CHEER WE GO!

Dowden: We will be testing fans before and after they enter stadiums for safety

GRASSROOTS football has finally returned – and fans will soon be back to watch live sport.

Golf courses and tennis courts were allowed to open again yesterday as a day of glorious sunshine marked the return of outdoor sports for thousands up and down the country.

Facilities are open again and people of all ages can take part in organised sports like football, golf, tennis and rugby.

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden (above) said: “It’s wonderful to have grassroots sport back up again, spring is in the air and we’ve got spring back in sport again.”

The government is also making plans for fans to be allowed back into all of this year’s major sporting events so people can play as well as watch.

The first on the horizon is one of the FA Cup semi-finals in less than three weeks’ time, the Carabao Cup final on April 25, the FA Cup Final and even have crowds at the Euros at Wembley.

Rugby fans could also be back with the Government hoping sport could give the whole nation a lift with test events, fans using vaccine passports, and the Premier League is hoping stadiums could be full again by August.

They are hoping to lift all legal limits by June 21 which comes midway through the Euros but UEFA hope to have at least limited numbers in attendance.

Dowden added: “We will be testing them before and after to look at spread and look how they behave in the stadium.

“We’re not just chucking everyone into the stadiums, it is being done in a very controlled way and the purpose is to get the rules set can so it can be as safe as possible from June 21.”