June 16 – Liverpool is to trial the temporary installation of seats with safety rails in two areas of the Anfield stadium next season following a safety review by the Sports Grounds Safety Authority (SGSA).
The review highlighted that persistent standing in the Kop and Anfield Road lower tier is a safety issue that needed to be addressed.
The Kop and Anfield Road Stand will see 7,800 seats updated in the trial with about 1,800 new seats located in the back of the Kop and 6,000 in the Anfield Road Stand lower tier.
Liverpool emphasised that this was not a move towards so-called ‘safe standing’ and that Anfield was an all-seat stadium. The club said that the trial was to enable fans to stand safely at key moments in the game, but that they must return to sitting down.
Liverpool are believed to be the first of a number of club grounds that will trial seats with safety rails. Old Trafford, Stamford Bridge, Elland Road, the Etihad Stadium and the London Stadium are also reported to be earmarked for trials.
Wembley Stadium is also expected to trial the safety rails though not until after the Euro 2020 finals are completed.
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