The first images of safe-standing sections at Villa Park appear to have been shared online.
Aston Villa are suspected to have started to install safe-standing sections inside Villa Park, as captured on X, formerly Twitter.
Images that appear to have been taken from inside the ground show visible rails in place in the upper section of the Doug Ellis Stand, with the source hoping for plans to install the rails onto the back of the upper Holte End next.
Change has been implemented at Villa Park over the past year and looks to continue to do so, but not just regarding improvements on the pitch.
2023/24 ticket price hikes left Aston Villa fans feeling disheartened
On the back of the thrilling 2022/23 campaign under Unai Emery, Villa’s status as one of the top clubs in the Premier League was restored, which unfortunately also resulted in the rise of ticket prices.
While there should be no correlation between the quality of football and the prices of tickets, Villa outlined that it was part of the club’s strategy to return to competing with the best, meaning a need to balance revenues to cover ‘ever-growing’ costs.
The climb from 15th to 7th during the time of Emery’s takeover warranted much to be celebrated, although the incline in pricing structure took the glamour of the Spaniard’s successes away for a moment.
As shared by a BirminghamLive report, many fans felt let down by the decision to higher the price of tickets at a time when the cost of living is a struggle for so many with one supported reminiscing on his past experiences as a season ticket holder.
“Increased prices with less benefits. I’ll renew but I remember a time when ST holders got a 10% shop discount and felt valued, now we are just a cash cow to be milked.”
An increase of 15% was implemented to the displeasure of fans, who are now set to see further changes at Villa Park but this time with the hope of a more positive light with the introduction of safe standing to promote further fan engagement.
Why was safe-standing banned in the UK?
Safe standing has been a taboo topic in football stadiums in the UK following the devastating 1989 Hillsborough disaster, in which 96 Liverpool fans were unlawfully killed.
In the aftermath of the disaster, legislation was passed to remove standing areas in grounds in the bid to avoid a travesty as vast as Hillsborough to ever reoccur.
The 2022/23 season marked the first footballing calendar to sanction the reintroduction of safe standing to Premier League and Championship grounds, with strict safety precautions and rulings in place to protect match-goers.
What rules will Aston Villa fans have to follow in the safe-standing section?
As cited from the GOV website, the rules that will be applied to safe standing, now expected to be soon implemented at Villa Park, include the following:
Fans must have to occupy the same are the same position in the area they would take if they were sitting on a chair, with each ticket and area to be numbered as usual.
Seats cannot be locked in the up or down position, allowing fans in such areas to sit if they wish to, coinciding with the fact that all standing areas cannot affect the views of other fans.
It’s a big but exciting change that could be set to be introduced at Villa Park shortly, with safe standing expected to make a return.
