Kenny Dalglish has backed the Premier League’s refusal to support a Football Fans Federation bid to reintroduce standing areas at football grounds.
The FSF launched a petition for safe standing last week.
The Federation, which represents more than 180,000 and affiliates, are presenting the petition to Government and football authorities.
“We do think fans in the Premier League or Championship should be allowed to stand in safety as those in any other division can,” they said.
“We are not suggesting that clubs should be forced to provide safe standing areas – only that they should be allowed the choice.
“Issues around cost and feasibility should be a matter for individual clubs, not for Government.
“Many opponents to safe standing mistakenly cite Hillsborough as a reason not to allow its introduction, however the disaster was not caused by standing; the Taylor Report primarily blamed overcrowding, stadium layout and poor policing.
“It did not ban standing nor claim it was inherently unsafe.”
Liverpool manager Dalglish, however, who was Liverpool boss at Hillsborough, used his Sunday newspaper column yesterday to counter the move.
He wrote: “It is 21 years since Lord Justice Taylor’s report recommended that terracing at football grounds should be outlawed. The move was a direct response to the tragedy at Hillsborough, where 96 people went to a football match and never returned home.
“The passing of time should not be allowed to diminish the reasons behind the introduction of all-seater stadiums, which is why I’m instinctively and deeply opposed to the reintroduction of standing areas at grounds.
“I’m more in line with the Premier League stance that the benefits of all-seater stadiums far outweigh the advantages of having supporters standing in big crowds.
“From where I’m looking, the introduction of all-seater stadiums has worked. To change it, even now, is an unnecessary risk, a view only strengthened when I remember what happened at Hillsborough and what the families of the bereaved have had to endure in the months and years since then.”
Dalglish added: “Football has become a far safer sport for supporters since both terracing and fencing around the pitch were banished. There are fewer injuries and there is less hooliganism, too.
“It can’t be wrong.
“I’ve heard it argued that people are denied the right to make a choice between sitting and standing but if you asked people what the safer option would be, they would say sitting.
“And safety is not something you should take for granted. If we are safer now, it is because the recommendations of the Taylor Report were acted upon.
“The other point I’ve heard mentioned is that all-seater stadiums are bad for atmosphere. Even if that were true, would it not be right to sacrifice a little bit of atmosphere for safety?
“I don’t think the argument about atmosphere is correct anyway. You can’t deny that there have been some absolutely fantastic nights at Anfield since the stadium went all-seater.
“Yes, the famous Saint Etienne European Cup game in 1977 when you could squeeze 26,000 into the old Kop was played in a marvellous atmosphere. But it was also extremely good against Olympiakos in 2004 when Steven Gerrard rattled one in to take Liverpool through against the odds.
“People talk with some reverence about the 2005 semi-final against Chelsea when the noise and passion were incredible and sucked Luis Garcia’s shot over the line. Remember, that was in an all-seater stadium.
“Maybe some other grounds don’t have that old-fashioned atmosphere any more but if the reward is that mothers and fathers can take their children there in safety, that’s surely not a bad thing. I’d certainly be more inclined to take my son or daughter – or grandchildren nowadays! – to a match where you sit rather than stand.
“I know fans still stand in countries like Germany. But you can’t compare their situation with ours. If Germany had endured a tragedy like Hillsborough, of innocent supporters dying because they went to a football match, they would have banned standing and they would not now be talking of reversing that decision.”
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