Manchester City are expected to wait for a change in stance from the government before moving forward with any plans to introduce safe standing at the Etihad.
Standing at football matches in the top two tiers of English football has been forbidden since the 1989 Football Spectators Act. However, there have been growing support to introduce a form of safe standing at grounds in recent years following successful examples in other countries including Celtic Park in Scotland.
In 2018, after a petition was signed by more than 100,000 people the then-Sports Minister Tracey Crouch commissioned an official review that did not reach a conclusion either for or against but suggested there was "significant scope" for further research.
An independent study by the Sports Grounds Safety Authority is due to be completed by this summer but initial findings reported that "installing barriers (or safety bars) has had a positive impact on spectator safety, particularly in mitigating the risk of crowd collapse".
A commitment to working with fans and clubs towards introducing safe standing was included in the Conservative Party 2019 manifesto, and several Premier League clubs have taken action ahead of any change by introducing rail seating - seats which can also be converted to standing areas - at their stadiums; Wolves did this in time for the 2019/20 season and United have been given permission by Trafford Council to install 1,500 rail seats for next season with the scope for more if the trial is successful.
City asked all of their seasoncard holders for their views on safe standing at the Etihad in autumn 2018 in what was the largest survey they have carried out to date, and received an overwhelmingly positive response. In the 18 months since, the club has been exploring potential options for safe standing including the idea of a trial for rail seating.
Khaldoon Al Mubarak, the chairman, brought the matter up in the summer of 2019 and said he was a "huge fan", suggesting that any future expansion could include the capacity for safe standing.
However, nothing is planned to be introduced at the stadium until there is a change in legislation from the government and there would then be more consultation with fans expected over the best option before any action was given the green light to move forward.
