Saracens lacking safety certificate to admit 10,000 or more fans to stadium

Saracens are not able to safely admit 10,000 or more supporters to their stadium because they do not have the necessary certificate, the Guardian can reveal, raising questions over the stringent criteria that govern promotion to the Premiership.

When Saracens won promotion back to the Premiership in June 2021 they had to be given special dispensation to compete in last season’s top flight because their ground was being developed and their capacity was less than 10,000. This season, Saracens have opened their newly renovated west stand, taking the capacity back above that mark, but because they do not have the relevant safety certificate, they can only safely admit 9,999 supporters. The attendances for Saracens’ three home matches this season have been 9,212, 9,428 and 9,010.

A key part of the Minimum Standards Criteria (MSC), which outlines the requirements for promotion to the Premiership, is that clubs are able to safely hold crowds of 10,001. It is the main reason that both Ealing Trailfinders and Doncaster were told in March they could not be promoted last season regardless of whether they won the Championship. Ealing went on to finish top of the second tier but were denied promotion because they did not meet the MSC.

The MSC were tweaked in September to state that Championship clubs hoping to be promoted needed to be able to safely hold crowds of 5,000 next season but have planning permission in place to upscale to 10,001 the following season. At the time, Phil De Glanville, chair of the Professional Game Board (PGB), said: “It remains the view of the PGB that a minimum grounds capacity of 10,001 is important due of the rigour of the Local Authority issued safety certificate for stadia of this size in addition to