Liverpool Fan Group Spirit Of Shankly To Vote On Safe Standing On Saturday

Liverpool fan group Spirit of Shankly "warned members they need to discuss the issue of safe standing" or risk "the conversation happening around them," according to Luke Reddy of the BBC. The group will vote on the issue on Saturday. SOS Chair Jay McKenna said that the impact of the Hillsborough disaster might have left fans "behind the curve" in the debate about reintroducing standing. The club said that it would "listen" to fans' views "if legislation requiring all-seater stadiums were ever changed." SOS has discussed the issue with members since September and met with survivors of the disaster and "families of those killed" on Tuesday. The group will hold an open meeting in the city this weekend, "then open an online vote." The vote will "seek to clarify an official stance on safe standing for the group's members," but a separate vote will "also collate the views of non-members in order to build a supporter-wide consensus" (BBC, 7/18).