Posted on 22nd September 2020
Following this morning’s announcement of a pause in the plans for a staged return of supporters to stadiums from October 1st Kevin Miles, chief executive of the Football Supporters’ Association, said:
“The FSA has written to the Government to stress how important it is that we start to allow fans back into games. Feedback from our members at test events has confirmed high levels of compliance with all the health and safety measures put in place, and that they felt safer at games than they have done in many other social situations.
“Having fans at games is of course not only important to the lives of supporters, it is also crucial to the survival of so many clubs who play a crucial role within their communities. A combination of revenue at the ground and government support is urgently needed to keep clubs going. The Government has to listen to fans and football clubs on this one.”
Three-quarters (74.8%) of fans intend to return to stadiums from the first fixture in August, with two-thirds of supporters (65.2%) describing themselves as ‘excited’ and four in ten (41.7%) ‘optimistic’ about a return to grounds next season according to the results of an FSA survey.
For many fans the beginning of the 2021-22 season will mark the first time that they have been in a stadium for more than 18 months, and so the FSA are canvassing opinion on how supporters feel about returning to grounds.
Yesterday the Government announced that fans will be allowed to return to grounds in May, albeit with reduced capacities.
More than 86% of supporters we surveyed in the women’s game say they are excited to return to football for their first full season back since the pandemic started in 2020.
