English football is set for a major change next season as all clubs in the top two tiers of the country can apply to operate licensed safe standing areas next season, the UK Government has said.
This is according to the Daily Mail, who also states that the Government have confirmed that Wembley will also offer limited safe standing for fans from both sets of clubs at domestic matches later in the season.
Cardiff City, Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham took part in a safe standing pilot in the second half of last season and Brentford, QPR and Wolves will now join those clubs in offering designated areas for home and away fans from the start of the 2022-23 season.
Other clubs are expected to join these clubs in applying the standing as the season progresses, in what will be a momentous move for the English game.
As of now, the only club that are not considering introducing safe standing for next season is Liverpool but the Reds may extend or increase their existing rail seating provision having run a separate club pilot last season reports the Daily Mail.
There has been a blanket ban on standing in the top two tiers of English football since August 1994 in the wake of the 1989 Hillsborough disaster and therefore the Merseyside club’s decision is completely understandable.
Safe standing has been in operation in many countries across Europe but the most notable is Germany, where it has been very successful. There are a lot of pros and cons to standing at matches but it is something that has been talked about in England for a while now. Whether it will be a success or not can be seen next season but at least it is being tried in order to increase the atmosphere in stadiums.