We’ve all been there. It’s the last minute and your team is clinging on to a vital, undeserved win away from home. You stand and bellow support for your lads with their backs against the walls, frantically throwing themselves in front of every ball headed toward the goal to break your heart.

Or stood on the balls of your feet, arms aloft, savouring every last note of the band’s encore. After wholeheartedly participating in the circling, moshpit in the centre of the venue throughout the gig.

Even stood, screeching, encouraging your horse to win by a nose and net you a cool couple of hundred pounds of profit.

Now replace the word stand or stood with sit or sat, and it’s not quite the same experience is it? Yet there is only one of those situations that is an offence, meaning ejection from the event you were enjoying. Then maybe even a ban for life from returning to the place where the offence was committed.

Yes, with the shadow of the Hillsborough disaster looming behind it, football is a different, and definitely more sensitive issue. However, essentially within each situation are just normal people actively enjoying their passion.

Lord Justice Taylor’s report on Hillsborough is not something to be ignored or taken lightly, in fact because it has been embraced is the reason going to watch football has become the popular, all- inclusive and above all safe pastime it is today.

However, although Lord Justice Taylor recommended all-seater stadia in English football, a rule that has been implemented in the top two tiers, it never said the actual act of standing was to cause for the horrible tragedy that day. Rather ‘the muddled stadium maintenance, safety inspection regime… poor approach to stadium design and event management.’

In the same report, commenting on his recommendation to move to all-seater stadia, Taylor stated, ‘spectators will be accustomed and educated to sitting.’ This is the basis of the most compelling case for the introduction of safe standing in England. Every week at most football grounds throughout the country, masses of supporters stand (especially in the away end) with stewards seemingly powerless to stop them.

20 years on and football supporters have not become accustomed to seating, and probably never will. Yet those behind, whether young, elderly or disabled have only two choices, try and stand and try and peek above or around those in front, or just not be able to see. Yet the footballing authorities are ignoring the perfect solution to this problem, a safe standing area where those who want to stand can, and those who want to sit can, and both enjoy the game.

Another problem stopping football followers from enjoying the game is the cost to be able to. The cheapest ticket at Old Trafford for the most supported club in England is £27. This being good value for money in the premier league, it costs £39 in the family end at Stamford Bridge for Chelsea home games. Conversely, the cost to see a top-flight game at the most supported club in the German Bundesliga, Borussia Dortmund is €14 (£12), less than half the price of Manchester United. Amazing value for money, especially considering the strength of the Euro against the Pound.

The reason this can be done is the immense 24,454 capacity Südtribüne at Westfalenstadion. (Shown in the photograph with article)  Given the nickname ‘The Opera House’ because of the huge passion demonstrated at every home game. This is a perfect example of how safe standing can be achieved. There are small areas holding just over 2000 people where just those with the correct ticket are allowed to enter, with ample room for each person. While the terrace can be transformed into an all seater stadium to be able to host events such as the Italy and Germany World Cup semi-final in 2006, and the 2001 UEFA cup final between Liverpool and Deportivo Alaves.

German football clubs can allow choice for the fans because of the refreshing attitude of the German football association, DFB. After Hillsborough the DFB reviewed its policy on standing at football matches, like the FA. But chose to keep standing areas for various valid reasons including the fear of children standing on seats on steep terraces trying to see above those stood in front of them, and to ensure a greater social inclusion to football games.

Yet the most striking aspect of the reasons for their decisions is this statement, ‘Football is culture… the solidarity inspired by a sense of community’ Imagine this coming from the FA’s slick PR machine? That statement and all that surrounds it is surely what football is all about, groups of friends going to games and becoming one group with hundreds, or thousands of others. Something that is being lost with billionaire oil baron owners and wall to wall live football on sky sports.

Therefore, don’t think of the standing argument as a yearn for the dark days, rather a look forward to a future with the choice for affordable, safe standing areas, a chance to reclaim football for its fans.

After all what other industry (and the government) would ignore its consumers.  In a survey conduced by The Football Fans’ Census 92% of football fans said fans should be given the choice whether they stand or sit inside football grounds. A clear illustration of the feeling on what is one of the most important issues in English football, yet an issue that gets so sadly ignored.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

‘If in doubt, get it out!’ It’s a cry heard from many a parent and even coaches every weekend around the country at junior football games.

It’s a cry that can sum up in a nutshell the attitude English football has carried for many years. And looking at some of England’s attempts to win major championships since 1966, it’s a slogan that the national team should have had stitched to their shirts at times.

Especially in recent times with both Sven-Göran Eriksson and Steve McClaren’s sides having the habit when under pressure, of aimless punts up field presenting the ball to an opposition more than willing to punish them. The punishing usually a lesson in how by keeping the football you can effectively dominate the game.

In the 5-1 Wembley demolishing of Croatia and the one hundred percent breeze through World Cup Qualification Fabio Capello’s team have handed the type of footballing lesson to teams that England have been on the receiving end of in the not too distant past.

