FA’s delight as planning for crowds goes ahead

SPORTS fans in Britain finally received the news they have been waiting for yesterday when Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed crowds are set to return to stadiums from October.

Premier League clubs will be permitted to allow a ‘partial return of fans to stadiums’ for the opening weeks of the 202021 campaign, subject to successful test events in the coming weeks.

It means football supporters will be allowed into top-flight grounds as early as the fourth weekend of the season, with September 12 pencilled in as the kick-off date for the next campaign.

The news will arrive as a huge financial boost to clubs, who have had no match-day income since the restart as games are played behind closed doors.

Johnson said: ‘From August 1, we will restart indoor performance to a live audience, subject to the success of pilots, and we will also pilot larger gatherings in venues like sports stadia, with a view to a wider reopening in the autumn.

‘From October, we intend to bring back audiences in stadia. Again, these changes must be done in a Covid-secure way, subject to the successful outcome of pilots.’

The pilot events — which would initially see a limited number of spectators admitted to stadiums with social distancing rules observed — will begin this month.

The World Snooker Championship, the Glorious Goodwood horse racing festival and two county cricket friendly matches have been selected for the trial, and the FA have also offered the Community Shield as a potential test event in late August.

Goodwood’s final day usually attracts crowds of around 25,000, but only 5,000 will be permitted to attend — members plus invited guests — which will still result in significant financial losses.

Similarly, first-class counties fear combined losses of around £25m after the British Government ruled out the prospect of fans attending the rescheduled Twenty20 Blast.

The Premier League are hopeful of having between 25 and 50 per cent capacity in their grounds by October.

In a statement the FA said: ‘We welcome the Government’s positive update which means we and our football partners can step up our efforts to get fans back into stadiums.

‘Supporters are the lifeblood of our national game.

‘That has been underlined by how much their absence has been felt at matches over the last month.

‘Elite-level football without fans is simply not the same.’