Standing at the Emirates is a major safety concern

In a bid to quell the raucous, euphoric atmosphere at The Emirates, Arsenal have sent an email to their members to remind them what their seats are for:

Ahead of the new season, we just wanted to take this opportunity to explain our policy concerning standing in the seated areas at Emirates Stadium.

We do understand that many of you want to show your support and urge the team on - and we have no objection to people standing in order to see a particular move or at crucial points in the game. However, in one or two sections of the stadium, it is becoming increasingly apparent that supporters have been standing throughout some of the matches.

[…] If just one person falls over when there are many standing, this can cause a ‘domino effect’ to occur, and many people could suffer injury as a result.

The health & safety police make an excellent point about the dangers of prolonged standing. Just last week, I was waiting at a bus stop when the ‘domino effect’ sent scores of us helplessly into the road. The horror.

It’s fair enough that fans shouldn’t stand for the whole match in the family block or in front of the disabled zone, but asking those behind the goal to sit down when they pay through the nose for the privilege to occasionally sing when they get a corner of showing their passion seems a little ridiculous.