Prior to last week's new government advice on stadia reopening with reduced capacities and the potential for some pilots, the Club, represented by Brian Caldwell (CEO), Lawrence Ellerby (Safety officer), Roger Groves and Mike Davis (SLO’s) attended a virtual SAG (Safety Advisory Group) meeting on Thursday along with other key stakeholders including representatives from Shropshire Council, The Sports Ground Safety Authority and the Police.
As an update the following key points were discussed if we were fortunate to be given permission to pilot a reduced capacity stadium:
- At this point it looks like we would not have any away fans as we would need to make use of all 4 Stands to satisfy our own Season Ticket Holders and Sovereign members
- Clubs have been asked to draw up plans based on the guidance for a reduced capacity and compliance with social distancing which will be open to season ticket holders/sovereign members as a priority with a likely capacity of around 2,500-3,000 which is approximately 25-30% of capacity (Most other clubs will be a lower percentage)
- ST holders will be unlikely to sit in their own seats for social distancing and a plan of the stadium is currently being looked at to accommodate ‘bubbles” as well as individual seats to ensure compliance with the guidance.
- Each Season Ticket holder would be required to obtain a ticket for each game they wish to attend. This is so if for any reason a season ticket holder can’t make a specific game their place can be resold to another supporter so we will likely have a cut off for season ticket holders to take up their priority for a seat.
- Once ST holders have decided whether to take up their allocation any remaining tickets will be allocated or sold on a first come first served basis
- It may be required by STFC to cap Season Ticket sales in the near future to ensure we can satisfy everyone who has purchased a season ticket
- We are now working on the safest and most effective way to safely get fans in and out of the stadium. These details will be published at a later date along with more detailed information on ticketing and a code of conduct supporters will be asked to adhere to.
- Our plans which require minimal use of turnstiles and concourses which helps to ensure the maximum number of seats can be used and involves entry via the corner gates of the stadium, catering units positioned outside the stands and no catering in the concourses.
- We have arranged to put new gates and fencing up at the path between Lidl and Community Football Hub (former Powerleague) so that the 24 acre stadium footprint is completely sealed off.
We are all working tirelessly to ensure we get as many of our loyal supporters into games safely and effectively and ask for everyone’s understanding and patience that this is a continuously changing situation so we may not have all the answers as yet but are working hard to resolve any issues.
We would encourage anyone with any questions or ideas to contact us, we want to make sure we have everything covered and are sure things will come up that none of us have thought about.
As always our Supporter Liaison officers (Roger and Mike) can be contacted at slo@shrewsburytown.co.uk or you can email the club directly at info@shrewsburytown.co.uk
We all hope that all the hard work going on behind the scenes and the continual improvement in the pandemic can allow Shrewsbury Town FC to be one of the pilots for reduced capacity matches from the start of the new season.