Tottenham’s new 62,000-seater stadium has been “future-proofed” for safe-standing, the club have revealed.
The announcement comes after MPs are set to debate the safe-standing issue in Parliament on Monday following a petition regarding the issue gaining more than 112,000 signatures.
Clubs in English football’s top two tiers have had to be all-seater by law ever since the 1989 Hillsborough disaster that left 96 Liverpool fans dead.
But Tottenham have now prepared their new £850m ground for a potential change in the law by creating “a purpose-designed ‘safe seating’ concept whereby safety and spectator comfort are given equal precedence, using the same moulded seats as in the rest of the general admission areas”.
The club have planned for possible safe-standing in the new 17,500 capacity single-tier South Stand – which was the first to sell out amongst season-ticket holders – and in the away end where the club “had issues with persistent standing” at White Hart Lane.
Spurs claim their safe-standing designs are “different and improved” on rail seats, which have a waist-high barrier separating each row and a seat that can be flipped up and locked in place when used as a standing area, and are used extensively in Germany and at Celtic Park.
Tottenham are set to open their new ground against Liverpool on September 15, with their first home game of the 2018/19 Premier League season against Fulham to be at Wembley.
(Sky Sports)
