Ten Football League clubs will be permitted to admit spectators, at a capacity of 1,000, into matches this weekend as part of the ongoing fans pilot programme, the EFL has announced

The move to extend the programme follows a successful pilot staged at Cambridge United last week when fans were in attendance at a professional football match for the first time since March.

EFL Chair, Rick Parry said: “It’s encouraging that we are in a position to move forward with the next phase of the pilot programme and give a small number of our Clubs the opportunity to welcome back up to a 1,000 fans this week.

“The health and well-being of supporters and their wider communities remains the priority, but as we showed at Cambridge, social distancing can be applied safely. By extending across more EFL Clubs we hope to further demonstrate that the measures developed can allow fans to return in greater numbers from as early as next month.

“The requirement to welcome spectators back through turnstiles has not diminished in any way, the financial challenges facing EFL Clubs have been explained on numerous occasions, they are substantial and a problem that requires immediate solutions.”

Culture Secretary, Oliver Dowden said: “I know that many fans are eager to return to football and that jobs depend on this too, so fans will welcome news that the EFL will be running number capped, covid secure, and socially distanced pilots this weekend. This will help us build the evidence base to see how we can return fans safely in greater numbers as soon as it is safe to do so.”

Luton Town v Derby County
Norwich City v Preston North End 
Middlesbrough v AFC Bournemouth

 

League One
Charlton Athletic v Doncaster Rovers 
Blackpool v Swindon Town 
Shrewsbury Town v Northampton Town 
Hull City v Crewe Alexandra 

 

League Two
Forest Green Rovers v Bradford City 
Carlisle United v Southend United 
Morecambe v Cambridge United

 

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