That's right, football fans are to be allowed back into Premier League stadiums before the end of the current season. Not in small groups, but capacity crowds, meaning packed-out grounds across the country.
The Sun are reporting that the government are poised to give the green-light to even non-vaccinated football fans once the most vulnerable and elderly have been vaccinated, and as long as hospital admissions and deaths fall to acceptable levels.
According to the newspaper's "Whitehall Source", the return of fans would be staggered initially, as the number of vaccinations increases across Britain, before full stadiums by the final few months of the season.
The Sun's insider said the government "would hope to have a few more fans back in stadiums in the new year, so that people see fans back in the stands and that it is safe. But when the figures show hospitalisations and deaths are down, fans will be back in pretty quick, even if not everyone has been vaccinated.”
The Sun also reports that the Premier League is preparing to hold pilot events in the New Year, which will see around 10,000 fans allowed back into some grounds in order to test the safety of the new measures.
Meanwhile, this weekend will see some fans return to Premier League stadia for the first time since the beginning of 2020, with West Ham's clash against Manchester United at the London Stadium set to allow a few thousand fans inside to watch.
The current government guidelines would allow 4,000 fans to attend a stadium in Tier One areas and 2,000 in Tier Two areas, meaning West Ham could allow 4,000 fans in to watch the match.
The Premier League last week welcomed the new initiatives. In a statement they said fans have been "greatly missed at Premier League matches and therefore we welcome the Prime Minister’s announcement regarding the return of supporters for the first time since March, albeit at small numbers.
“Our ambition remains to work with the Government to increase attendance to more substantial levels.”
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