If things are licensed, they’re presumably going to get a ticking off if the flow of people isn’t marshalled properly. If you let them continue paying their existing rates, for how long? And is that fair on others in seats of a similar calibre?Īrsenal have also explained that they don’t want / won’t be allowed any movement between seated and standing areas and that they are investigating the impact of physical barriers inside the stadium concourse and within view of the pitch.Īt the moment, the club can, to a certain extent, plead ignorance when people enter the stadium in one section and immediately head to Block D where they congregate with others who choose to stand (illegally) throughout matches. You’ve also got to factor in what price people pay if they move from a lower bracket seat to a higher bracket seat because of a diktat from above. Not only are small pockets of friendly supporters likely to be broken up, there’s also the issue of finding them a new place to sit in the stadium, presumably in the upper tier.

The head-scratcher for the club is that only 40% actually want a seat in a safe standing area.Īs a result one of the biggest issues is coming up with a process for re-locating season ticket holders in the lower tier who don’t want to be in a safe standing area. More than 16,000 match-going fans completed a questionnaire earlier in the summer and the headline numbers reveal that 70% are in favour of licensed standing being introduced. Arsenal will continue to explore their options when it comes to implementing ‘safe standing’ at Emirates Stadium but following the results of a recent supporter survey on the subject, the club have underlined that the process is complicated and likely to be expensive.

Calibre brooke