Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
WE HAVE TO PLAN FOR FANS
Healy desperate to see big numbers return
LINFIELD boss David Healy is eager to see fans return in big numbers to the Irish League as soon as possible.
Saturday’s top-two clash with Glentoran will be behind closed doors and it is now over four months since spectators were allowed inside local stadiums.
It is understood IFA chiefs are looking at the potential of admitting a reduced number of fans to the Irish Cup final on May 21.
But Healy (below) hopes the time is also coming to allow supporters to attend league games, preferably before the end of the season. And the more, the better.
There are only five rounds of post-split fixtures remaining with the final day of the Danske Bank Premiership on May 29.
“I’m a football manager and I don’t sit and look at the data and stats but, with the vaccine in place, I do think it’s about time people were putting plans in place,” he said. “Before the end of this season? Absolutely, if possible. I know when we had fans in the last time, as a club we did everything we could to make people feel safe coming to games.
“We have to take our lead from people who know a little more than I do and of course we need to be sensible but the sooner we get fans in the better.”
Eight thousand saw Manchester City lift the Carabao Cup at Wembley on Sunday, while 78,113 people attended an Aussie Rules match in Melbourne on the same day.
The game between Collingwood and Essendon was the highest attendance at a sports stadium anywhere in the world since the start of the pandemic.
“Other countries are slightly more advanced in terms of the pandemic but I’ve been watching Australian sport and there have been thousands of spectators,” said Healy. “As a country of course we need to be sensible but getting fans back for me isn’t just about 500 coming back through the gate. That’s sort of defeating why you want fans at the game.
“I don’t think there would be any point sending 200, 300 or 400 fans in because that’s not letting supporters through the gates.
“Letting supporters through the gates is about getting 2,000 or 2,500 people in. If we are going to do it, it needs to be a proper crowd.
“If you get 500 supporters at Windsor it’s not a proper atmosphere. It would also be great for players to have their families at games because that’s their biggest support network.”
In normal times, Saturday’s Big Two crunch – with Linfield seven points clear of the Glens with give games to play – would have attracted a massive crowd.
“In a normal season, playing Glentoran in the first game after the split, there may have been 7,000 or 8,000 at The Oval,” said Healy. “I’d have loved that and other managers would say the same.”