I read somewhere that Greene King pubs were planning to open with a booking system and table service only - don't know if that applies to others though.
I haven't been inside the Red Lion for about forty years, can't remember the layout so I've no idea if that would be even possible for them. I used to drink in the Oddfellows around the corner, which definitely could, but I believe it's an 'away pub' now - not that there would be many away fans for the rest of this season.
It is now official that fans will be allowed back into stadiums in the Netherlands from the first of september. apparently fans have to be 1.5 metres apart and are not allowed to sing, scream or yell However - choirs are allowed to rehearse in the Netherlands - so if an official 'choir' is in the stadium on match days they are allowed to practice their songs !
Talks on getting supporters back into ground but with limited numbers and a lot of restrictions that I cannot see really working. https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...nsidered-to-get-fans-into-grounds-next-season https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/fans-to-return-for-new-premier-league-season-p2spcbtnl No away fans Masks to be worn No toilet break at half time. Sounds like a nightmare and how do they choose which fans can and cannot go - and how would they take it?
Could be a healthy and safety risk surely. I presume you'd then have everyone trying to cram into the toilets before and after a game which would kind of defeat the whole object of social distancing? I just cannot see a group of season ticket holders or long term fans being told you cannot go to a game because you're too old or not selected. We know what football fans can be like if they get angry and how they feel about supporters being treated as second class by clubs. There are many out there who now see this as a bit of a nuisance and want to get back to normal/ Might work more at clubs that don't sell out or get limited gates like those in League One/Two and non league.
Sounds a nightmare to m ... The younger rookery ones that don't bother about social distancing so much... And the older season ticket holders who will be very concerned... Let's get a vaccine fast...
Devil's Advocate here - if vaccines worked that well, we wouldn't be having the need for various new ones at the start of every flu season...
The answer is to fit a colostomy bag! and maybe a flask of beer or whiskey in another! This may have more legs than you think. Season ticket holders could attend every other home match or maybe one in three, something like that. you would be assigned your seat and the time and gate you are allowed to enter by.
Manchester United health officials have just announced that goalkeeper David de Gea will be allowed to train without a mask, after they confirmed that there's no way he can catch anything.
Deliberate coughing to be a red card offence - should also lead to a charge of common assault in my opion. But apparently it's ok to spit. https://www.hertfordshiremercury.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/new-fa-covid-19-rules-4391153
No chanting/singing allowed when the fans start back? https://www.hertfordshiremercury.co...ws/watford-fans-could-banned-chanting-4425777
Unfortunately it could be the case that Covid 19 will strengthen the difference between the big leagues and the smaller ones in Europe. Ajax are currently losing 1.5 million per week through not being allowed to pack fans into the stadium and for other Dutch clubs the situation may be proportionally worse. I suspect that Premiership clubs get a lower percentage of their revenue from ticket sales than those clubs in the Eredivisie. Man City only generates 12% of their income from those going into the stadium (at PSG it is 11%) - this compares to 37% at Eintracht Frankfurt and over 40% at Feyenoord. This percentage must grow the further down you get in the English football pyramid. I am dreading that the long term consequences of this are that the rich clubs will survive and prosper at the expense of the rest who will be forced to offload players in order to survive.
The virus will have a dire effect on football in many situations, but it is showing up the inequality between clubs and their resources that have existed for a very long time, and have been made worse by the advent of huge TV contracts. Many clubs survive on a shoestring, with fans buying into lotteries, letting out their buildings, and getting local companies to sponsor them. Some of those local companies may not survive, so bang goes another small but significant revenue stream. Smaller clubs always want to become larger and successful which is stating the obvious, but it does make them more susceptible to the bad owner who can see that there are assets there that can be stripped. The local owner who is under pressure now because of no fans will be more ready to accept a bid from the dodgy would be buyer. In some ways the smallest clubs may well continue as normal, and the very large clubs who could get by without any fans in the stadium will just wait for it to pass, but it is those in the middle who do need fans that will suffer most.