Advice for National League clubs

Capacity requirements

The EFL requires that the ground occupied by a club promoted to League 2 must have a certified capacity of at least 4,000 (with the ability to be increased to 5,000) which shall include at least 500 seats (with the ability to be increased to 1,000).

By 1 May in its first season as a Member of the Football League, the club is required to have a certified capacity of 5,000 or above which shall include at least 1000 seats (with the ability to be increased to 2,000).

By 1 May in its third season as a Member of the Football League, the club is required to have a certified capacity of 5,000 or above which shall include at least 2,000 seats.

As clubs develop their ground to meet the above criteria it’s important to remember that by the end of their third season in the Football League the SGSA will require them to have brought any terracing up to the prescribed standard or take that terracing out of use which would therefore reduce the capacity of the ground.

The Football League website contains full details of the membership criteria.

In determining the safe capacity of the ground, account should be taken of both its physical condition (P) factor and the clubs safety management (S) factor.  Ground management should ensure that these factors are assessed by a competent person with a knowledge and understanding of the ground. Where a ground, or parts of a ground, are covered by a safety certificate these assessments should be included with the capacity calculations when they are forwarded to the local authority for review and validation prior to the setting of the certified capacity for the ground.

Terracing – Prescribed Standard

Unless a club has spent less than three years in the Football League since the start of  the 1999/2000 season, a licence to admit spectators to standing accommodation (terracing) at League 1 and League 2 grounds will only be granted where the layout of the accommodation:

• comprises continuous crush barriers between radial gangways, as outlined and illustrated in Guide to Safety at Sports Grounds (Green Guide)
• is such that all spectators are within 12 metres of a gangway or exit as measured along a line of unobstructed travel from the viewing position of the Green Guide
• the spacing, strength and construction of all the crush barriers conform to the Green Guide
• the height and positioning of all the crush barriers are in accordance with the Green Guide

It should be assumed that level standing areas or non-stepped sloping areas will not be licensed for spectator use.

A club which has spent less than three years in the Football League will have up to the beginning of their fourth season in the league to bring their terracing up to the prescribed standard or take it out of use.

Where a National League club is proposing to undertake any work to replace or upgrade any area of terracing at its ground it would be sensible to consider how to ensure that the work is in line with the above standards.

SGSA licence

When a National League club is promoted to the Football League, the SGSA will write to the club secretary inviting them to apply for a SGSA licence.

As part of the licence application the club secretary will be asked to complete a questionnaire about the design and layout of crush barriers and gangways on any terraced areas within the ground. The purpose of the questionnaire is to assist the SGSA to assess whether the standing accommodation is of the prescribed standard.

The SGSA licence fee is based on the average attendance for the last two full seasons within the Football League. As the licence fee is determined during the licence process, in February each year, the two newly promoted clubs will equally split the combined licence fee of the two relegated clubs of that season.

Safety Certification

Safety certificates are issued by the local authority for the area in which the ground is situated. Depending on the capacity of the ground a safety certificate may cover the whole ground or just certain stands within the ground.

If a National League club has a ground capacity of less than 10,000 it is unlikely that the ground would have been designated under the provisions of the Safety of Sports Grounds Act 1975 and therefore the only safety certificate(s) will be for any regulated stands within the ground.

When a National League club is promoted to the Football League the threshold for determining if the ground should be designated reduces from 10,000 to 5,000. If, when the club is promoted to the Football League the capacity of its ground is 5,000 or above and the ground is not already designated, the club should liaise with the local authority to arrange for an application to be made to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport to designate the ground. Similarly where a club is promoted with a ground capacity of less than 5,000 and the capacity is subsequently increased to 5,000 in line with the Football League ground grading requirements an application for designation should be made.

Following designation of the ground the club will need to make an application to the local authority for a safety certificate. Where a certificate is already in place a local authority should review the certificate to ensure the capacity and the terms and conditions remain appropriate. A similar review should be carried out at least every 12 months, or after any changes or safety related incidents at the ground.

When a club is promoted to the Football League the club and local authority should agree a timetable to move to a risk-based safety certificate which places responsibility on the club to produce an operations manual showing how it intends to provide for the reasonable safety of spectators.

Advice on risk based safety certificates is contained in the Guide to Safety Certification of Sports Grounds.

Advice on developing an Operations Manual is contained in SG03: Event Safety Management .