A petition asking for the return of safe standing in Premier League and Championship football has reached the decisive 100,000 mark.
It's a number which forces MPs to consider debating the issue of whether it safe standing should be brought back, in the House of Commons.
It's a contentious issue. The Sports Grounds Safety Authority was set-up after the Hillsborough disaster in 1989 which claimed the lives of 96 supporters, with the government agency suggesting the removal of safe standing. It was eventually banned in the Football Spectators' Act; a piece of legislation made after the Taylor Report.
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Celtic have successful re-introduced stand standing and League One side Shrewsbury Town have been allowed to bring in 'rail seats' to their stadium.
More recently, however, Minister of Sport Tracey Crouch rejected West Bromwich Albion's proposal to introduce safe-standing at The Hawthorns, saying that the change is only wanted by a 'vocal minority', according to Sky Sports.
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But now a petition asking for its return has reached 100,00 signatures from football supporters after doing the rounds on social media. Going over the 100.00 mark activates a piece of legislation which says that MPs must review whether they should debate the topic in parliament.
It's one step closer to the return of a fantastic aspect of match-going that's been sorely missed. Even if it doesn't happen now, the noise from thousands of supporters about bringing safe standing back, makes likely that it will make a return to the top two tiers of English football sooner rather later.
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What do you think should safe standing make a return?
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Football, Premier League
