How safe standing could work at Bolton Wanderers next season

Though the Reebok had its roar – a formidable weapon back in the early Premier League days – there has also been plenty of discussion over the past couple of decades about what was left behind on Manchester Road, and whether modernisation had come at a cost.

Post Hillsborough, English football had to take measures to make itself safer and old-fashioned terraces were phased out at the top level. But inspired by the use of safe standing on the continent, and particularly in Germany, the discussion was reopened six years ago.

Now, for the first time, Wanderers are considering if they will introduce safe standing areas at the start of next season, a move the club thinks could benefit the atmosphere for home games and potentially recapture some of the soul of the Burnden days.

The decision will be completely down to the fans, with online questionnaires due to be sent out in the next couple of weeks.

Chief executive, Neil Hart, says he would welcome the introduction of safe standing if it gets the right backing and having held initial discussions with the Bolton Wanderers Supporters’ Trust, he feels there will be a groundswell of support.

“From the perspective of atmosphere, we would like to see safe standing come into the Toughsheet Community Stadium, but it has to be fan-led,” he told The Bolton News.

“We are talking to the Supporters Trust at the moment, and they have been brilliant, and they have been very pro us doing it.

“So, what you’ll find now is that we will go out to the supporter base with a survey, it is something we can theoretically move quickly on, and we’d be disposed to do this summer.

“Clearly, the debate as to whether we do or don’t want it, we have a clue as to what the answer will be. I think many fans will want it and, personally, I think it will be additive to the atmosphere.

“We have been out to other clubs who have given us feedback, supporters have enjoyed and embraced it. I will be very clear, this is not a commercial gain for the football club, in fact it is a cost because we have got to install rail seating.

“We have looked at Shrewsbury Town, Lincoln City, I was at the Manchester derby a few weeks ago as well and I felt it really added to the atmosphere,” he said. “I think that the Toughsheet is perfect for it, and we should be trying to do it as a collective.”

Even though Wanderers have played in an all-seater stadium for the last 27 years, they still experience issues with what they term “persistent standers” which present additional challenges for stewarding. By giving the supporters an option to move to a standing area, Hart hopes to mitigate those problems in the future.

Should it get the go-ahead, the next big decision will be exactly where in the stadium a safe standing area would be best situated.

Currently, the most vocal supporters are situated in the East Stand Lower, colloquially known as the Crazy Corner. Outline advice from the Safety Action Group (SAG) – the multi-agency body responsible for granting a safety certificate – suggests there would not be enough space, although it seems certain that it will be placed on one of the lower tiers.

Capacity has yet to be decided, and will be one of the issues up for discussion in the survey, but safe standing areas do offer a more efficient use of space than seating, so could theoretically boost the number of people in that area of the ground.

Wanderers also have to make provisions for away support, which would be a different prospect if they get promotion to the Championship, as opposed to staying in League One.

“There are a number of factors we will have to examine,” Hart said. “Obviously at this point we have two plans in place – one where we are in the Championship and the other where we are in League One. We have to plan for both eventualities because we can’t affect either at the moment.

“If we were to get promoted then we have an idea what the away support would look like and where they would be located – we have that data in terms of the mean away following and how we would have to deal with that.

“As for the East Lower area what it means, I don’t know yet, we need to have that consultation with supporters, but I don’t think that space is conducive to safe standing.

“I think the indications are from SAG and from our own safety team that it needs to go down the other side of the stadium. Those are the discussions at the moment, but I must stress that we want to consult as many people as possible on this, all the fan groups, the trust and we will be talking about this to everyone.

“Nothing is set in stone, and we really do want to hear people’s thought on this.”

Wanderers have already sold around 7,000 season tickets, which is marginally behind where they were at this stage of last season.

Tickets are available at their current price until April 13, when Wanderers will host Portsmouth at home, but confirmation on whether safe standing will be introduced is not expected until after the end of the season.

That means some supporters may purchase season tickets and wish to switch to standing, or that their seat could be in an area affected.

Hart is determined to make the process as smooth as possible.

“I think once we decide where is the safest place for the standing area, we will need to contact the supporters affected by that and say ‘this is happening, you can retain your seat or move to another area of the ground’ but I’d hope that can be seamless for them.

“Obviously we expect there will be a number of supporters who want to move into that area get that chance, so that is the process we will work to, and again try to make that as easy and simple as we can.

“I honestly think it is a really exciting project for the club. It is something which will be additive to the atmosphere and that is something we should be working towards.

“I am happy for that to be led by the fan groups, though, and the proper process to be conducted.”