Hoey under fire from Hillsborough families

The Sports Minister, Kate Hoey, came under attack yesterday for advocating a debate about a return of standing areas at Premiership grounds from the relatives of the 96 Liverpool supporters killed in the Hillsborough disaster.

The Sports Minister, Kate Hoey, came under attack yesterday for advocating a debate about a return of standing areas at Premiership grounds from the relatives of the 96 Liverpool supporters killed in the Hillsborough disaster.

Hoey has incensed both her immediate superior in the Government, the Culture Secretary Chris Smith, and the football authorities, by claiming that "safely designed standing areas" could return to top-flight football. As reported in The Independent yesterday, the Sports Minister has already been warned by senior politicians not to go against Government policy and risks losing her job if she persists.

But after examining revolutionary stadium designs from Germany, Hoey said she is willing to consider abandoning the all-seater requirements of the Taylor Report into Hillsborough. Even though this would almost certainly take the form of small areas for standing spectators, rather than the huge banks of terracing such as the old Anfield Kop at Liverpool, the mere thought of a return to the past has caused outrage among the Hillsborough families, who accused Hoey of insensitivity.

"We denounce her insensitivity at making her pronouncements just as we, the bereaved families, face another Christmas without our loved ones," Trevor Hicks, the chairman of the Hillsborough Family Support Group, said.

"Despite being 11 years on, many of us dread this family time and we have great difficulty coping with it.

"We challenge Kate Hoey to meet us and look us in the eyes as she attempts to explain why she is fiddling with safety in response to a vociferous minority of fans."

Ironically, terraces will return to the Premiership if Fulham are promoted, as expected, next season, because they have been given time to comply with the requirements for all-seater stadiums. The Government and the Premier League, however, have made it clear that there will be no permanent return to standing - for safety, financial, practical and legislative reasons.

Hoey's position has still won some support with the game. Organisations such as Football Supporters' Association, the Independent Manchester United Supporters' Association and SAFE (a group campaigning for standing at Manchester City's new stadium at Eastlands) are all in favour of standing and would welcome a debate.

Charlton have publicly supported a pilot of a small standing area, while the new Wembley chairman, Sir Rodney Walker, said yesterday that he understands Hoey's desire to consult on the issue.

"I know that Kate Hoey is a minister who listens to the fans and the fans have never stopped saying they wish there was some standing terracing available for them," Walker said. "I see people who stand up at Leicester in every home game when it gets exciting. For the moment I have to work within the laws of the land and the National Stadium, I suspect, will be an all-seater stadium."