Wolves out of standing trial

Molineux already has rail seating in the South Bank and parts of the North Bank, but the club initially applied for the pilot which would see those areas officially become safe-standing areas from January 1.

However, Wolves have withdrawn their application due to the requirements for away fans, who are housed in the Steve Bull lower at Molineux. It was required that a section of the away end would have to have rail seats added just for the trial period.

For Wolves, that move did not make sense financially for a area of the ground that may be redeveloped soon, with rail seats already in place in other areas of the stadium.

The other five clubs who have reportedly applied – Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City and Cardiff City – have committed to providing safe-standing for both home and away fans.

Wolves became the first Premier League club to introduce rail seating in 2019 in a move that was seen as a step closer to safe-standing, which was outlawed in 1989 following the Hillsborough disaster.

The club will now not take part in this new pilot however, which was given a green light by the government in September.

It is expected, though, that more clubs will consider safe-standing if the pilot is successful, Like Wolves, West Ham also have some rail seating.

Jon Darch, who has run the Safe-Standing Roadshow and has campaigned for the Football Supporters’ Association, said: “Quite a few more clubs have it on the radar for next summer. I would expect to see a number of clubs doing some kind of safe-standing installation next summer.”