Liverpool receive safe standing licence as Anfield rail seats increase to 13,300
- Published
Rail seats were installed at Anfield in 2021, with campaigners having called for standing to be reintroduced in recent years
Liverpool will introduce safe standing areas at Anfield against Bournemouth in the Premier League on Saturday after receiving a licence for the new season.
They will be located in the rail seating areas on the Kop and the lower Anfield Road Stand and will allow 13,300 fans to stand throughout matches.
Rail seating areas were first implemented in the stadium during the 2020-21 campaign.
The Reds face Bournemouth at 15:00 BST.
Liverpool installed 7,800 rail seats in the summer of 2021 and a further 2,500 during last season's World Cup break. They plan to add more on the Kop next year.
In a statement, the club said:, external "The move will now see the introduction of safe standing areas across all rail seating sections on the Kop and in the lower Anfield Road Stand from Saturday.
"In these safe standing areas, supporters will be permitted to stand throughout matches and not just for significant moments, such as goal celebrations."
The safe standing initiative has been trialled successfully by several Premier League clubs over the past two years.
Since 1994, grounds in the first and second tiers of English football have been required by law to be all-seater.
That followed a recommendation of the Taylor Report following the 1989 Hillsborough disaster, when 97 Liverpool fans died as a result of a crush at an FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest in Sheffield.
However, after new guidance from the Sports Ground Safety Authority (SGSA), rail seating has been developed at some grounds to provide seats that can be converted to standing areas when desired.
Liverpool wrote to all the families of the Hillsborough victims before installing the first rail seats at Anfield.
The club had hoped the redeveloped Anfield Road Stand would be ready for the side's opening home game but delays in construction mean it will have a phased opening.
The full stadium capacity of 61,000 is now set to be realised in mid-October.
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