MarcusX

Happened in the first games, West Ham played their bubble song. Loads of fans with their masks off singing. It's safe though, there's restrictions in place! /s

5 seconds of watching MOTD, West Ham fans not wearing their masks and singing ? Those precautions that make it “safe” are going to plan

Finally allowed to play, game gets called off for waterlogged pitch ?

IMagine watching that in a packed Billy's Bar at Elland Road... ? Dont know how I contained myself

I’d definitely hugged more people at Ashton Gate, or arguably even more at away games, than I have in my house ?

Looks like friends and family group is a Brentford scheme for the tickets, as opposed to any covid “bubble” The newer article says same households only, I wonder if that changes the interests of many people here if they had to attend alone?

Only 250 pages or so Does their rules state who they can attend with? Assume by themselves / same household only?

I actually think that’s going under the radar a little. I know people say they’re professionals they should be able to adapt etc but once you’ve scored in front of a crowd it’s a whole different experience to do it in an empty ground. The atmosphere probably gives a lot of players the buzz and a bit of an edge too. I guess on the flip side it allows some players to express themselves more and less nerves

Quite interesting, not sure how I’d feel about one of my team mates being that worried about his camera in the build up and during a game? Ok when you’re winning maybe but not if he starts making howlers. I thought the crowd noise was played into the stadium, I guess not?

Pretty clear then you can only attend with your household or support bubble, not you plus 4 friends. I wonder if that changes anyone’s mind about going to football? Or if they’d just lie about it. I thought that would be fairly obvious as tier 3 can’t have fans However I feel for non league clubs, having played those levels as well I full understand how important it is for them to have match day revenue. Unlike my thoughts on league clubs, most non league grounds (especially below the national league) are completely outdoors and have far more space than they will require. Also they were already open before. That said, I also think non league is where you will see less adherence to the rules. These clubs tend to have big communities and everyone knows each other, i don’t think it’s likely they’ll stay away from each other at the games. We’ve already seen videos of Fa cup games where everyone rushed together to celebrate or even ran on the pitch to celebrate with players. Also the clubs can’t afford to have as many stewards as they may require to police it effectively and how do you stop away fans travelling to games in tier 2?

Maybe so, but if my pub opens the doors and ensures good ventilation (like they’ve been mandated to do to be covid secure) I still can’t go there with anyone outside my household - so are we making exceptions for stadiums?

On the Corbyn one police said they won’t retrospectively issue fines, so basically do what the hell you like as long as you don’t get caught in the act

I know, I do realise that but you’re breathing in the same air. Have you seen that interesting graphic about how it spreads and the differences with ventilation? Thought that was interesting

Yea I read your post after, great minds think alike!

So I have a genuine question about the football, and I have no idea how it was in Europe. tier 2 cannot mix indoors with anyone outside their household but upto 6 outside? What are concourses treated as in football stadiums? Technically inside? Especially at modern stadia such as Wembley, Emirates, City of Manchester as a few I can think of that I’ve been to where you go inside a sealed area. So are we expecting football to be with your own household only? This is where I see non league grounds like The Memorial ( ) having less problems as you can turn up and safely always be outside, no problems with the technicalities of that. Bigger, modern stadia seem problematic to me? I still think it’s a twisted message that you can have 1000 people at an indoor venue but not go see 1 friend at their house (or for me, parent) - though I also do fully understand the “covid measures” etc and why it’s deemed safer so not looking to continue that debate.

Damn beat me to it... ?

If we’re anywhere near zero infections by March I’ll donate £50 to a charity of your choosing!

