Maidenhead United scenario planning for the return of supporters to York Road

Maidenhead United are scenario planning ahead of the new season, putting provisions and protocols in place to enable supporters to return to York Road when the go-ahead is given by Government.

Clubs in the leagues below the National League North and South will be able to open their gates for spectators, after the Government updated its guidance on recreational team sport events this week. From Saturday clubs can fill grounds to 15 per cent capacity, rising to 30 per cent from August 30.

But Maidenhead CEO Jon Adams says that although clubs in the National League have been given an indicative start date for the season of Saturday, October 3, clubs still don’t know if, when or how many supporters will be allowed into grounds at their level. He only knows that the York Road capacity is likely to be ‘significantly reduced’ on what it’s been in previous seasons.

It’s no secret that most non-league clubs would be reluctant to kick-off the campaign without paying spectators, and now a distinction has been drawn between the return of fans to recreational sport (steps three and below) and elite sport (National League South/North and up).

Pressure has been building on the Government to relent and ‘Let fans in’. More than 30 MPs wrote to the sports minister Nigel Huddleston calling for ‘the urgent return of fans to non-league clubs’. Two petitions supporting the cause have received more than 6,000 signatures. BBC Sport reported that the Government’s return for recreational team sports was updated on Tuesday afternoon to draw up protocols enabling fans to return to grounds. Clubs will have to adhere strictly to COVID-19 guidelines and information could be collected from supporters to assist with a track and trace scheme.

BBC Sport understands that the Football Association defines elite football as being everything from the Premier League down to National League North and South, which explains why the new rules apply to step three and below.

Speaking before clubs at steps three and below were given the go-ahead to readmit fans, Adams said there were many issues that still needed to be ironed out in order for fans to return at Maidenhead’s level. The club has a variety of scenario plans it can put into motion when it finally knows what conditions will be imposed.

“The truth is things are very much still up in the air,” he said. “We’re still planning to start on October 3, but ultimately these things will be governed by Government. We’ve been provided with a raft of guidance in relation to match days, and the protocols we need to put in place around training.”

Adams says the club is not yet in a position to give further information about purchasing season tickets and said it would be wrong of him to speculate on how many fans might be allowed in to watch the Magpies when the season gets underway.

“In terms of match-day capacities I don’t really have an answer, other than knowing they’ll be significantly reduced. We have to agree the capacity with the local authority and say how we’re going to manage the ground on match days. Hopefully we can get that firmed up in the next few weeks, but the guidance from Government could change again. Yesterday (Monday), I saw a tweet saying the FA had put a proposal together for starting games with capacities of anything between 15 and 30 per cent, but I’ve had no formal communication on that from anybody, so there’s a danger with all this that we make predictions that don’t turn out to be correct.

“We are scenario planning, because we need to have solutions in place that give us a clear way forward once we have a degree of light from the government. But certainly, we won’t get close to our average crowd from last season of 1,300-1,500, at least not in the early part of the season.”

Adams also called on supporters to take some personal responsibility for their actions if, or when, they do return to football grounds. He hopes they understand that the measures being put in place are for their own safety and benefit.

“Clearly reduced capacity will have a significant financial impact on the club,” he said. “It’s well recognised that it would be very difficult for non-league football clubs to start the season if there are not paying crowds. They’re a very important part of the revenue for a club like ours. But perhaps we’ll have to be creative in terms of how we do things. What’s in place at the start of the season might not be the same mid-way through the season. There are all sorts of scenarios we’re looking at and, ultimately, we’ll decide based on how many people we can safely have in the ground. We’re not sitting here idly not doing anything. We know clearly in our minds how we can safely manage the ground and how we can safely manage people based various criteria, managing access and exits and that sort of stuff.

“It’s clearly possible to have supporters in the ground, but those supporters will have to take some personal responsibility as well in terms of respecting the rules that are in place. We will require them to take advantage of the whole of the ground, rather than bunching up behind the goals as they would normally do. That will be a big challenge, but we have to make use of the whole ground.”