London Stadium set to welcome back fans

All being well, 10,000 West Ham fans will be back inside the London Stadium on Sunday 23rd May.

Last month, the Government announced the various steps towards returning to some kind of ‘normality’

Those steps including the 17 May 2021, when if there are no major setbacks, that will be the date when 10,000 fans or 25% of capacity, whichever figure is lower, will be allowed back into Premier League stadiums as well as other outdoor sporting arenas.

To provide a level a fairness, the Premier League then announced plans to have fans inside grounds at the final two rounds of matches this season, by moving the second last round of fixtures to 18-20 May before the scheduled final round of games on 23 May. This would then allow all clubs to have one home and one away match, with obviously the home game seeing some supporters returning to back their team in the final stages of the season.

The date of 17 May 2021 always looked a little odd, with it timed to be two days after the FA Cup final, one of the biggest dates in the sporting calendar.

The DCMS (Digital, Culture, Media and Sport) are planning a number of pilot events ahead of that 17 May 2021 date to test out the return of spectators to various sporting arenas, with the FA Cup final planned to be one of these events, with hopefully up to 20,000 fans allowed to attend.

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden:

“These test events will be crucial in finding ways to get fans and audiences back in safely without social distancing.

“We will be guided by the science and medical experts, but will work flat out to make that happen.

“We want to get the people back to enjoying what they love and ensure some of our most important growth industries get back on their feet.”

The hope for football of course is that the start of the 2021/22 season in August will then see the mass return of football fans to stadiums.

Can you spare a couple of minutes to fill out the 2021 London Stadium Survey HERE