Shrewsbury set for first English safe standing area after fans raise £65,000

Shrewsbury Town are set to become the first English club to introduce safe standing at their ground after a crowdfunding campaign raised £65,000 to pay for alterations at their Montgomery Waters Meadow stadium. More than 1,000 fans donated to the cause, with their offerings bolstered by the donation of an online betting company.

The League One club have applied to have rail seats at the 10,000‑capacity ground before the end of the current season and is on course to achieve that aim.

READ MORE: World Cup play-offs guide

READ MORE: Could this be England's 23-man World Cup Squad?  

This could set an example for Premier League clubs to follow, with more than half thought to be open to the idea of standing areas, which have been banned in the top two divisions of English football since the 1990 Taylor Report into the Hillsborough disaster.

The Premier League wrote to all 20 of its clubs on June to assess if they would be interested in trialling safe standing.

Clubs that have played for three seasons in the top two tiers of the football pyramid are required by law to provide all-seat stadiums. But Shrewsbury do not come under this condition and are supported in their quest by the Football League.

Jon Darch, operator of the Safe Standing Roadshow which campaigns for safe standing areas across the country, said: “This is a major milestone for safe standing. They can now look forward to a ground-breaking launch of their safe standing area early next year. Celtic have shown that safe standing works in Scotland. Now Shrewsbury are going to show that it will work in otherwise all-seater grounds in England and Wales too.”

Celtic have pioneered the use of safe standing and introduced rail seating areas at the start of last season. The Scottish club were granted permission from authorities in 2015 to introduce the safe-standing area, which was based on versatile seating common at German grounds.