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Summary of sports grounds safety requirements

Sports stadiums with a spectator capacity of more than 10,000 people (5,000 in the case of Premiership or Football League grounds) are designated by the government and must be certified under the Safety at Sports Grounds Act 1975.

A general safety certificate will cover use of the stadium for certain specified activities. Use for other spectator related purposes will require the issue of a special safety certificate.

A safety certificate, issued by the local authority, will set:

  • the permitted capacity for the sports ground
  • detailed terms and conditions that the ground management must comply with in order to operate the sports ground at its permitted capacity.

Responsibility for the safety of spectators at the sports ground rests at all time with the sports ground management. This will normally be the owner or the lessee of the sports ground.

Charlton Athletic Football Club safety advisory group

A safety advisory group (SAG) provides the local authority with specialist advice on how it may effectively discharge its responsibilities in overseeing spectator safety at sports grounds. Representatives of the football club management and emergency services attend the SAG meetings.

The following documents are available to download:

  • Charlton Athletic general safety certificate
  • Charlton Athletic SAG terms of reference.

Download safety advisory group documents

If you are a Charlton fan and would like to raise a safety related issue with one of the supporters' representatives on the safety advisory group then please email:

Regulated stands

A sports ground that is not designated by the government may also need to be certified under the Fire Safety and Safety at Places of Sport Act 1987. Any sports ground will need to be satisfied if it satisfies both of the following conditions:

  1. the sports ground contains a covered stand.
  2. the covered stand has a spectator capacity of more than 500.

Definitions

  • Stand - an artificial structure (not merely temporary) which provides accommodation for spectators and is wholly or partly covered by a roof.
  • Covered (in relation to spectator capacity) - covered by the roof or other part of the structure which constitutes the stand.

Further information

Use the links shown to learn more about safety certificates for sports grounds and regulated stands or download the application forms.