In the recent meeting with Barry Hearn several questions were raised about the plans for redeveloping Brisbane Road, particularly about the capacity of the new ground and the fact that it would not contain any standing areas. LOFT offered to produce a report highlighting the case for standing, and the offer was accepted by Barry Hearn. A working group (a standing committee if you will...) was set up to produce the report, which was presented to the club on the 21st December. The report was press-released in February, and has received many favourable comments from organizations such as Supporters-Direct and the Safe-Standing Campaign; other fans' groups have been keen to read it, and a director at a Third Division Club has expressed the wish to present it to their fellow directors.

Below you can read the executive summary; and you can download the full report at the bottom of the page.

THE LOFT STANDING REPORT - Executive Summary
Leyton Orient chairman Barry Hearn and stadium director John Goldsmith have said that they intend to redevelop the stadium by replacing the 3,000-capacity North Terrace of the ground with a 1,500-seat stand and build a new 2,700-seat West Stand incorporating office and other facilities. In addition, the club intend to build blocks of flats on land behind the corners of the redeveloped stadium. A planning application is due to be submitted in March or early April.

1) Consultation and Choice:
LOFT is concerned that the club has seemingly made little effort to fully consult and inform supporters about the plans, or to meaningfully gauge supporters' opinions on the issue. We still don't know what the plans involve, apart from the fact that these will lead to Brisbane Road becoming an all-seater stadium.

The lack of provision for standing accommodation is a key concern. We know that lots of fans want to stand, many can only afford to stand, and great strides have been made in stadium technology in recent years so that well-designed safe standing areas can be incorporated into the most modern stadiums. Well-designed safe standing areas can be, and are being, built - at big grounds in Germany, for example (the host nation of the 2006 World Cup) - and at smaller grounds in England, such as Halifax Town and Exeter City.

LOFT has conducted research into these developments, and has discovered that such modern, safe terraces can be converted into seating should the need arise - and that funding is available from stadium grant-awarding bodies such as the Football Foundation, despite claims by Mr Goldsmith to the contrary in a recent article in the club programme.

It should also be pointed out that the standing areas at Brisbane Road have never been the scenes of major crowd disorder or safety scares, and, as recent events testify, trouble can easily arise in all-seater stadiums.

2) Pricing:
We are extremely concerned by comments made by Mr Goldsmith in the same article that 'with greater comfort [from a redeveloped all-seater ground] we can reasonably charge a modest increase in seat price over the price of standing'. At a time when Orient need to attract greater support from the local community, and to retain the loyalty of their long-suffering existing supporters, this can only be a bad move - for the fans, for the community and, in the long-term, the club.

3)Capacity:
The club's plans appear to commit the club to a capacity of little more than 9,000. While this is more than adequate to cope with our existing average crowds in the Third Division, we should always be looking to increase our gates and such a capacity could prove inadequate should we achieve the promotion(s) up the league that we all want. Orient cannot afford to turn supporters away. We are also anxious that the building of flats in the corners of the ground might severely limit the club's ability to expand the ground.

In producing the report, we have spoken to architects, officials and supporters of other clubs and investigated the political background to the standing debate; support for safe terracing has been expressed by, among others, Sir Alex Ferguson, former Sports Minister Kate Hoey, and Leyton MP Harry Cohen.

Download the report in Word 2000 (you will need WinZip to open this file, which you can download here)