AFL supporters can advocate for restored tradition on Geelong’s new seatless terrace.

The AFL’s newest grandstand, the most notable illustration of a new trend in sports stadiums adopting a seatless spectator experience, has reserved space for thousands of fans to watch games on their feet.

The first game of the season between Geelong and St Kilda will take place at the recently renovated GMHBA Stadium, also called Kardinia Park. This marks the end of the five-stage renovation process and the opening of the 14,000-seat Selwood Stand.

Max Holmes, a midfielder for the Cats, expressed the team’s excitement at playing in front of the new grandstand, whose construction was postponed for nearly a year.

“I think the whole stand is really cool, but that bit [the standing area] especially is pretty awesome,” he added. “I’m really excited to see what it’s like.”

The stadium can hold 40,000 people, but more over 2,000 of those seats are set aside for fans who wish to watch the game standing up, per a joint decision made by the stadium trust and the club.

In remembrance of the entire Ablett family, the space has been dubbed the Ablett Terrace, a reference to the now-demolished Gary Ablett Terrace, which had room for an equal number of standing spectators.

Athletic stadiums need to accommodate a variety of tastes and demographics, according to Gerard Griffin, chief executive of the Kardinia Park Stadium Trust.

“To be able to say you have something for everyone, you still have to have your corporate suites, but you also have to have your standing room areas,” he stated.

For this Saturday’s game, all 2,300 standing room tickets have already been sold. These adult general admission tickets cost $30, which is half the price of a reserved seat elsewhere.

Since worldwide stadium disasters have put the tradition of terraces to the test, Australia’s major athletic venues have generally converted to all-seater arenas in recent decades.

There are still a few exceptions, but they are mostly due to decisions to maintain traditional grassed regions or a lack of development.

The first is the hill at Adelaide Oval that’s next to the forward pocket where Eddie Betts spent much of his time when he was a member of the Crows. Similar locations can be found in the suburban fields of rugby league, such as the noticeable slope at Leichhardt Oval.

However, there is currently a global trend away from designing stadiums with as many seats as feasible.

In the wake of the Hillsborough catastrophe in 1989, the English Premier League’s all-seater arena requirement was loosened in recent years, and clubs are now able to seek for permits allowing supporters to gather in safe-standing sections.

Additionally, the Toronto Blue Jays baseball stadium in North America recently shifted 8,000 seats to create areas dubbed “social areas” and “gathering spaces.”

According to Griffin, “baseball stadiums in the US are converting to standing room and pulling out seats.”

“Because people at their core enjoy getting together, socializing, eating, drinking, and just standing and watching things together.”

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Convertible standing spaces behind the goals are a feature of Sydney’s two newly constructed rectangular stadiums, Commbank and Allianz, in Australia. This feature was primarily added to accommodate enthusiastic football fans.

A 73-year-old Cats supporter named Alex Stevenson will be watching the game on Saturday from his assigned seat. However, he reminisced about his teenage years spent viewing sports from the standing section throughout the 1960s.

He remarked, “You get a few beer cans that you could stand on to look over people’s heads and so on.”

He claimed that the decision to keep the standing areas honors the working-class heritage of the Geelong town and has made it possible for a wider range of people to attend games.

The way I see it, that’s progressive, said Stevenson.

A fresh personality is also expected to emerge for the Abblet Terrace. Due to the stand’s greater angle and relocation from the rear of the previous terrace, which was much closer to the action, the area now sits menacingly over the front pocket.

“Hopefully it will become a sort of ‘extra man’ factor for the team and I think you will find the players will try and draw in that part of the ground to promote their barracking and support of the team in critical moments,” Griffin stated, drawing on the experience of Adelaide Oval.

“I hope it gets a bit crazy up there,” stated Holmes.