The introduction of safe standing at Carrow Road will mean little to some Norwich City fans – depending on their age and where they currently sit in the ground.
The word ‘sit’ is used loosely, of course, given that if you did sit in the ends of Carrow Road at this weekend’s game at Cardiff, you’d probably not see a ball kicked – unless you’re in the front couple of rows.
The South Stand, aside from the visiting fans, is for the sitters. Some say the knitters, but that’s a different point of discussion. If you want to sit and not have your view obscured, that’s the place to be. Or the City Stand – it does have a few errant ‘standers’ but because they are few and far between, one raised eyebrow from a steward and a ‘sit down, Derek, for goodness sake’, is usually enough for them to adopt the required sedentary position.
The one thing about standing when you should be sitting is forgetfulness: if City sling a few passes together and get close to goal, it is hard to keep bum in regulatory contact with plastic seat. And if you do stand up in your excitement, if the aforementioned attack is sustained, you tend to remain standing. It’s easy to forget. Which is ok if you are in the back row but not okay if you are anywhere else.
So if you want to sit at either end, best forget it (unless you’re in those two front rows). Fans just stand all game. If you happen to buy a ticket in the middle of the Lower Barclay and think you can have a nice watch which won’t cause your aching back any grief, then think again.
This is what safe standing is made for: people who want to be able to stand, legally, at the game. It is very simple. Not that a few thousand people are ever going to be controlled by a few stewards asking politely for them to be seated. It ain’t happening. This is the way to sort it out, safely.
Currently, if you stand, there aren’t too many places to put your arms – pockets maybe, or fold them like sensible people do, even though that’s often a sign of disapproval. But when Borja’s heading past the Snake Pit and ready to unleash a cross or skip by a defender, and three or four thousand people do that thing where you lean forward in great anticipation … then you’re on dangerous ground. As it were. Hands come out, someone behind does the same and shoves you and momentum takes you into the fan in front - you know the rest.
Safe standing will prevent that. The barrier is there to lean on. Like when you have a pint at the bar – that comforting position where your elbow rests on the bar and, just a foot or so away, your hand cradles your drink of choice.
Now, what if you are currently in one of the areas where there will be rail seating, but you don’t want it? Well, the club helpfully point out the following: “Standing is not required in these areas, however, supporters risk restricted pitch views if they are seated when surrounded by standing supporters. These areas are introduced to help keep supporters safe whilst standing.”
What was that, Sherlock?
The reason safe standing is a subject for clubs is because many fans wanted a return to what was the traditional way of watching a game of football. Before the horrific stadium tragedies of the late 1980s and 1990s, it was normal to watch in awe as fans in The Kop, for example, were swept down like a tsunami of heads and scarves, seemingly safely. We all discovered that it wasn’t just a sight to behold: fans losing their lives rightly forced a change and the Taylor Report produced a number of ideas which have led to a safer experience, but perhaps not one as enjoyable.
Football is about the excitement and there is little doubt that the price of safety has been a diluting of the experience.
But lives can’t be endangered for the sake of watching sport. It’s nonsensical to take unnecessary risks. Safe standing is a perfectly legitimate way to find the best of both worlds. It is a fairly simple idea; perhaps the only surprise is that it has taken so long for it to become ‘a thing’.
All it needs now is excitement on the pitch to ensure safe standing gets used properly.
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