August 19 – With so many grassroots clubs in danger of going out of business, English football’s lower non-league divisions will be allowed a limited number of fans after the government updated its guidance on recreational team sport events.
Clubs in leagues below National League North and South – Step 3 of the country’s non-league pyramid downwards – will be able to open their gates to spectators for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic began.
A distinction has been drawn between the return of fans to recreational sport and elite sport, where pilot schemes are required before any change can be applied from October 1.
The move comes after more than 30 parliamentarians wrote to British sports minister Nigel Huddleston calling for the “urgent return of fans to non-league clubs” and is a huge boost to cash-strapped clubs who rely on a hard-core few fans and have no other revenue streams.
Clubs will be asked to publish a risk assessment of their grounds while supporters will also have to abide by social distancing guidelines and spectator groups are limited to “discreet six-person gathering limits” .
Pre-season friendlies have been taking place at non-league grounds over the last month – but all of them behind closed doors.
Supporters had already launched their own initiative to put pressure on the government with the #LetFansIn campaign which gathered support from around the country and two petitions supporting the cause had received over 6,000 signatures.
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