Maybe a little touchy, sorry. it was the "if you're concerned dont go" bit that got me, its not that simple. I'm concerned about another lockdown and getting out of this as soon as possible not a quick fix seeing football in a very diluted manner, so opening *more* events than we had leading us into a lockdown seems a bit mad to me. Or at least doing it so soon. Like I said a few times, discuss it, but lets get to january and to some sort of stable, trackable number of infections first? I think to put it simply, I don't trust people to make the right decisions, we've already seen that large numbers cant do so and it's likely just human nature as opposed to any real malicous intent so I'm not blaming anyone as such. Positive signs are there, low case numbers today whilst its not worth looking at one day in isolation I think the 7 day average is down 25% now. It would be a shame if we didnt capatilise on this again and really drive numbers down now there is better track and trace via the app.

yep my mistake. misread. Thought OP meant people had gained immunity by last May

What are you basing this on? Last report I seen was saying the opposite, and there was no confirmed evidence that immunisation lasted that long if at all from catching covid.

I think you've hit the nail on the head with the last line. It's not that I dont believe a football ground can put in measures that on paper seek to ensure the safety of the fans - it's that I dont have faith in the people to follow the precautions in place. I see it day in day out at work, where someone is actually paid to enforce it - as soon as no one is looking masks off, shaking hands, sitting together in groups etc. I dont think pubs were working fine, certainly not *some* of the ones I visited which admittedly wasn't many. 6 around a small table, people allowed to interact with other tables, queuing at the bar, standing around chatting, group selfies in the beer garden - all the things that weren't meant to be done but on paper the pub was fine, in practice different story. And as my point originally opening additional things and encouraging *more* socialising only helps fuel that belief that there is less to be concerned about. Which is fine if that's the stance the government want to take, but it absolutely stinks after we've just had to suffer (and I use that term specifically) another national lockdown for a month. I completely emphasise with the mental aspect, I am very similar towards playing football and especially the gym for me. This isn't a personal argument just a difference of opinions, but ultimately we're all suffering here - I just want to think about the bigger picture and getting back to some kind of normality sooner, rather than rushing back to all the things we want to do and the end date being prolonged even further because infections spike again. Whether thats directly because of groups of people sat together at a football match or because their matchday routine involves them all meeting up before and after the game. Lets not forget, this government told us at the time there was "no evidence" that an event like Cheltenham was going to increase infections. Common sense says thousands of people partying in beer tents is likely going to spread the virus.

I'm glad I'm not alone here... This is such a selfish attitude. It stinks of "I want to do as much as I can as soon as I can" whereas some of us dont want another bloody lockdown. I'd rather wait til April to be able to attend football if it meant I dont spend (potentially) another month barely leaving my house again. It's not down to the individual to assess his/her risk IMO because they cannot control who they then pass the virus on to. Yes I do. Lots of things have been done by this government despite the risk - eat out to help out? You can't say there is no risk. There is risk in everything, but the key is to weigh up the risk against the importance of the place that's opening. We all want football open, but is it essential right now just after being put in a national lockdown because cases were so high? IMO no, should be discussed absolutely, but shouldn't be happening until after Xmas. I know it's slightly off topic but also opening indoor venues, are we to believe there's no risk to that either?

As I say, I wont speculate on the safety until we get an official announcement but everything Boris has just said suggests we need to be strict still - doesn't sit right with me that we open even more things, which encourages more mixing at a time we're being told it's important not to do just that?

Annoyingly I think my reply was lost as the threads were merged. Basically all I;m saying is weve just gone into National lockdown forcing many small businesses to close because cases are so bad. Many of those have done everyting they can to ensure they safety of their customers and had no problems. Coming back out needs to be a slow controlled process else we'll be back at square one with large cases and rising numbers after Xmas (which will be a problematic time in itself) and then what, a third lockdown with even less compliance and more small businesses forced to close? I won't debate the actual safety within the ground because I'm going to make an assumption that any concern I can think of has already been thought of and addressed by the clubs and councils. I'd love to go back to football, and I'll be playing again as soon as we're allowed but like I say, it just seems to be mixed messaging about how serious it is we dont visit family at Xmas - but go to the football etc? Perhaps I should have reserved comment until after a formal announcement has been made as I cant see any specifics that have been released yet

Just can't see any sense in this. We're talking about not being able to see all your family at Xmas, but you can be at a football ground with 4000 others. I understand some clubs have done a lot of work to be safe, but it just sends the wrong messages and it;s no wonder people have lost faith in following guidelines