Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy is "delighted" the club have accepted an invite from the Sports Grounds Safety Authority (SGSA) to apply for a licensed standing area at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Part of the 'early adopter' programme, clubs will have until Wednesday, October 6 to submit an application to the SGSA to become an early adopter.
If approved, clubs will be able to offer licensed standing areas in stadiums from Saturday, January 1, 2022.
With the return of standing areas at football stadiums on the cards for quite a while now following the success of safe standing in the Bundesliga, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium opened back in April 2019 with areas future-proofed for safe standing in both the south stand and in the away section.
Speaking following the good news, Daniel Levy has stated that the club are "extremely proud" of their safe seating design and a large chunk of Tottenham fans are in favour of the scheme.
“The club has led on lobbying the Government for safe standing at stadia and is delighted that this will now be possible," the Spurs chairman told the club's official website.
"It delivers choice for fans attending the game – whether home or away supporters – and the vast majority of our fans are in favour of this scheme.
"We are extremely proud of our ‘safe seating’ design, which ensures both comfort and safety, whether standing or seated, while maintaining the same aesthetics as in all other areas of the stadium.”
The club's safe standing design, which features an ergonomically profiled bar set at 900mm for clear sightlines, provides the same leg room as in other areas of the stadium.
The seat in its folded position is slim and it has a purpose-designed lock to ensure it can be stowed as and when required.
In order to receive the green light from both the Government and SGSA, clubs will have to meet a number of different criteria, including the necessary infrastructure being in place, fans must be able to sit and stand in the licensed area, there must be one seat/space per person and the standing area must not impact the current viewing standards or other fans, including disabled fans.
There must also be a code of conduct in place for fans in the licensed standing area, while the ground must also consult with its safety advisory group about plans for the standing area.
Providing Spurs get the nod to proceed, the first match at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with licensed standing areas will be the north London derby against Arsenal on Saturday, January 15 unless Spurs are drawn at home in the FA Cup third round a week earlier.
