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26

2020 Celtic To Face St Manchester United Make

12th, Johnstone in Scottish Formal Appeal for Safe-Standing
Section In Old Trafford
February

| Cup After Easing Past
EXAMINER Clyde

Ultimately, notwithstanding
IRISH eltic have been the foul weather, it was a com- decent long-range drive from
Christie, who came close with
rewarded for their 3-0
Cwin over Clyde at fortable afternoon for the another shot minutes later.
Broadwood with a William Hoops, who have won the last The Clyde keeper then made
Hill Scottish Cup quarter- 10 competitions in Scotland and a fine block from Klimala after
final tie away to St are looking to win the Scottish he had been put clean through Manchester United have formalized their intention
Johnstone. Cup for an unprecedented by winger James Forrest. to bring safe standing to Old Trafford.
Rangers take on Hearts at fourth successive time. Celtic’s second goal came All-seater stadiums have been mandatory in the top
Tynecastle in the tie of the Celtic boss Neil Lennon from Christie’s corner from the two tiers of English football since 1994-95, following
round on paper, while dipped into his squad by mak- left which was knocked on by recommendations on stadium safety made in the
Hibernian host Championship ing six changes including a first Klimala with veteran midfielder Taylor Report in the wake of the 1989 Hillsborough
side Inverness. start for Polish striker Patryk Brown finishing off from
The winners of the St Mirren Klimala and the return of Scott almost on the line. disaster.
and Motherwell replay face the Bain in goal, with Mohamed The tie then appeared to be But there has been a renewed push in recent years
winners of the replayed game Elyounoussi Moritz Bauer, Boli effectively over. for safe standing to be brought into the top levels of
between Aberdeen and Bolingoli and Ryan Christie Christie, through whom a English football, with Tottenham and Wolves recent-
Kilmarnock in another all- returning. lot of Celtic’s play flowed, test- ly installing rail seating at their grounds.
Premiership tie. Clyde had experience in the ed Mitchell again early in the United have long been in favor of the idea of safe
A much-changed Celtic side shape of skipper David second half as Celtic resumed standing in principle and have discussed the matter
overcame the elements this Goodwillie and midfielder John control. with the two Premier League clubs to understand the
afternoon to secure their place Rankin and they enjoyed the Goodwillie threatened on process of implementation and ongoing management.
in the draw. early tussles in the unpre- the few occasions that the The club recently conducted a feasibility study fol-
The Hoops famously lost in dictable, swirling wind which home side broke up the park lowing changes to the Sports Grounds Safety
the tournament to the Bully was later to be accompanied by but generally Clyde had to Authority (SGSA) Green Guide and are now looking
Wee at the same venue in 2006 rain. defend diligently against Hoops to bring rail seating to Old Trafford, potentially before
but, after French midfielder Clyde keeper David Mitchell pressure.
Olivier Ntcham opened the made a save from Elyounoussi Christie flashed a free-kick the end of the season if the relevant approvals are
scoring in the 16th minute, in the 15th minute – albeit there from 30 yards over the bar and given.
there was little chance of light- was little power in the effort Goodwillie drove wide at the Minutes from the United fans’ forum on January 31
ning striking a second time, from close range – but other end from the edge of the read: “A formal proposal was made to the local Safety
despite Storm Ciara making moments later he had no box. Advisory Group in December 2019 to request a trial in
conditions extremely difficult. chance when Ntcham turned in the 85th minute Bayo, on a small section of the stadium (up to 1,500 seats in the
Parkhead skipper Scott inside and, from just outside for Klimala, hit the side-netting North East Quadrant).
Brown stabbed in a second five the box, drove the ball into the when he was put through by “Our belief is that the introduction of rail seating
minutes before the interval to far corner. Christie, who then clipped the will enhance spectator safety in areas of the stadium
further deflate the League One The goal saw the Scottish bar with a curling shot before where – as with other clubs – we have seen examples
side, with substitute Vakoun champions tighten their grip on Bayo eventually got his goal, of persistent standing.
Bayo adding a third in the last the game and just after the half- converting a cut-back by “The SAG committee is reviewing the request.
minute. hour mark Mitchell saved a Bauer. C
This is not an automatic approval process. We will
discuss the proposal in detail with the relevant author-
ities and will work through their compliance and
review processes.”
Last week, the interim report from the SGSA found
that seated areas incorporating barriers had a “posi-
tive impact” on spectator safety and “mitigated the
risk of crowd collapse”.
Sports minister Nigel Adams said of the report:
“Over a million people watch live football at a ground
every week, and having spoken to fans across the
country, I know that safe standing is an issue many
feel passionately about.
“As we made clear in our election manifesto, we
will work with fans and clubs towards introducing
safe standing at football grounds.
“However it is imperative that football remains as
safe as it has become over the past 25 years. Robust
evidence that this change will provide equivalent or
improved safety for supporters will be absolutely
paramount to this process.” C