Clubs step up plans for fans at football matches, with October return hoped for
Football clubs are intensifying their plans to get fans back into matches and are still working towards a return at the beginning of October.
Clubs are waiting for further guidance from the Premier League and the English Football League but, in the meantime, are working individually with their local Safety Advisory Groups and companies such as Ticketmaster on modelling for events.
It is understood that Richard Masters, the Premier League chief executive, told clubs at the final shareholders meeting of the season that he remained confident a return on October 1 – as indicated by the Government – was still possible even though there has been a delay to games such as the Community Shield on August 29 being used as test events due to the uncertainty over coronavirus outbreaks.
Detailed mapping exercises are being drawn up for every stadium in the country – given their different layouts and configurations to calculate how many supporters may be permitted back and when.
It is also understood that the division of stadiums into red, amber and green zones will continue next season even when the fans come back. Only players, coaches and officials will be allowed into the red zone areas with clubs expected to be told they have to ensure fans are far enough back from the pitch to guarantee safety.
One of the biggest concerns remains how fans will enter and leave a stadium and walk through concourses and corridors and, after undergoing temperature checks, they will be asked to wear masks and must adhere to a one-way system.
However the wearing of masks is not expected to apply to when they take their seats given the fans will be in the open air. Most clubs are determined to try and at least accommodate their season ticket-holders – which is a particular priority in the EFL – but this depends on how many so-called ‘family bubbles’ can be established.
A number of clubs are working out their models on the basis they can get clusters of four season ticket-holders in a ‘bubble’ that is then socially distanced from those around them. How feasible this is remains to be seen.
Restrictions on numbers will also be applied to executive boxes with, for example, clubs also not allowed to offer ‘buffet-style’ food. Such corporate revenue is also vital to clubs.
A workable occupancy of the stadiums is still believed to be 30 per cent and if the clubs have to go below that capacity then it will make it very difficult, financially, for many of them, especially outside the Premier League, to allow fans back in. The quandary is, of course, that the EFL clubs are more reliant of gate receipt money that those in the top-flight.
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport is expected to update its guidance for sport in the next few days with the return of fans being the next key step.
Meanwhile, Barry Hearn, chairman of World Snooker, told the Telegraph Sport he was "proud" that the final two days of the World Championship is set to showcase the pilot return of spectators. The competition had spent hundreds of thousands of pounds getting the Crucible ready but had previously been forced to suspend its crowd trial after the first session two weeks ago.
"The art of staging events is the logistics and it's been a huge undertaking but we have an expert team of people who have worked incredibly hard," he added. "The news that we are now permitted to have a limited crowd for each session of the last two days is a real joy. There's nothing like the atmosphere created by live crowds. If we don't go back all live sport suffers terminally."
He said Government inspectors had told him the Covid control measures at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield were "exemplary". "We hope this is the start of crowds returning to all major sports and we're proud that we've been at the start of it," he added.
