Head-to-head: Should safe standing areas be introduced at football grounds?

A sizeable chunk of Boro's travelling support will have the novelty of standing on a terrace at Brentford for tomorrow's 12.15pm kick-off at Griffin Park.

The Bees, having just being promoted to the Championship, have a grace period before their ground must meet regulations in place in the top two divisions that stipulate stadiums must be all-seater.

But should safe standing areas be brought back to cater for fans who prefer to watch football from a terrace?

Here two Boro fans have their say. Read their views and then vote in our poll.

Chicken runner: Yes

I simply can't understand why safe standing hasn't be introduced into the Premier League and the Championship.

Let's face it, you can stand at a Premiership rugby union match, you can stand at a Super League fixture, you can stand at a top flight speedway fixture; blimey, you can stand on the pitch at the Etihad Stadium or the Stadium of Light to watch your favourite band in concert, so why can't you stand when we watch football at the Riverside, Elland Road or Old Trafford?

I occasionally stumble on the TV Bundesliga highlights and the atmosphere is fantastic and the fact that fans can stand at those games must help.

The 'Yellow Wall' at Dortmund is unbelievable, a huge terrace that holds something like 25,000 fans.

If the Germans can safely do it, why can't we?

To be honest, I'd prefer smaller, easily regulated terraces.

At Boro, I'm sure the lower tier of the South Stand could be converted into a standing area.

Most of the Red Faction stand throughout home games anyway, so why not make it official?

Fans are standing in seated areas all over the country now and that must be a safety issue.

'Rail seats', which can easily be converted to standing when required, are commonplace in Germany, surely that's a viable solution?

And the great thing with standing is, if you get stuck next to one of those big-mouthed idiots who shout and swear throughout the game, you can simply move.

Boro fans at Man City on Saturday

Foamhand: No

I remember standing and never want to go back to it.

Packed in like sardines, pushed and shoved, impossible to get out to nip to the loo, there was little to like about it.

A quarter of a century has passed since Hillsborough and football is a completely different ball game.

A generation of fans have grown up with clean, safe stadiums that have more in common with a concert arena than an old-style stadium.

Why turn back the clock?

Fan behaviour has improved because supporters are treat like valued customers, not cattle to be herded into unsafe pens.

I'm sure, as a one-off experience at Yeovil or Brentford, Boro fans enjoy standing on a terrace, but would that be the case if it was the norm? I doubt it.

Anyway, seats aren't to blame for the lack of atmosphere in stadiums.

I remember the first few seasons at the Riverside when you could hardly hear yourself think, it was an amazing atmosphere yet everyone was sitting down.

Fans respond to a winning team and exciting football, it's as simple as that.