Fans returning to football - encouraging signs
It only seems like last month that the curtain officially came down on the 19-20 football season… oh wait it was! However despite a truncated close and pre-season, the anticipation among us football fans here at TicketPlan as to what the 20-21 season holds for our various clubs is almost tangible.
This excitement has however been tinged with a little disappointment that we are unable to be amongst our fellow supporters in our clubs’ hallowed stadia as the new campaign kicks off in earnest this week but there is a degree of optimism that a return may be on the horizon as the COVID19 situation continues to improve.
This hope of a return has been strengthened by the sight of the latest government test event at Brighton’s AMEX Stadium in which the Seagulls played host to a pre-season friendly with Chelsea in front of 2,500 supporters.
It's reported that there were signs detailing what was expected of supporters during their visit and of course fans were required to observe social distancing measures and wear face coverings both outside and inside the stadium but they could remove them once in their seat.
This is of course far from an ideal return and obviously isn’t the same as the pre-COVID experience of being in the stands shoulder to shoulder with fellow fans but it does represent a step in the right direction and renews the hopes of supporters that they may have a chance of seeing their beloved clubs play in the flesh this season.
This hope is further enhanced by similar government test events planned for Cambridge United’s Abbey Stadium in the coming week and that in Europe, German club, RB Leipzig have been given a provisional green light to welcome 8,500 fans to Red Bull Arena for their season opener with Mainz on September 20th provided COVID19 infection rates in the region remain at their current levels.
The signs are encouraging and here’s hoping that the COVID19 situation continues to improve and that fans can be safely welcomed back to more and more matches soon.