Saints fans take a stand

May 26 2009 by Andrew Newport, Paisley Daily Express

ST MIRREN supporters have given their backing to a campaign to allow fans to stand up during SPL matches.

Current Scottish Premier League rules state that, as a safety measure, all clubs in football’s top flight must have an all-seater stadium with a capacity of at least 6,000.

But a group of Dunfermline Athletic fans have launched a bid to have the ban on standing areas scrapped.

They argue the ruling has killed the atmosphere at a number of Scottish football grounds.

And they took their protest to the Scottish Parliament in a bid to encourage MSPs to back the call for the reinstatement of terracing areas where supporters can spend the match standing up as they cheer on their team.

Paisley fans say they would be delighted to have standing areas introduced at St Mirren Park.

Dave MacDonald, webmaster of the www.blackandwhitearmy.com internet site for Saints supporters, said: “The majority of St Mirren fans back this move.

“When the club moved into the new ground at Greenhill Road, some people hoped to see a standing area included in the plans.

“All-seater stadiums have killed the atmosphere at most grounds.

“The German league – which has safe standing areas in most of its stadiums – has proved it can be done.

“I really miss the terraces and the only chance you get to experience it now is when you go to places like Ayr United’s Somerset Park for a cup tie.

“It’s always good fun to stand up with your pals to cheer on your team.”

The move away from terracing began in the 1970s when a combination of hooliganism and tragedies such as the Ibrox Disaster led to the authorities looking at ways to improve safety.

The Ibrox Disaster, which took place in 1971, claimed 66 lives, including four supporters from Renfrewshire – Hugh Addie, 33; Robert Grant, 21; Alex Mcintyre, 29; and 15-year-old George Wilson.

The Taylor Report eventually called for terracing to be replaced with all-seater stadia after a huge crush resulted in Europe’s worst football tragedy in 1989, when 96 Liverpool fans lost their lives at Hillsborough during an FA Cup semi-final clash with Nottingham Forrest.

Wullie Bell, secretary of the St Mirren Independent Supporters’ Association, insists standing areas can be safe.

The 38-year-old Buddie said: “I can’t speak for the association as we would have to poll our members but my own personal view is that I would greatly welcome a return to standing terraces as long as it was managed well.

“There is nothing inherently dangerous about standing at football matches as long as the area is constructed properly and controlled properly. That should be achievable.

“The problem at Hillsborough was that the terraces were massively over-populated and that was down to mismanagement.

“The authorities would be against the reinstatement of standing areas at football grounds but I believe there’s a sizeable element of the Saints support that would like to see terraces brought back.

“The guys I go to games with have happy memories of standing up during games to cheer on the Saints. We all feel that the introduction of a standing area at St Mirren Park would be a positive step.”

Dunfermline fan Stephen Taylor, of the Pars Supporters Trust, is one of the campaigners who took the fight to Holyrood.

He said: “First and foremost, we are coming from the point of view that there is a lack of atmosphere at grounds, something I think even Old Firm fans would accept.

“We are looking at limited standing and clubs having the choice.

“At the moment, if you get into the SPL, there is a rule which demands your stadium has a minimum 6,000 seats and no standing.

“There are clubs in the First Division such as Queen of the South, Greenock Morton and Ross County who, this time next year, could be vying for promotion to the SPL.

“They would be faced with a major headache as they would have to spend hundreds of thousands of pounds putting new seats in to comply with the SPL rules.”

However, St Mirren bosses – who only moved into their new £15million home in Greenhill Road, Paisley, in January – have shown the red card to a return to standing areas.

The club’s general manager, Brian Caldwell, said: “Having just built a new 8,000-seater stadium, it is not something we are looking to reintroduce now that we have the safest ground in Scotland.”