MP Bob praises U's supporters

12.00.00am GMT Thu 29th Nov 2007

Colchester United supporters outside Layer Road Stadium

Colchester United supporters have been praised in the House of Commons by town MP Bob Russell for being the best behaved fans in the whole of the Championship.

Speaking in a debate which called for the provision of "safe standing" areas in all-seater stadiums, U's supporter Mr Russell said that the Club with the lowest number of arrests last season was Colchester United with just nine.

Home Office figures published last week showed that Colchester's low figure was half that of the next best Club, Crystal Palace, and some 13 times better than the Club with the worst record, Sunderland who were promoted to the Premiership, followed closely by Leeds United who were relegated.

In the debate itself, Mr Russell - who is a season ticket holder standing on the terraces at Layer Road - supported calls for "safe standing" areas to be provided. He said: "My view is that watching football from the terraces is completely different from going to an all-seater stadium. This will be the last season that Colchester United will play at Layer Road, which is the smallest club ground ever to be used in the Championship and where the majority of the 6,000-limit crowd stand and watch."

He added: "It is no coincidence that when the sound people came into every Championship club last year, the loudest fans were those at Colchester United, where people stand - there is a totally different atmosphere."

The Community Stadium at Cuckoo Farm, which is now being built, will be a 10,000 all-seater stadium. "I shall miss standing at football matches. People frequently stand in all-seater stadiums, which I think is unsafe."

Mr Russell said that last season he had managed to attend 15 of Colchester United's away fixtures, all of them played at all-seater stadiums. "The atmosphere at those grounds comes nowhere near to the atmosphere when fans can stand."

He observed: "People come in different sizes, but the seats in a stadium are all the same size. Whereas on the terraces people can do a bit of moving about, this is a physical impossibility in an all-seater stadium. The other thing that I found out last year was that the grounds vary in quality, in the size of the seats, in the legroom provided and so on."

Mr Russell described how he felt "safe standing" areas should be provided - giving people "consumer choice".

He explained: "If clubs think that there is capacity for safe standing areas, perhaps they could have pens, perhaps no more than four or five deep and 20 to 30 yards long.

"I urge the Sports Minister to relax the rigid regulation on all-seater stadiums. When supporters and clubs can come to an arrangement whereby they can have small, secure areas, let them do it. My experience is that that would be a lot safer than some of the all-seater stadiums that I have witnessed."