Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
‘Wembley test event a winner’
RICK PARRY believes EFL clubs will be back to full capacity next season after revealing the first test event had gone “incredibly well”.
The Carabao Cup final at Wembley hosted 7,771 people last Sunday made up of fans from Tottenham and Manchester City plus local residents.
That was the biggest number for a football match yet since lockdown restrictions were eased, while the Premier League hope to have fans in for the final two matches of the season and there could be 25,000-plus for the Euros.
EFL chairman Parry is optimistic that stadiums will be full in the 2021/22 season because of the encouraging signs, including the Government test event at Wembley with fans having to take up to three coronavirus tests before and after the game.
Parry, talking at the EFL’S Community awards ceremony, said: “That’s absolutely the plan for us. It’s full steam ahead. The test event went incredibly well. We know what we are doing, we can be a beacon for the country and we have to view next season with great optimism.”
The EFL was celebrating their community clubs and players with an online awards ceremony. Sunderland, Blackburn,
Port Vale, Bristol Rovers, Portsmouth and Watford won the regional Community club awards.
Cardiff’s Will Vaulks (below), Bristol Rovers’ Adam Rodman and Newport’s Matty Dolan won the divisional Player awards for helping with community schemes including delivering food parcels and making calls to fans.
The clubs go forward to the EFL awards to be shown on Sky on Thursday.