During recent years, there has been an increased demand from clubs and supporters to reintroduce standing areas in stadiums. As a result, the KNVB wished to explore if and under which conditions standing can be reintroduced in Dutch professional football stadiums in a safe, manageable and sustainable manner.
On behalf of the KNVB, The Stadium Consultancy has executed an international benchmark study to define the concept requirements for introducing safe standing in stadiums which meets the conditions of the KNVB.
To test the outcome of the study a pilot project has been started with 4 Premier League Clubs: Ajax, PSV, SC Heerenveen and PEC Zwolle. The Stadium Consultancy was responsible for implementing this pilot project and monitoring the experience of fans, stadium safety management and police with the solutions implemented during several home matches of the pilot clubs. Furthermore, we verified the compliance of the new (safe) standing tribunes with the principles of the pilot.
With the outcome of, and good practiced developed during the pilot a new article Safe Standing was drafted for the KNVB Competitions Handbook, which has been implemented in the 2017/’18 season.
Project details
Client
Royal Netherlands Footbal Association (KNVB)
Location
Amsterdam – Eindhoven – Heerenveen – Zwolle,
The Netherlands
Period
2015 – 2017
Stadium capacity
13.000 – 54.000
Resident club
AFC Ajax, PSV Eindhoven, SC Heerenveen, PEC Zwolle
Project type
Operations & Management, Project Management
Keywords
Safety Management, Pilot Project, Safe Standing
