Staggies chairman hopes to see fans back in September

Ross County chairman Roy Macgregor is hopeful of being able to welcome supporters back inside Victoria Park by September.

County play their first Premiership game of the season at home to Motherwell on August 3, but matches will initially be played behind closed doors due to coronavirus.

Macgregor is optimistic a partial reintroduction of crowds could happen within the opening two months of the campaign, with social distancing in place.

He said: “The government view is probably October at this stage, while Celtic’s view is August. I think probably September, subject to the health of the nation.

“It will be a percentage. I don’t think we’ll get away fans in the ground at all, and you will get 20 or 30% of home fans.

“As long as we social distance and run our toiletry system and queuing OK, we can manage that.”

County have lined up Rory

Hamilton, Jamie Lyle and Stephen Craigan to present coverage of games on the Ross County TV channel, with Macgregor keen to replicate professional productions. Season ticket holders will have access to all home matches, while a pay-per-view service will be in operation for away fixtures.

The Staggies chairman added: “There was all the uncertainty over whether there were going to be season tickets or not.

“Now there are season tickets but people will have been wondering what sort of show they were going to get with it.

“I suppose we have gone that extra mile to try to make sure we are giving people the best package we can.

“With three weeks to go, we have got a professional team together.”

Macgregor has been pleased by the initial uptake on season tickets after 10 days, with around 55% of last year’s season ticket holders having already renewed.