The sports minister, Hugh Robertson, has said the government will consider the possibility of reintroducing standing areas at top-level football matches, 21 years after Lord Justice Taylor recommended terracing be outlawed.

At the first ever meeting to discuss the issue with the Football Supporters' Federation (FSF), football authorities, police and the Football Licensing Authority, which took place on Monday, Robertson said he would examine the evidence for safe standing. In particular, he said he wanted to see whether modern terracing would be safe, technically able to be built into stadiums and capable of being policed, and whether there is demand from substantial numbers to stand.

But anxious not to raise immediate expectations, Robertson told the meeting frankly that because the 1989 Hillsborough disaster, in which 96 Liverpool supporters died, led to Taylor's recommendation that standing be outlawed, the stakes are extremely high to recommend a change. If he were to do so, and there was then a major accident or incident of disorder on a terrace, Robertson said: "The minister's head would be on a spike on Tower Bridge before he could draft a resignation letter."

The meeting was called by the Liberal Democrat sports spokesman, Don Foster, who has tabled a private member's bill calling for clubs to be permitted safe standing areas. "I am very pleased we brought all parties together for the first time to discuss the issue," he said. "Real fans are paying high ticket prices and losing out, and I am confident safe standing can be introduced which meets all the minister's concerns. We will be gathering the required evidence, and fans must now make their voices heard."

The FSF will launch an online petition calling for the introduction of safe standing areas at stadiums in England's top two divisions, where all-seating has been compulsory since 1994, as recommended by Taylor four years earlier.

All the authorities represented at the meeting stated their opposition to any reintroduction of standing areas, although they no longer state that this is predominantly an issue of fan safety, rather of crowd control. The Premier League, Football League and Football Association argued that all-seat stadiums had been crucial in improving the game's fortunes and image since Hillsborough, and there is no major demand for standing.

The FSF is calling for defined areas of grounds to be made available for safe standing areas, similar to those in Germany where closely spaced barriers make a crush close to impossible. The FSF points to a survey it conducted in which 90% of respondents said fans should have the choice of sitting or standing. The organisation hopes thousands will sign the online petition.

Robertson stressed he is wary of considering change, but would look at all evidence presented, and would want a consensus, including the police in particular, that standing would be safe.

Andy Holt, assistant chief constable of South Yorkshire police, representing the Association of Chief Police Officers at the meeting, said it is up to the FSF to demonstrate that standing areas could be policed effectively and would not risk increasing disorder at matches.

Malcolm Clarke, the FSF chairman, argued that such standing areas would enable fans to enjoy matches in a more traditional atmosphere. Clarke also pointed out that many supporters regularly stand at top-flight football in the all-seat stands, a practice the Football Licensing Authority considers a safety risk.

"Fans do believe they have lost something in the move to all-seating," Clarke said. "We will be doing further research to respond to the concerns of those who are not yet convinced."