It is not just Premier League clubs who will not be able to let fans back into the stadium's yet, non league clubs are also unable to do so and with pre season friendlies being a vital source of income, some will not survive unless this blanket ban is lifted.
It is understandable why football supporters in stadium's above conference level are unable to return to the grounds at the moment, but it is less clear why the club's at a lower level are not allowed to play in front of spectators and they need your help by signing a petition to get 100,000 signatures that means the Government have to consider this for debate.
Most play in front of no more than a few hundred supporters at most and therefore social distance would be easily achievable whatever the lay out of the ground, indeed surely it would be far safer having 300 football supporters out in the open air, spread out around a football pitch 110 metres long by 60 metres wide than it would be to have a similar number in an enclosed supermarket or shopping mall.
If you take a local team such as AFC Totton, they have a ground that holds in the region of 4,000, the current suggestion is that when fans are allowed to return they will be allowed to let in a quarter of that number, but even that figure is far above the 300 or so who usually watch the team.
Social distancing would be simple at their ground, so where is the problem ?
But the real issue for the Stags and indeed all non league clubs is that a lack of crowds means a lack of money and most are completely reliable on money generated from match day income, not just the money through the gate, but generated in the club house through sales of food and drink, especially drink with part of the whole non league experience being a pint after to discuss the game.
Now these teams would be playing pre season friendlies and although gates are low they generate income, it might sound peanuts but 100 spectators turning up pre season is vital to the cash flow.
The government though seems to be imposing a blanket ban on football fans, they treat 76,000 fans at Old Trafford the same as 76 fans turning up at a non league club, to them it is the same issue so the solution is the same and it will be a case of all back in or none at all and this is wrong.
So a petition has been set up to persuade the Government to look at non league clubs separately and it needs all football fans to sign it to make sure that the grass roots level clubs can survive.
It is simple and takes no more than a minute, but your signature can make a difference, the number of people who have already signed up will perhaps mean that the 10,000 needed to make the Government just respond will be smashed today, but it needs 100,000 so that the Government has to do more than just send an acknowledgement and then can bury it, it needs 100,000 so they have to take it seriously and more to the point, that the national media will take up the cause and pressure the Government to change their stance.
This is where those who follow Premier and Football league club's can play their part, click on the link below to spend less than a minute adding your name to the petition, if you can then put the link on your social media and share it to others that would be great, these clubs truly need help from the wide number of fans across the country who follow the game at any level, if we sit back and do nothing a lot of clubs will go to the wall.
Click on this link.
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/334366?fbclid=IwAR1Ba7oYlKxQx5lNdYuShBz