Premier League clubs explore readmitting fans next season

Premier League clubs have discussed plans to allow fans to return to stadiums, as they contemplate the challenges of the 2020-21 season.

With the first round of restart matches successfully completed, clubs held a shareholders’ meeting on Tuesday to discuss a number of items, including the summer transfer window and the start date for next season.

Also discussed was how to get supporters back into grounds. With restart matches behind closed doors and most TV coverage augmented by fake crowd noise, the absence of fans has been keenly felt by viewers and clubs.

Although discussions are said to be at an early stage, with the government announcing that physical distancing rules are to be changed and the minimum distance between individuals will be cut from two metres to “one metre-plus”, it is hoped matches next season could be played in front of crowds.

Whereas two metres would have meant only a fraction of the usual attendances, a distance of one metre could allow grounds to operate at halfcapacity. As with the restart, plans will be led by the government under what is termed stage five of the phased return of live sport.

A number of proposals regarding the transfer window were discussed.

This year clubs voted to return to a window consistent with clubs across Europe but under some proposed versions the window would run beyond Uefa’s proposed deadline of 5 October.

No vote was taken on a schedule for the window nor on how and when to start the season, with some clubs set to resume European competition this summer believed to want a staggered start to 2020-21. There have also been calls for clubs to be able to play youth teams in the Carabao Cup and for a temporary end to replays in all rounds of next season’s FA Cup.

After months of emergency meetings, sometimes as often as twice a week, the latest gathering was seen as a welcome return to something closer to “normal”.