Below is an open letter to Northampton Town FC in support for safe standing from the Standing At Sixfields safe standing campaign group. The group has been in liaison for some time with the football club. The club commissioned a 2017 survey carried out by Northampton Town Supporters’ Trust in which 85% of respondents replied that they would be in favour of having a choice of a safe standing area at Northampton.
The club then began to develop its own barrier system which is different to the rail seat safe standing in place at Celtic and Shrewsbury Town. The club commissioned a second survey for fans in the North Stand to get their views on safe standing. Their report in the survey reported that “the general comments made in response to the survey did raise genuine concerns of the risk that the club may lose a fair number of season ticket holders if safe standing was introduced”.
Standing At Sixfields was moved to write the following letter in response, co-signed by 144 supporters. The co-signatories were limited to fit on the page but there were many more offers to sign.
Dear Kelvin Thomas, David Bower and James Whiting,
Thank you for the hard work that has gone into the safe standing process so far.
NTFC’s 2017 safe standing survey returned with 85% of respondents stating they would like the choice of a safe standing area at Sixfields. The EFL’s “Stand Up For Choice” survey found that 94% of those sampled believed that clubs should have the ability to provide licensed standing and seated accommodation.
With the FA Cup windfall, there could be an opportunity to invest in rail seat technology which is the gold standard in safe standing.
Rail seating offers multiple benefits including:
- Offers the choice for fans to stand or sit as they do at Northampton Saints rugby but with increased safety via rail seats.
- Applicable if the club were to reach the the Championship or Premier League.
- Eradicates the trip danger of fans falling over standard seat backs & potential health and safety implications..
- Associated atmosphere benefits evidenced at Celtic Park, Shrewsbury Town and high level clubs across Europe who utilise rail seat safe standing.
The EFL found that 84% of under 35’s would prefer to stand and it could be a progressive move to invest in our passionate fans and the next generation of lifetime supporters.
Kilmarnock FC have a rail seat section for their under 16 supporters for this reason. Walsall are the latest similarly sized club which are in progress to achieve rail seat safe standing.
We’d be happy to arrange a meeting with the club to listen to any fans’ concerns, to see what obstacles there are and and how we can work together as a fanbase to overcome them.
There is the potential to recoup some of the costs via a rail seat sponsoring scheme.
We appreciate that this is a very busy time, thank you for taking the time to read this letter and hope that a meeting can be arranged in the next week or two.
Good luck to Keith and the team on Friday night versus Derby in the FA Cup.
The following people are signing this letter of support for the installation of safe standing at Sixfields. *Standing At Sixfields
Tom Reed*
Craig Lovesey
Kieran Legg
Keeley Townsend
James Clarke*
Ben Barker
Luke Toreson
Thomas Miller
Gary Buckseal
Jack Archer
Jack Thompson
Dave Naylor
Thomas Batchelar
Haydn Davies
Corey McSheen
Jonathan Payne
Gary Batchelar
Richard Milne
Mason Frost
Chris Leonard
Tim Owen
Roger Dainty
Jo Wilkins
Jack Archer
Ben Wright*
Jamie Hughes
Kiefer Grimes
Brendan Walsh
Dan Pearce
Harrison Young
Joshua Weston
Peter Darbon
Phil Garlick
Neil Edgerton
Nathan Burn
Tom O’Neill
Adam Clarke
Edward Rivett
Nigel Bishop
Graham Beesley
Daniel Owens
Dominic Bird
George Clarke
Paul Hardman
William Oelrich
Rob Careless
Lee Dray
Jack Savage
Paul Fenton
Steve Murphy
Daniel Hurley
Ian Gill
Lewis Kingston
Gavin Foster
Josh Loakes
ConorRutherford
Ciaran Myers
Austin Getter
Kieran Shead
Jack Muscutt
Karlan Taylor
Adam Barby
Patrick Payne
Harry Mellors
John Marlow
Steven Tomlin
Jake Thomas
Sam Milne
Callum White
Ryan Lorefice
Nathan Ivey
Luke Thoday
Craig Abbott
James Niven
Darrell Ambidge
Daniel Fellows
Paul Gillam
Matt Howes
Rob Ambidge
Andy Roberts
Mike Fuller
Ryan Bradwell
James Ambidge
Gareth Loake
Len Bailey
Jamie Hughes
Paul Smith
Keith Buckby
Rob Spick
Ryan Sharp
Jamie Allen
Neil Skeats
Joe Sullivan
Sean Spicer
Simon Hedges
Richard Dams
Dan Martin
Phil Ashby
Lisa Hedges
Leigh Baker
Will Dunkley
Brian Hayward
Joe Cox
Sara Turner
Luke Willmott
Matthew Mannion
Ethan Delafield
Amy Captainino
Frank Savage
Matt Wootton
David Nash
Steve Sharman
Ben Corbett
Chris Kelly
Ciaran Reynolds
Steve Watkins.
Adam Page
Nile Hollowell
Ian Maddock
Haidan Emery
Tony Baker
Martyn Ingram
Joe Bomben
Matthew Gill
Luke Wilson
Cameron Bassett
Charles Commins
James Ball
Marc Lyon
Connor Hawkins
Adam Long
Chessie Coleman
Simon Dadge
Ben White
Danny Brothers
Mark Josiah
Adam Clark
Tom Townsend
Dave Knight
Marc Robinson
Sam Jones
Jonathan Hillyer
Joseph Perry
Matt Amos
