FOOTBALL fans will pack out football stadiums by the end of the season even if the vaccine programme hasn’t been fully rolled out.
Government insiders are confident of giving the all clear to packed terraces once the most vulnerable and elderly have been vaccinated against coronavirus.
A Whitehall source told Trending In The News that fans will be allowed back after the initial vaccination phase, as long as hospital admissions and deaths fall.
That could mean fans back in for the last few months of the season – with fans staggered back into grounds before then.
The insider said: “It would hope to have a few more fans back in stadiums in the new year, so that people see fans back in the stands and that it is safe.
“But when the figures show hospitalisations and deaths are down, fans will be back in pretty quick, even if not everyone has been vaccinated.” It comes as Lords – the home of Cricket – wrote to members last week telling them they expect July Test matches to be full houses.
Trending In The News understands the Premier League is ready to hold pilot events with around 10,000 fans attending, to test technology, equipment and social distancing measures.
But Ministers are so far holding off from increasing the current limits of 4,000 fans in Tier 1 and 2,000 in Tier 2 areas.
West Ham’s clash against Manchester United on Saturday at the London Stadium will be the first to hold fans since the start of the pandemic.
Last week, the Premier League said it welcomed the return of fans but was hopeful of getting more supporters on to terraces as soon as possible.
In a statement they said: “Fans have been greatly missed at Premier League matches and therefore we welcome the Prime Minister’s announcement regarding the return of supporters for the first time since March, albeit at small numbers.
“Our ambition remains to work with the Government to increase attendance to more substantial levels.”
