground in the future - such as an extended Kop or South Stand.

“Safe standing, if done right, would be a great addition to the match day experience.”

We believe the time is right to put Bramall Lane on the path towards safe standing by trialling it in the ground.

Bramall Lane has a proud history of being unique in football - hosting the first floodlit game, the first using a fixed crossbar, being the only current ground to have hosted both an FA Cup Final and an Ashes test.

That tradition is one of a club that’s innovated - being ahead of the game, rather than waiting for the rest to do it first.

But as clubs of all sizes press ahead, Bramall Lane is now lagging behind on safe standing.

We wrote to the club in August 2021, backed by fan groups and with our fan survey results, to make the case for introducing safe standing at Bramall Lane, and have sought to engage with the club since then. You can read the proposal we sent to the club here.