Hibs to bring in safe standing at Easter Road as plans outlined for new family section

The capital club plans to implement rail seating into the Famous Five Stand Lower Tier, with work commencing once the current season ends in time for the 2024/25 campaign. Hibs have been in dialogue with fans since last summer in a bid to improve the atmosphere at Easter Road and will now invite those who currently sit in the identified area to discuss options. The Scotsman understands up to 1000 supporters could be affected – although Hibs say that 51 per cent of supporters in this section “would either remain in the section or be interested in more information”. The Famous Five Stand Lower Tier has traditionally been the family section for Hibs fans and the club says it will designate a new family area within the stadium and make sure pricing remains the same.

Hibs would join Celtic in having rail seating in their stadium, with a section of the home support at Parkhead housing almost 3,000 fans. At the time, the Glasgow club became the first in the UK to have a safe standing area installed.

A statement from Hibs read: “Hibernian FC can confirm that a safe standing section will be introduced at Easter Road for the 2024/25 season. Over the course of the current campaign, the club has been engaged with its supporters through a rigorous consultation process regarding improving the matchday experience at Easter Road. After numerous meetings and surveys, a decision has been made to implement rail seating into the Famous Five Lower Tier, with work starting this summer.

“Since the start of the 2023/24 campaign, the club has been in discussions with supporters through Social Asking, Survey Monkey, and in-person and online consultation sessions. Through this process, the club gave thousands of supporters the opportunity to give their thoughts on how to improve the atmosphere inside Easter Road and the potential introduction of safe standing. Alongside this, the Club also held wider consultation meetings with Season Ticket Holders in the Famous Five Stand who would be directly affected by the implementation of safe standing, to discuss their options and to gain their thoughts. Following the conclusion of the process, the club collected all opinions and data to ensure that the correct outcome was reached.”

The club reported that 83 per cent of supporters are in favour of safe standing being introduced to the Famous Five Lower, 82 per cent of supporters believe the introduction of a safe standing section would improve the atmosphere at Easter Road and if safe standing was introduced to the Famous Five Lower, 51 per cent of current Season Ticket Holders within this section would either remain in the section or be interested in more information.

Further questions were asked of the season ticket holders currently in that part of stand, with the club discovering that 65 per cent of current Famous Five Lower Season Ticket holders said that Family Section pricing was extremely important to them and 70 per cent of Famous Five Lower Season Ticket holders stated that sitting within a designated Family Section was either extremely important or important to them

The statement continued: “The club is now working behind-the-scenes to finalise how safe standing will be introduced to the Famous Five Lower Tier. A new designated family area will also be introduced inside Easter Road with prices that match the 2023/24 Famous Five Lower family pricing. Full information on how safe standing will be implemented will be shared with supporters ahead of the Club going on sale with 2024/25 Season Tickets. The Club will also directly contact all current Season Ticket Holders that will be affected by the introduction of safe standing. Once full information on how safe standing will be implemented has been released, the club will share an online form with supporters, so they can register their interest in moving to this area.”

Welcoming the development, Hibs chief executive Ben Kensell said: “Firstly we would like to thank all the supporters that have engaged with us through this consultation process. The information, opinions, and data that we've gained has been incredibly insightful and helped us come to this decision. The introduction of safe standing in the summer will be a big step for Hibernian FC in terms of improving the matchday experience at Easter Road, something that we as a club, and board of directors, are very passionate about. The consultation process also highlighted how important this is to supporters, how beneficial they believe safe standing will be, and ultimately showed us that the fans want it to be implemented.

"We fully understand that the topic of change can be difficult, and we will work tirelessly to ensure that any transitions are carried out as smoothly, as positively, and as fairly, for all. This summer will be another busy one for the club as we introduce safe standing in the Famous Five Lower, create a new family section, and continue to improve our facilities for disabled supporters. Through the backing of the Gordon Family, we are dedicated in improving and growing the club on and off the pitch, and the developments over the last two and a half years have been clear for all to see.”