• All 72 Football League clubs asked for opinion on the issue • No similar plans for Premier League, despite support

Standing on the terraces could return permanently to all divisions in the Football League after a consultation document was sent to all 72 clubs, asking for their opinions on the issue.

Currently standing is allowed in Leagues One and Two but Championship grounds must be all-seater after a club has played in the second tier for three seasons.

Having been initially raised at the Football League's annual chairmen's conference last June, clubs voted to investigate the issue further and a consultation paper, led by the Football League's new chief executive, Shaun Harvey, was sent to all clubs on Friday.

The Football Supporters' Federation (FSF) has been one of the biggest advocates in recent years for safe standing and it was also consulted by the Football League in the preparation of the consultation paper.

Malcolm Clarke, the FSF's co-chairman noted that "there has been a sea-change in attitude at clubs over the last two to three years towards safe standing. As far as the Football League is concerned the law is a total nonsense. It allows standing in League One and League Two but not in the Championship."

The most likely solution includes hybrid rail seats that could be flipped up or down as required to allow safe standing behind chest-high rails, as seen at grounds in the Bundesliga, such as at Borussia Dortmund's Westfalenstadion.

The consultation paper included four key questions:

• Should the Football League approach the Minister for Sport to request that the 'all-seater' stadia requirement for Championship clubs be reviewed with a view to the re-introduction of standing accommodation?

• Should the Football League approach the Sports Grounds Safety Authority to request that rail seating products be licensed in Football League grounds?

• Should clubs be permitted to accommodate supporters in rail seating in the Championship?

• Should clubs be permitted to revert from seating to standing accommodation in League One and League Two following relegation from the Championship?

As yet, there have been no official discussions around safe standing in the Premier League, where all-seater stadiums have been compulsory since 1994. David Gold, co-chairman of West Ham, said in the past week that he would "certainly consider" incorporating safe standing areas into the Olympic Stadium. At Arsenal Arsène Wenger has said he agrees "100%" with safe standing while the chief executive, Ivan Gazidis, has said: "Why would you be against it, if you can do it safely?"

A series of fan surveys at Arsenal suggests that 90% of their fans would support the introduction of safe standing. Manchester City, Aston Villa, Sunderland, Swansea, Cardiff, Crystal Palace, West Ham and Hull are among clubs actively in favour of exploring the idea.

There is a special mention of 1989's Hillsborough disaster in the document: "The Hillsborough Stadium disaster still casts a shadow over our game to this day and the memory of the 96 football fans that lost their lives must be respected."

Liverpool are the only Premier League club actively opposed to the issue but even on Merseyside there is a growing feeling that the disaster – caused by poor policing and an unsafe ground – and the grave injustices that followed should be disentangled from the subject of standing.