DAN THE FAN: Standing up for a common sense solution

All Town fans would recognize both Bristol clubs, Reading and Oxford as the clubs rivals, it’s been said before that fans that reside in Swindon and the Thames Valley area see Oxford as the clubs main rival.

And of course that is true, but it seems people who come from North Wiltshire, like myself, look at the Bristol City fixture with more feeling and emotion.

There was a lively atmosphere inside the away end with both Town and city fans in the same stand - it felt like an old-fashioned derby atmosphere, something the fans haven’t experienced away for many years.

Looking onto the pitch, the entire backline of Foderingham, Thompson, Stephens and Archibald-Henville and McEveley did a great job in keeping a clean sheet after some stupid behavior from Alex Pritchard.

It would be tough to find another Town player who has enjoyed a better season than Alex Pritchard.

The guy has got a bright future in the game and will almost certainly be playing in the Championship next season, but on Saturday he cost his team big time.

But Town’s ten men held on and earned a well-deserved point.

Even with the whole team putting in a solid defensive performance, Troy Archibald-Henville was Town’s key man at the back.

Since he arrived at the club Troy has struggled with various injury problems, his current run of games is by far the longest he’s achieved at the club, and its come nearly two years after he was signing by Di Canio.

Hopefully the club and the player can come to an agreement with a new contract with his present deal coming to an end this summer, if he can keep himself fit, there’s no doubt he’ll become a key player next season.

Despite a hotly contested local derby last weekend, I surprisingly want to direct some praise in the direction of our quiet neighbours Bristol City, on their stance with safe standing at football grounds.

Ever since grounds were made all-seater in the early 90’s, the issue of standing at football grounds has been a hot topic for thousands of fans all over Britain.

At that period in time it was the correct decision to bring in all-seater stadiums after the tragedy that took place at Hillsborough on the 15th April 1989.

People who witnessed that event will never forget that horrific day in our national game, and 25 years on, it still plays a massive role.

I agree that the way fans stood and watched a game in the past is illogical and we should never go back, but a concept called safe standing is becoming a big talking point amongst fans.

Let’s be honest, thousands of fans across the country stand at games anyway, nobody is able to stop that, so introducing a rail seat system into a certain stand in a stadium makes complete sense.

A rail seat is the most popular idea when people talk about safe standing, there is a safety barrier and a seat on every row, the seats are locked into an upright position, meaning a seat is available when the occasion suits.

Having a safety barrier with every seat cancels out crowd surging that used to occur at games in the past, it creates a controlled standing environment.

In Germany the idea is already old news and is a huge success, you only have to look at some of the fantastic atmospheres created and the brilliant value of games.

I understand that some people will never be sold on the idea, and will think it’s a step backwards, but I’m of the opinion that this system is the future of the game in this country.

And with Town one of the many clubs who are backing the safe standing campaign, hopefully we’ll one day see it introduced into at least half of the Town End.

For more information on Safe Standing please visit www.fsf.org.uk/campaigns/safe-standing.

Follow me on Twitter @danjohnson_stfc

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