My understand is the standing areas will still technically have seats, there will just be less of them and locked in an upright position when the area is designated as a standing area.
Maybe so but that wasn't really the point I was getting at. People seem to think that if they beg for standing areas and the club spends a fortune installing them that they should get their tickets cheaper because of it which is quite stupid really. I don't personally think that safe standing areas have been perfected yet, the ones i've seen abroad do offer an option of standing or seating for different games but when seated the views are obstructed by the barriers required for its standing use. The option of purely standing areas with barriers like in the 70's just seems a huge backwards step to me and any purely standing areas with much higher levels of safety than before seem too expensive. I think safe standing areas of seating for some games, standing for others could be good in the future but a great deal of design work needs to go into it before it is ready as the existing standing areas abroad are not really adequate. I also firmly believe that if they are introduced then they must be the more expensive tickets due to the costs.
'existing standing areas are not really adequate' - not really adequate in what way? Safe standing tickets work out cheaper than sitting tickets as you can increase the capacity thus not having to charge as much. Using the Ponty end as an example which holds 4,500 sitting priced at £28 a ticket totalling £126,000. If you were to rip up the seats and put in safe standing areas which could increase capacity to say 6,000 (hypothetical i know but just an example) therefore you would only have to charge £21 to achieve the same income.
You can increase it all you want but it won't make people turn up if they don't want to. Only way to fund it as it's always been is to sell players to cover the costs - we really can't afford to do that at the minute
The standing area in the west stand lower was ripped out and re-laid to a different specifacation for the seats.
I think to bring back terracing would be immense. I love our trips to Peterborough, the atmosphere in the away end is electric. Maybe if every/most stadiums had a terraced section the novelty would wear off, but I always stand at the back anyway so I'm not in anybody's way, don't like sitting down at the football, that's not what I'm there for.
It was never the case that standing tickets were cheaper, that is completely wrong. Tickets were were a standard price throughout Oakwell, you paid extra to go first class in the upper West Stand if you chose to. Which is why they are still called to posh seats by some. Typical Tory types immediately see the idea as socially divisive and their hard earned is subsidising those who would choose to stand? Adolf would love you.
I stand every week at rugby, not been injured once Finals day at warrington is great too. A purpose built Rugby stadium with a mixture of seating and standing
Talksport read out my view earlier: @BFCDrinkers: @DGoughie all seaters are fine. You know at Oakwell we 'self-regulate', those who want to stand buy tickets at back and so don't impede view
Still think it'd be easier to designate a block of seats, as they are, as a standing area. If you choose to buy tickets there, accept you may have to stand. Fans up and down the country stand anyway as it is, in our league Leeds, Wednesday, Millwall, Cardiff, Huddersfield, Boro etc and virtually every Prem club's away followings. I'm all for anything that improves the match day atmosphere.
For me, bring em back. One of the best away grounds of been to in recent years was Peterborough, but that might have had summet to do with the cracking game. I was stood against the last barrier when we scored the fourth and felt like I wud end up on the pitch but was worth it to see that stunner from Craig Davies.
Why not introduce a dinosaur area to Oakwell, as it will suit the pathetic old fart section of fans who think this is a positive step. We've made so much effort and spent so much money in turning Oakwell into what it is now, it would be an absolutely moronic idea to bring back standing areas again.
if it was to be allowed, id rebuild the west stand to look just like the east stand but with the safe standing in the lower tier, with normal seating in the upper, getting the changing rooms and tunnel back we're they belong and split the stand in half for home and away fans to be able to close the north until its needed,