Full stadiums a reality for next season’s start

PREMIER League clubs are growing in confidence that next season will kick off with full stadiums.

Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove has been involved in talks with various sporting bodies this week and there is genuine optimism about the 2021/22 campaign.

That is a hugely encouraging turnaround from only a few weeks ago when it looked highly unlikely that full capacities would be achievable, though the Government and Prem bosses are still urging a large degree of caution.

But the trial events, such as the Carabao Cup final with 8,000 fans at Wembley, have gone well, the last two rounds of Premier League fixtures will have supporters and there could be as many as 50,000 fans watching matches at the Euros.

Plus, with a third vaccine jab planned for over-50s in the autumn, the UK is ahead of the rest of Europe and that is potentially good news for English football.

EFL chairman Rick Parry has already said that the Championship, League One and League Two hope to have full stadiums from next season and now the top flight is heading in the same direction.

The biggest note of caution comes over a possible setback in one of the big sporting events this summer, or from a new Covid-19 variant.

But the general mood is that football is heading in the right direction.

Clubs are opening ballots for the final round of games and Tottenham have caused upset among their fans by charging £60 per ticket for 10,000 fans for their final home game of the season against Aston Villa, which kicks off at 6pm.

After the European Super League fiasco, Spurs fans are unhappy with chairman Daniel Levy (above), and Arsenal will charge less for their final game against Brighton.

GARETH SOUTHGATE will use Tottenham’s state-of-the-art training ground during the Euros.

England will be based at St George’s Park for the tournament, but Southgate is also keen for a “change of scenery” to break the routine for the players.

They are likely to use Tottenham’s facilities between the Scotland game on June 18 and the final group match with the Czech Republic three days later.

England’s games are at Wembley, so it will also mean less travelling.

MICHELLE OWEN (below) has been a breath of fresh air while presenting the EFL highlights show.

She is also a star on Sky Sports as she is really knowledgable, good fun and passionate about the game.

Exactly the sort of energy the tired Match of the Day 2 format needs after their weak coverage of the trouble at Old Trafford when they did not speak to protesting fans on the ground. We needed to hear from fans… not pundits.

JOSE MOURINHO produced one of the surprise comebacks of the season after returning to management with Roma.

However, Mourinho (below) did have a painful ending to his Tottenham career in every sense after revealing he suffered a grade three hamstring injury during a staff game last month.

That would not be the first time for Mourinho who is normally such a stickler for preparation. He went in goal for a Chelsea staff v press match in Los Angeles a few years back - and ended up pulling his hamstring after rushing off his line.