SAFETY FIRST!
FANS HAVE THEIR SAY ON RETURN TO STADIUMS...
STOKE City and Port Vale fans could be allowed back in to watch their team near the start of next season in plans outlined by the Prime Minister.
Fans of clubs across all levels of football have been unable to attend live matches since mid-march, when Stoke signed off with a 5-1 drubbing of Hull City. Vale were only one place outside the League Two top seven.
The Premier League and Championship seasons are being played out behind closed doors, with live streams and an increase in televised matches.
League One and League Two were both settled using a points per game average before play-offs.
But having no fans is having a huge effect on the finance of clubs, on top of the economic crisis which has followed the coronavirus pandemic.
In his latest press conference yesterday, Boris Johnson stated the Government was planning for the worst but hoping for the best as the roadmap for a return to normality is updated.
From August 1, a slew of new freedoms will be allowed, including reopening indoor performances, and he added that he hopes supporters will be able to return to football stadiums from the middle of October.
That will provide hope for the 2020/21 season to be played in the more recognised format with packed crowds in stadiums across the country but, with the season expected to start in mid-september, it looks likely that the first few games of the season will be played behind closed doors.
Full details on the start date for the 2020/21 season are yet to be confirmed and any plans for fans attending matches is conditional based on how the battle against coronavirus develops.
Stoke fan Rob Doolan, aged 36, said he felt mid-october was still too soon.
He added: “In all honesty I can’t see how the plans, logistically, will work. How do you enforce social distancing, not just during the game but on the concourse? If Stoke score a last-minute winner – stranger things have happened – are supporters in the Boothen End really going to just stay where they are and respectfully applaud, carefully observing a metre’s distance from each other? It feels like another policy driven by the economic concerns rather than public safety.”
Vale fan Phil Sherwin, from Burslem, said: “It’s good news that we can at last look forward to getting crowds back into the grounds even if it’s in October.
“If we have a month of behind closed door games first though, I’m not sure that some League One/two clubs will be able to afford even that. With pre season training it means clubs would have two months’ wages with no income and even after that we don’t know how many fans will be allowed in.
“If it was a reduced capacity to maybe 25 per cent Vale are in the lucky position of being able to get our usual gate in, as we have so many empty seats in a large stadium, but very few clubs in all four divisions could say that.”
Stoke fan Jon Owen, aged 34, from Seabridge, added: “I’ve really missed going to Stoke, and following the games during lockdown has been difficult, especially not being able to offer the players our support. But I’ll only want to go back when the time is right, and it’s safe to do so. If that means waiting until next year, then so be it.”
Paul Ruane, aged 58, from Trentham, said: “I’m struggling to understand how allowing football fans to attend games from October with social distancing measures would work in all-seater stadia that have high attendances.
“Thinking about how it would work at the bet365 Stadium, attendances are 60-70 per cent of capacity. Covidsecure restrictions would probably restrict this to about 25 per cent.
“Assuming households are allowed to sit together, there would still need to be one or two empty seats on each side, and maybe only one row in every two used. This would be a major logistics exercise to relocate season ticket holders. I’d love to be able to attend games again, but think that the Government might be being a bit optimistic for a date in October.”