West Brom boss Tony Pulis backs safe standing areas

Officials from all 20 Premier League clubs discussed the possibility of introducing safe standing or railed seating into the top tier of English football at a meeting today.

Albion are open to the idea, and are sending stadium manager Mark Miles to Celtic Park next month to look at the 2,900-capacity standing section the Scottish champions opened this season.

He will report back to the board afterwards before any stance on the issue is confirmed. Albion's head coach is behind the idea, and reckons it will help improve the atmosphere.

"As long as they're well managed and monitored, I would like to see standing back at grounds," confirmed Pulis. "To be perfectly honest, if you watch most supporters who travel away from home they don't sit on their seats anyway. The seats are there but they're stood up.

"Especially for away supporters, give them that standing room behind the goal will bring more atmosphere to the games."

Installing a standing-only area at The Hawthorns requires a change in legislation after the Taylor report into the Hillsborough disaster recommended all-seater stadia for every club in the top two tiers.

Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore doubts the government will be willing to do that.

"Clearly there is a legal position at the moment and we are required by law to have all-seater stadia," he said. "There is no prospect with the government of that changing at the moment.

"But of course we're not immune to the fact that this is a topic and it is in discussion with our clubs, all of whom are looking at the issue."

However, there may be a way of introducing safe standing zones at Premier League grounds without having to go through the rigmarole of changing the law.

Railed seating has been used in Germany's Bundesliga for nearly two decades so the size of standing areas can be changed depending on the fixture.

Because that provides everyone with a seat, it may be classed as 'seated accommodation' and therefore acceptable within the current rules.

"If they're saying that's safe because they're only giving one number for one seat because that's person standing up is just taking one seat up then you can do that," said Pulis.

Earlier this week, Albion fans reacted positively to the news the club were looking into safe standing.

The average attendance at The Hawthorns has been slowly dwindling for the past three seasons, and this campaign it's taken a sharp fall.

There are a myriad factors behind this decrease, including Pulis himself, but the Baggies head coach hopes fans are consulted by the club before any action is taken one way or another.

"The powers that be above me will make a decision on it," he said. "It would be nice to see what the supporters think, whether they want to see it come back as well."

Railed seating has been in use in the Bundesliga for several years, but it is Celtic's successful introduction of the scheme this season that has put the issue on the agenda for English clubs.