Although these are promising signs, scratch beneath the surface of the first team squad, and there isn’t a large amount of established technically proficient attacking players waiting in the wings in case of injury. And don’t forget there is still the chance for England to revert to type when the pressure is truly on in South Africa, and come back full circle to “If in doubt, get it out.”

There are other reasons to be positive, and they come from the unlikeliest of sources. While training with the England team at Arsenal’s Colney training ground, he said Arsenal had set “a very important example for the other English academies.” Concluding that the future of English football is in good hands.

The same Arsenal hands that fielded a 16-man squad without an English player in 2005. The hands belonging to the long time enemy of English footballers Arsene Wenger, who has received criticism for not giving British players a chance from numerous sources, including Sir Alex Ferguson, Sir Trevor Brooking and memorably from Alan Pardew accusing Arsenal of “losing the soul of British football.”

Yet the evidence coming from the Arsenal academy seems contrary to Pardew’s statement. Kieran Gibbs holding the Gaël Clichy’s left back position at the end of last season, even being trusted in hugely important Champions League quarter and semi-finals. Henri Lansbury, at loan on Watford, who has captained the England under 19 outfit. And Jack Wilshere who burst onto the scene at the tender age of 16 during Arsenal’s six-goal massacre of Sheffield United in the League cup last season. Wilshere has been widely tipped for a surprise call up to Fabio Capello’s World Cup squad.

While these three are the headlines, there is also Gavin Hoyte, Jay Simpson and Mark Randall looking extremely promising. The Arsenal 2009 F.A Youth Cup winning squad contained 12 out of 16 English players. Suddenly Arsenal could have a golden generation of English talent.

Liam Brady, Head of Youth Development at Arsenal, knows that this is not due to chance. “I would say this is probably the healthiest state the Academy has been in since I’ve been here.” This is the same Liam Brady who in 2000 launched a scathing attack on the standard of young English footballers, saying “You can’t blame Arsene or any other manager for bringing foreign players in.” So what has changed?

“I think that’s because we are starting to see the first generation of players who have come all the way through the age groups at Hale End. Boys like Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, Henri Lansbury, Jack Wilshere, Emmanuel Frimpong and Sanchez Watt have all attained England schoolboy recognition and they have been with us since they were nine and ten.”

Maybe through hard work, organisation and good coaching Arsenal have removed the “If in doubt, kick it out” mentality from English footballers. By following a more continental approach to teaching young footballers England may finally have a conveyor belt of footballers both technically perfect, equally able to control a game by passing a team out of it and to play the ‘English’ high tempo, athletic game. Now wouldn’t that be an exciting thought?

So can Arsene Wenger be the saviour of English football? He seems to think so, “I know how much the English national team means here to people. To contribute to that would be a big pride as well.”

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Am I the only one who seems to think everyone in the country is missing something? At Eastlands on Sunday a steward was struck by missiles thrown by Arsenal’s fans, and left unconscious by the pitch-side for five minutes. A disgraceful act that none of us want to see in football I’m sure you’ll all agree. And surely a more serious incident than the pathetic, infantile pitch invasion at Upton Park last month, where it seems that the large majority of West Ham fans were celebrating.

Yet the damning of each incident compare slightly differently. The Sun calling it ‘A horror pitch invasion.’ Sports minister Gerry Sutcliffe commenting on a “return to the dark days of the 70s and 80s.” Harry Redknapp saying he was “sick to the very pit of his stomach.” Danny Dyer saying, “it’s the best thing to ever happen to resurrect my slowly dying acting career.” I might be lying about the last one but you get the drift.

So what sorts of condemnations were there for the Arsenal fans? None at all. In the mass hysteria of people queuing to attack Emmanuel Adebayor for daring to give a little back to thousands of fully grown adult’s constant abuse and vitriol he had been on the receiving end of both prior to and throughout the game, nobody has mentioned the fact that the Arsenal fans were well out of order.

The bare fact is that Adebayor wasn’t the one who concussed the steward.

Before I go on any further, in no way does this mean I think Adebayor is anything but a repulsive idiot, who fully demonstrates what is wrong with the mercenary attitude of modern footballers. His stamp on Robin Van Persie was disgraceful, and I’m sure he will receive the punishment he deserves. His very public flirting with Barcelona, “There is no player who can say no to Barcelona”, made me sick, and there is nothing wrong with Arsenal’s fans telling exactly what they thought of him. But as the old adage goes, ‘if you can’t take it then don’t give it out.’

The blatant ignorance of the away ends misbehaviour can only be for two reasons in my eyes, both as wrong as each other.

Either our country has accepted that football fans are all mindless idiots, and therefore cannot control their actions in provocation from a fellow idiot. So everybody is willing to let this one go because football fans can’t help it. This view is so patronising and wrong that I really hope it isn’t true.

That leaves the fact that Arsenal were not in Green Street, have Nick Hornby as a celebrity fan and have a reputation of a family club without a real history of football violence. I won’t insult the reader’s intelligence by explaining why treating every team on reputation is wrong.

So unless the FA have a valid reason to treat Arsenal different to every other club, then the same book that was thrown at West Ham should also be lobbed in the direction of The Emirates.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News