MAJOR sports fear that turnstiles will remain mostly closed until November as the Government battles to avoid a second pandemic wave.
Representatives from football, both rugby codes, tennis and horse racing met Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden to urge the most rapid possible opening of gates to supporters.
But while the EFL announced pilot trials of up to 1,000 will be held at nine grounds across the country this weekend, the initially planned October 1 date for more substantial reopening is set to be put back by a month.
The sports governing bodies now believe that the start of November represents the earliest possible date for grounds and venues to move towards 30 per cent capacities.
And the possibility of local lockdowns being brought in to stop the spread of Covid-19 means that some venues may still fan-free for even longer.
The disappointing news came as EFL boss Rick Parry hailed this weekend’s planned trials as an “encouraging” step.
EFL chiefs had originally said that 10 venues would be allowing fans in for the first time since March.
But Luton, one of three Championship sides due to host supporters, were forced to pull out of the scheme.
That leaves Preston’s visit to Derby and Middlesbrough’s home game with Bournemouth as the games in the EFL’s top flight with fans inside.
The League One games featuring Charlton against Doncaster, Blackpool versus Swindon, Northampton’s trip to Shrewsbury and Hull’s match with Crewe are on the approved list.
And in League Two, three games – at Forest Green, Carlisle and Morecambe – will have fans inside.
Carlisle’s Brunton Park, ironically, saw the last League Two game with supporters, a crowd of 2,822 for their win over Newport on March 10, 48 hours before English football went into lockdown.
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.”
