(Photo: Action Images via Reuters)
By Alex Beard
League One's second place side Shrewsbury Town will begin their plans to install a safe standing section at New Meadow, having reached their crowdfunding target for the operation.
The Football League's only unbeaten team, Salop announced the online fund-raising campaign this summer and have now reached their goal of £65,000.
As a result the club will launch a safe standing section at their ground, with 600 rail seats set to be introduced at their stadium – provided they receive their standing section license.
Ever since the Hillsborough disaster in 1989, stadiums in the top two tiers of English football have, by law, had to be all-seaters.
However, Paul Hurst's team have not been beyond League One level since that initiative was legalised, meaning they can now become the first club in England and Wales to put safe standing in a previously all-seater stadium.
In a statement on the club's official website, chief executive Brian Caldwell said: “We are delighted that Shrewsbury Town will be the flagship club in addressing this issue, which is so important to so many fans.
“We will now continue the process to introduce rail seating in the Salop Leisure Stand and we hope to have supporters watching home games from the safe standing area before the end of the season.”
Scottish giants Celtic successfully made the switch to safe standing in 2016, with 3,000 rail seats at Celtic Park, while the system is widely and safely used in Germany.
The seats are flipped up and locked in place when fans want to use the area as a standing space, and there is a barrier in place between each row to prevent overcrowding.
