COVENTRY City will introduce safe standing at the Coventry Building Society Arena for the 2024/25 season.
Following a consultation process, feedback and a successful trial, the club will covert 2,732 seats into safe standing areas.
These areas are: Block 6 – Rows AA to XX (Away Supporters), Block 7 – Rows AA to XX (Away Supporters), Block 11 – Rows AA to XX, Block 12 – Rows AA to XX, Block 13 – Rows AA to XX and Block 14 – Rows AA to XX.
Coventry’s chief operating officer, John Taylor, said: “I would like to thank all supporters who engaged with the club survey earlier this year as this provided valuable feedback to the club on this subject matter.
“The club has looked to balance supporter safety regarding persistent standing while also looking to enhance the matchday experience for the Sky Blue Army.”
CBS Arena managing director, Paul Michael, added: “The successful trial run in partnership with the club has proved that standing can be managed safely in designated areas and bring a positive boost to the matchday experience for fans who would prefer to stand during the match.
“We’re confident creating safe standing areas will contribute to maintaining the incredible atmosphere generated by Sky Blues fans at Coventry Building Society Arena which has been a real feature on matchdays in recent years, especially over the past season.”
The installation will commence during the summer and will be completed ahead of the start of the 2024/25 campaign.
In safe standing areas, each fan has their own specific ticketed standing space and seat, with individual rows separated by barriers to prevent falling when fans are standing up.
Supporters currently located in these areas will have their safe standing seats reserved in line with the general seat reservation period for other supporters.
And supporters in these areas who do not not want to be in a safe standing area will be able to move their seat to other available seats.
The safe standing solution has been trialled at the Coventry Building Society Arena for games in recent weeks and has proved successful.
A number of other stadiums have introduced safe standing since it became licensed ahead of the 2022/23 season.
Coventry has worked closely with Coventry Building Society Arena, Coventry City Council and the Sports Ground Safety Authority over the past 12 months to introduce safe standing to the Arena.
Earlier this year the Sky Blues sent a survey to supporters to gauge their views on safe standing.
More than 80 per cent of supporters who completed the survey supported the introduction of safe standing within the stadium with over 70 per cent stating the preferred location for installation being Singers Corner.
