Roaring Fans, Roaring Success!

The pilot schemes carried out in stadia have proven to be a great success. Planning, preparation, safety and social distancing observed, but the next stage now is to look towards safely increasing the numbers of spectators able to attend. The considerations including the potential introduction of digital Covid passports for supporters next season, which the UK Government are within the final stages of reviewing. More than 52,000 responses have been sent to the government during a public consultation, including by businesses and clinicians. A final decision is expected before the next review of coronavirus restrictions by June 21st.

More than 52,000 responses have been sent to the government during a public consultation, including by businesses and clinicians.

Following the latest pilot events the Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden revealed that just 15 cases of coronavirus emerged from 58,000 people who took part in test events, including the FA Cup final on May 15th. That’s just 0.02%! He commented that, "Overall it has been a real success. There's two questions: Can we go ahead with stage four on June 21st? I hope, I hope we can. We're definitely not ruling it out. Then the second question is the 'how' and this is about the sort of mitigations that you might have to have in place."

The Premier League appears to be in full support of introducing certification to encourage the end of social distancing rules and lead to a return of full stadia. The executive director of the Premier League, Bill Bush, said it would be a "major reassurance" if a certification scheme was introduced next season.