Chelsea confirm safe-standing trial will begin with game against Liverpool on January 2


Chelsea confirm safe-standing trial will begin with Premier League game against Liverpool on January 2 as 28-year ban comes to an end… with Tottenham, Man United and Man City also involved in initial pilot scheme

  • Chelsea will be the first Premier League club to introduce safe standing
  • The Blues’ game against Liverpool on January 2 will begin the pilot scheme
  • Manchester United, Manchester City, Tottenham and Cardiff are also involved
  • It brings to an end the blanket ban on standing in top two tiers since 1994 

By Ben Nagle for MailOnline

Published: | Updated:











Chelsea will become the first Premier League club to trial safe standing, starting with their home game against Liverpool on January 2.

The west London club confirmed the news on Tuesday morning, announcing that their new rail-seating will be in full operation in their first game of 2022.

Manchester United, Manchester City, Tottenham, Chelsea and Cardiff are all taking part in the pilot scheme, with the Blues being the first to begin.

Chelsea will be the first club to pilot safe standing, with Liverpool game on January 2 first up

Chelsea will be the first club to pilot safe standing, with Liverpool game on January 2 first up

Chelsea installed a safe standing section at their Stamford Bridge ground in west London

Chelsea installed a safe standing section at their Stamford Bridge ground in west London

WHAT ARE RAIL SEATS? 

Rail seats are essentially seats with built-in safety barriers to allow safe standing.

Each metal seat is incorporated within a robust metal frame that forms a waist-high rail for the spectators in the row behind. These seat frames are installed on a permanent basis with the same spacing as standard seats. The frames interlock to form a continuous high-strength rail along the full length of each row.

Should safe standing be formally allowed next year, the seats will be locked to allow for standing fans between rows of the waist-high rails. 

They are widely used across Europe with almost half of clubs in the Bundesliga using rail seats, including Borussia Dortmund. 

In July 2016, Celtic formally unveiled their new 2,600 capacity rail seating area within Celtic Park, becoming the first British club to do so.

In a statement, the club revealed: ‘For the Liverpool game and subsequent trial games, all supporters with tickets in the safe standing areas are allocated a seat as usual but now have the option of standing during the game at their allocated seat.’

The decision marks a huge change in English football. Stadiums in the top two divisions have had to be all-seater since laws were introduced in 1989 in the wake of the Hillsborough disaster.

The safe standing trial will end a blanket ban on standing in the top two divisions of English football brought in in 1994.

At Stamford Bridge, the areas for safe standing are in the Matthew Harding Stand lower tier and the Shed End upper and lower tiers.

The rail seating was introduced over the summer but has not been in full operational use so far this season. 

In their statement, Chelsea continued: ‘The introduction of licensed standing areas is based on evidence of a safety risk for fans who persistently stand in seated areas. In addition, many fans want the choice to stand and, with the advent of new engineering solutions, the SGSA’s research has shown this can be managed safely.

‘The early adopters will be evaluated through independent research and the findings, anticipated in the second half of the season, will inform subsequent SGSA advice to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) about the potential wider roll out of licensed standing from the start of next season. It should be noted that standing in any other areas of the stadium is not permitted.’ 

Tottenham built their entire £1billion stadium with a large rail seating section for safe standing

Tottenham built their entire £1billion stadium with a large rail seating section for safe standing

Manchester City are another top-flight side who installed rail seating for the current season

Manchester City are another top-flight side who installed rail seating for the current season

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