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Middlesbrough to trial safe-standing area at the Riverside from next month
Middlesbrough are to trial a small licensed standing area at the Riverside from next month until the end of the season.
Independent barriers will be temporarily in two rows in the upper tier of the South Stand from the Millwall clash on December 14 and will remain in place until the end of the season. The club has taken the decision after extensive discussions with the local Safety Authority Group and the Sports Grounds Safety Authority (SGSA) and season card holders in the affected seats have been contacted.
The barriers will be installed in the upper rows of Blocks 58-60 after the Government allowed Premier League and Championship clubs to create safe-standing areas from the start of the 2022-23 season after trials the season before. Boro will join a host of clubs who have already created areas in their stadia, with Boro fans already experiencing them this season on away trips to Leeds United, Sunderland, Derby County and QPR.
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Under licensed standing, fans are allowed to stand for matches in allocated spaces behind a barrier or a rail in areas of persistent standing. Each supporter has to occupy the same area they would take if they were sitting, with a traceable, numbered ticket. Seats are there if fans in that area wish to seat, while all other areas of the Riverside remain all-seated for now, with fans expected to sit in those areas.
But if the trial proves successful then there will be the prospect to expand the safe-standing area to offer an alternative match-day experience for supporters who would prefer that option.
While commonplace in Europe, standing was banned in England after the Hillsborough Disaster in 1989 until the trials which took place for the new licensed standing areas in 2022. The Middlesbrough Supporters Forum had raised the possibility of creating a safe-standing area at the time.
