Club exploring as many options as possible to allow supporters into a socially distanced Montgomery Waters Meadow from as early as possible next season.
Following on from the Premier League and EFL’s confirmation on Friday that the 2020/21 season will start on 12th September 2020, the club has been in dialogue with our SLO’s, Mike Davis and Roger Groves as well as the SGSA and EFL.
Although the Prime Minister has stated crowds should be able to return to stadia in October, the EFL are still actively exploring the opportunity with the government to have a reduced capacity from the start of the season in September as part of a pilot scheme in Leagues One and Two.
To start the season behind closed doors will have further financial implications on our club and many others, so for League One and League Two club’s especially, the ability to have fans in the grounds from the very beginning would not only help the team on the pitch but would also allow the club to have our beloved fans return, albeit in limited numbers, as well.
Having studied the guidance issued last week the Club have been in constant dialogue with our SLO’s (Mike and Roger). We are working closely together to make plans for a return of fans to the Montgomery Waters Meadow in the hope that we with other League One and Two Clubs can get the green light to pilot this from the start of the season.
It is vitally important for us to engage with our SLOs at this time, to share our plans and to ensure that if we get can fans back at the start of the season as a pilot then the stadium is fully compliant and a safe place for all supporters.
Be assured that a lot of hard work is going on behind the scenes as we want to make every effort to get supporters back safely as soon as possible.
Brian Caldwell said;
It’s great to have Mike and Roger to bounce our plans off, we have always had a great relationship which helps us understand issues that fans may have and consider things which we may not think of. We are all working very hard to ensure we are fully compliant and can get as many fans as possible into the stadium hopefully as a pilot from the start of the season. The Montgomery Waters Meadow stadium with 24 acres on the stadium footprint certainly makes life easier for us to deal with social distancing issues than many other stadiums
Mike Davis said;
It’s important to make sure we are ready for supporters as soon as it’s possible. At the moment that’s up in the air and out of our control but we are all determined to make sure we are ready for whenever we are given the green light. Supporters will have to understand it’s not going to be like it was pre-Covid we have 85 pages of guidelines to work to, but we have done this before with safe standing, so if there is a group of supporters anywhere in the country that understands the importance of the guidance, it’s our amazing supporters, so we will work with the club and the authorities to ensure we are ready and ensure we provide a safe experience for everyone who visits the Montgomery Waters Meadow