The government has approved trials of safe standing at three Premier League clubs (Tottenham, Manchester United & Liverpool) and Arsenal is looking at how it might be brought in at the Emirates.

The club is looking at two options for safe standing (or ‘railed seating’ to give it its proper name).

Option 1 is in the North Bank and Clock End – corners & behind goal areas. This option creates official standing areas that currently have persistent standing (including visitors sections, blocks adjacent to visitors and Red Action area).  However, it would involve seat loss, and would impact the family enclosure. It would also need work to segregate standing areas from seating areas in the concourse.

Option 2 is to convert the entire lower tier.  This would lose fewer seats but the impact would be higher for any fans in the lower tier not wishing to stand. It would also affect supporters with disabilities, the family enclosure and the press box.  It’ll also cost a lot more than the other option.

In AISA’s own survey, people were split roughly 50/50 on whether they minded being moved elsewhere to accommodate safe standing. But other supporters’ questions that need resolving include

• what happens if fans are moved to accommodate safe standing and the only available seat is one at a higher cost?
• what’s the impact on disabled supporters?
• might supports try to move from seated to safe standing areas during a game (and vice versa)?

The club is working through all these issues and it’s clearly not a simple process. They are also monitoring the feedback from the trials at Tottenham, Man United & Liverpool.

The next step is the survey that’ll be sent to season ticket holders in both lower and upper tiers, and people who’ve bought general admission tickets over the past three years. That’s due some time in March. There’s a long way to go, so nothing’s going to change any time soon. How, when and if ever it will be the same at Arsenal remains to be seen.

How was it for you at Anfield? What questions do you have? Please let us know.

Dear AISA member,   First, I want to thank you for staying with us in what has been another turbulent and disrupted year.
  Your continued membership of AISA helps us continue to have a voice in discussions with the club, discussions that have mattered more in 2021 than almost any year in previous memory.
We spoke to Josh Kroenke on several occasions     In a year in which the Arsenal board misguidedly signed up to the aborted European Super League, and one where large numbers of supporters protested loudly outside the Emirates, it was vital that groups like ours were able to hold direct conversations with the people who own and run The Arsenal. We spoke to Josh Kroenke on several occasions, and to Vinai Ventakesham and Tim Lewis, and others within the club, to make sure that our quiet and calm voice was heard and listened to.
Arsenal Advisory Board   We have worked with our friends at the AST to establish the Arsenal Advisory Board which, if not perfect, at least represents an important breakthrough in ensuring the voice of fans is heard within the boardroom.
  AISA is affiliated to the Football Supporters Association (FSA) and our representatives there give our members another important voice in discussions which are part of the Crouch Review, set up by the government to look into football management in England.
We need your feedback
  All this is why we ask you for your feedback, to pass your comments back to the club and to the FSA. Which reiterates how important your membership is. We acknowledge that we have not been able to offer as much in the way of events as we would have liked, but the pandemic continues to make organising things very difficult. However, we do have some things in the pipeline (both virtual and face-to-face) and details of these will be posted here, early in the New Year on the website. And we have a plea: there are eleven of us on the committee and we could happily make room for a few more. All of us are volunteers and with more hands on deck, AISA could do more for you, the members. We are especially keen to find committee members who could represent the diverse range of Arsenal fans (so younger members are very welcome, as well of those of you from BAME/GEM* backgrounds). We mostly meet online, once a month (sometimes more often), and we are very friendly (so we believe!) so if you have the time and would like to get involved, please get in touch and we can nominate you for the next AGM.
What about the football?
  After a stuttering start and an early December stumble, Arsenal men seem back on track again. Fourth place may not come with a trophy but if we stay there to the end of the season, I think we?d all agree that represented massive progress for Arteta and his squad.
  Several committee members were at Wembley to see the women lose in the FA Cup final, but I for one am really enjoying watching them this season, and it was lovely to see Jen Beattie win the Helen Rollason prize on BBC’s Sports’ Personality of the Year. Viv Miedema was voted the women player of the year as well. Hopefully we will soon see the likes of Saka, Martinelli, and Smith Rowe bagging their own awards and trophies before too long. Both teams fill me with confidence about the next few years, and here’s hoping that we will be back where we belong very soon, which is winning the league and cups.
  All that remains is to wish you and your families a very merry, safe, and restful Christmas and we will see you in 2022.
  Come on you Gunners!
  Drew (AISA Chair)

*Black Asian Minority Ethnic/Global Ethnic Majority)