Supporters Trust Petition

Dunfermline supporters are seeking support for a Holyrood petition calling on football authorities to revisit rules for SPL grounds.

The Pars Supporters Trust are petitioning the Scottish Parliament on the thorny subject of the re-introduction of standing areas at SPL football grounds. petition online

Petition by Stephen A Taylor, on behalf of Pars Supporters Trust (Dunfermline Athletic Supporters Society Ltd), calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to re-introduce safe standing areas at Scottish Premier League football stadia to give professional clubs the option to have seated or standing areas at their football grounds.

You may have thought that the standing debate had gone quiet but the Pars Supporters Trust has been working away in the background resulting in steps being taken to petition the Scottish Parliament on this subject.

The aim is to get the Parliament as a body to encourage the football authorities in Scotland to re-visit their current regulations that require all seated stadia to be used in the SPL. This is not a matter the Parliament can legislate on as the all seated ruling does not stem from a legislative framework in Scotland.

It is also important to note that the PST are not looking for the re-introduction of standing areas to be mandatory, it should still come down to a matter of choice for each individual club.

Stephen Taylor said: "Too many of our top clubs have crippled themselves financially building shiny new stands that are never filled. That is a complete financial nonsense.  Another major reason for bringing back standing areas is the clear contribution it makes to the atmosphere at games.

"There is no doubt that allowing supporters to stand does help the level of vocal support and it is easier to keep warm when watching a game in the depths of winter."

The Trust acknowledge that at Dunfermline that the board of directors have said they cannot afford to rip out seats only to replace them, if and when, we get promoted back into the SPL. That is an understandable point of view in the current economic climate. It might, however, make it more of a possibility at some stage if the club did not face the prospect of being forced to replace the seating when promoted.

It would also greatly benefit clubs in the SFL that have yet to change to an all seated ground (Morton, QOS, Ross County etc) if they get themselves in the position of winning promotion to the SPL.

If you have friends or contacts at other clubs who similarly want to see standing areas re-introduced please direct them to the petition to add their names. Clearly, the more people to sign up and from a wide range of clubs the more influential this will be in persuading Parliament to take some action.

The petition, which closes on April 27, calls for the re-introduction of "safe standing areas" to give professional clubs a choice of seated or standing sections.

The petition is available on the Scottish Parliament website and the number of signatories tripled to just under 2000 following publicity on Thursday 26th March.