Fans back into stadiums

[Great Balls of Shire]

I thought our game v St Johnstone would’ve been a perfect teat match to allow limited numbers into FP. Haven’t heard anything to indicate we would be one of the test games ....anybody heard anything?

i know the numbers in Lanarkshire are increasing but should , if handled properly, be a re,actively low risk event.

[MelvinBragg]

While I agree that if test events were to be held, the relatively small crowd in comparison to capacity would make our game this Saturday a decent candidate, I think the current numbers will mean that it's unlikely there will be any 'test' events any time soon....

[numpty]

4 minutes ago, MelvinBragg said:

While I agree that if test events were to be held, the relatively small crowd in comparison to capacity would make our game this Saturday a decent candidate, I think the current numbers will mean that it's unlikely there will be any 'test' events any time soon....

This Saturday confirmed, but two matches only (and we're not one of them).

https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/sport/18705613.government-give-green-light-fans-attend-spfl-games/

[steelboy]

300 fans is some test.

At Pittodrie they will be looking at about 8 or 9 fans per section.

[MelvinBragg]

16 minutes ago, numpty said:

This Saturday confirmed, but two matches only (and we're not one of them).

https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/sport/18705613.government-give-green-light-fans-attend-spfl-games/

We're only at Tuesday. A lot could happen between now and the weekend. I also find it ironic that the games they have selected involve the two teams where players have been known to breach protocols. I suspect that I'm not the first, and won't be the last, to point this out...

[Stu92]

I don't think the club want to be involved in any test events. There's only so many pies 300 fans are willing to buy, and the income generated from that is far outweighed by the costs of security, medics on standby, etc. It was discussed on the Sportsound pre-Celtic when it was thought that game may be a test event, I think Burrows made comments about the costs involved with opening the stadium up to such a small number of punters.

[steelboy]

46 minutes ago, Stu92 said:

I don't think the club want to be involved in any test events. There's only so many pies 300 fans are willing to buy, and the income generated from that is far outweighed by the costs of security, medics on standby, etc. It was discussed on the Sportsound pre-Celtic when it was thought that game may be a test event, I think Burrows made comments about the costs involved with opening the stadium up to such a small number of punters.

Aye it's absolutely pointless.

 

[Ya Bezzer!]

Ross County chairman was on the radio the other day and the way he was talking it was unlikely in the near term that anything other than very small groups of supporters will attend games and he basically dismissed any chance of away supporters attending this season.

Personally I don't think we will get back to anywhere near normality until there is an available vaccine and that is still some time off, that's looking like Feb/Mar 21 at the earliest.

For me I'm considering this season as a complete write off in terms of actually attending matches.

[steelboy]

There are already crowds at French games and there will be big crowds in Germany and Holland this weekend.

The main thing holding us back is the Scottish government obviously don't want crowds in. 

[dennyc]

The main thing holding us back is that some folk cannot be trusted to act reasonably. That and the fact that some footballers think guidance does not apply to them, bubble or no bubble

[steelboy]

22 minutes ago, dennyc said:

The main thing holding us back is that some folk cannot be trusted to act reasonably. That and the fact that some footballers think guidance does not apply to them, bubble or no bubble

There is no connection between Bolingoli breaking the curfew rules and the Aberdeen players going out in too big a group and when fans should be back in. It's two separate issues.

There is close to zero trouble at Scottish football matches. Far less than in pubs or schools. I honestly believe that the SNP are just stringing football along because it makes their press conferences easier.

[Lobey_Dosser]

It was mentioned on Radio Scotland weeks ago that Motherwell hasn’t been in discussions with the JRG on a pilot game for this weekend. Don’t know if that was down to us being hesitant due to cost. 

Will be interesting to see how things pan out over the next few months as the transmission rate increases. I do think socially distanced crowds should be returning but it’ll become more difficult for Government to approve if we start to see significant increases in hospitalisations. 

I tend to keep an eye on horse racing and the jist seems to be that courses will be running at 25-40% capacity a year from now unless there has been a significant breakthrough (vaccine or digital passport linked to daily saliva testing for all). 

[Ya Bezzer!]

45 minutes ago, steelboy said:

I honestly believe that the SNP are just stringing football along because it makes their press conferences easier.

Or maybe they are accountably for public health in the era of a previously unknown, highly infectious and potentially deadly virus.

Football, far from being strung along, has been given significant exemptions. 

[Kmcalpin]

5 hours ago, MelvinBragg said:

We're only at Tuesday. A lot could happen between now and the weekend. I also find it ironic that the games they have selected involve the two teams where players have been known to breach protocols. I suspect that I'm not the first, and won't be the last, to point this out...

Yes,  a very strange choice of clubs and games. Still there’s been many odd and contradictory decisions made by all 4 governments in the UK during the pandemic and this is just the latest. In fairness though these are unprecedented times and challenges.

[Great Balls of Shire]

4 hours ago, Ya Bezzer! said:

Or maybe they are accountably for public health in the era of a previously unknown, highly infectious and potentially deadly virus.

Football, far from being strung along, has been given significant exemptions. 

But I do think outside events should be a lot less risky..I know there’s an element of getting in and out the park, but that’s where it has to be managed, .the difference between Scottish and English leagues are a lot of our clubs are very dependent on the gate money

[steelman1991]

15 hours ago, Stu92 said:

I don't think the club want to be involved in any test events. There's only so many pies 300 fans are willing to buy, and the income generated from that is far outweighed by the costs of security, medics on standby, etc. It was discussed on the Sportsound pre-Celtic when it was thought that game may be a test event, I think Burrows made comments about the costs involved with opening the stadium up to such a small number of punters.

