Today it was announced that the prospect of safe standing has been postponed, with the club deciding not to go ahead with the plans. However it does remain on the table in the future, with club saying it will continue to explore the possibility with the supporters groups.
The club conducted a survey after listening to fans, who said at fans forums, and fan groups who have met with the club. They sent a survey to the 551 season ticket holders who would be in the area they are looking at putting the safe-standing in. However only 87 responded the results were fairly even ‘54.65% of those who responded to the survey said they would like to see rail seating introduced while 45.35% were against the idea’ When asked whether they would pay a £75 contribution to change their seat to safe standing, 80% said they would not be willing.
Personally I feel that at this moment in time, the money that would have been spent on this, would be of better use in other areas. Obviously the playing budget could do with the extra boost, especially with the club aiming for a promotion push next season. But with the Bescot Bar being re-done, and other minor improvements slowly being made across the board, I think that over spending for safe-standing would not be wise.
One thing that has surprised and disappointed me is, is hearing that a lot of the fans who are part of the 551, who did not receive an email with the survey. Whether it would change the overall figures is unknown, but it would have been nice to have a lot more responses to really see how many of the 551 would be open for the change.
I hope the club do send further correspondence to the fans regarding this, as I feel that, given some time, it would be a good idea to raise the issue again, and see if views have changed.
All information taken from the clubs website.