Agreed 100% - especially as the game was at Parkhead

[C&A not the shop]

I really don't see what useful data you can get from running a trial with 300 people, at Pittodrie that's 1.5% capacity or something like that. Closer to 3% at Victoria Park but still I don't think that's going to offer any useful insight into how to manage crowds under new  rules/protocols.

It does seem to be a political exercise, being cautious plays well with the public just now but there is a turn in attitude and people are definitely less forgiving of restrictions than they were. This smacks of being a token gesture to look like progress is being made but is so low risk to not actually be a worthwhile exercise.

[weeyin]

4 hours ago, C&A not the shop said:

I really don't see what useful data you can get from running a trial with 300 people, at Pittodrie that's 1.5% capacity or something like that. Closer to 3% at Victoria Park but still I don't think that's going to offer any useful insight into how to manage crowds under new  rules/protocols.

It does seem to be a political exercise, being cautious plays well with the public just now but there is a turn in attitude and people are definitely less forgiving of restrictions than they were. This smacks of being a token gesture to look like progress is being made but is so low risk to not actually be a worthwhile exercise.

Isn't the entire point that it's so low risk?

The test isn't to verify that 1.5% capacity is safe. The test is to do a first run of the protocols to see if there is anything that needs tweaked when larger numbers are involved. You don't start running tests at 50% and hope nothing goes wrong.

 

[C&A not the shop]

1 minute ago, weeyin said:

Isn't the entire point that it's so low risk?

The test isn't to verify that 1.5% capacity is safe. The test is to do a first run of the protocols to see if there is anything that needs tweaked when larger numbers are involved. You don't start running tests at 50% and hope nothing goes wrong.

 

Of course, but the issue is in the level. They are being s cautious that they will learn nothing from the first run, there's a number between 1.5% and 50% that hits the right balance. The event at Murrayfield last week (2 weeks ago?) was 700 fans in a 67,000 seat stadium, this is no progress on that, if anything it's a backwards step.Lessons from there could be incorporated and tested with a denser crowd although with a very small increase in bodies say 1000 fans at Pittodrie and slightly less at Victoria Park. It just feels like a wasted opportunity.

[Winning by Name]

20 hours ago, steelboy said:

There is no connection between Bolingoli breaking the curfew rules and the Aberdeen players going out in too big a group and when fans should be back in. It's two separate issues.

There is close to zero trouble at Scottish football matches. Far less than in pubs or schools. I honestly believe that the SNP are just stringing football along because it makes their press conferences easier.

Stop it!

[weeyin]

According to the Evening Times, the rules for the 300 Aberdeen fans are as follows:

• Remain in your allocated seat – (standing is strictly prohibited)

• Always wear your face covering properly covering both your nose and mouth.

• Leaving your seat – If you must leave your seat continue to wear your face covering, wait for the gangway to clear, remember the 2 metre social distancing rule, sanitise hands and follow the signage and Stewards instructions.

• When in your seated area, when moving past other spectators, to and from your seat, please avoid face to face contact with other spectator.

• Match Ball – should the match ball enter the stand, please pass this down to the ball boy to be sanitised, under no circumstances should you throw the ball onto the pitch. Please ensure that you sanitise your own hands once the ball has been passed back.

• Coughing and Sneezing – please catch in a tissue or in the crease of your elbow, sanitising hands afterwards and disposing of any contaminated tissues in a bin.

• Chanting/Shouting/Singing – are to be avoided to help reduce the risk of infection.

• Priority will be given on stairwells to people ascending the stairs. To avoid contact, people descending are required to step into a row until the stairwell is clear for them to continue their journey.

[middleeastdave]

Unfortunately I cannot see us getting any size of a crowd this Side of Xmas, even in England the test crowds have been capped at 1000 now and with the threat of another lockdown looming the future does not look bright.

If this is the case I can see a few teams not surviving especially the full time teams in the Championship  which will be the the most affected I suspect.

[Kmcalpin]

8 hours ago, weeyin said:

• Always wear your face covering properly covering both your nose and mouth.

• please avoid face to face contact with other spectator.

• Coughing and Sneezing – please catch in a tissue or in the crease of your elbow, sanitising hands afterwards and disposing of any contaminated tissues in a bin.

• Chanting/Shouting/Singing – are to be avoided to help reduce the risk of infection.

• Priority will be given on stairwells to people ascending the stairs. To avoid contact, people descending are required to step into a row until the stairwell is clear for them to continue their journey.

Should these particular rules not also apply to people in pubs, workplaces, shops and restaurants?

[Ped_MFC]

Judging by that list of rules it looks like actually attending a match will be as passive an experience as watching a stream (albeit the picture won't freeze/disappear every 10 minutes if you're there).

In fact having to sit silently for 90 minutes may be a more frustrating experience, unable to 'get involved' emotionally, shouting encouragement (tho I suspect for some on here it may be more likely to be abuse),  singing, cheering a goal, shouting abuse at shitehawk referees. All the things that are part of supporting your team.

[steelboy]

There's no justification for 1000 seat limits. I was in an indoor restaurant at the weekend that had easily over 100 customers plus staff yet you can't have more than 250 people in the massive South Stand.

Also why are test events going ahead now and not 6 weeks ago when cases were 200% lower? Football is getting a raw deal off the government.