Joy for non-league fans after announcement spectators will be allowed back

NON-LEAGUE football fans will be allowed to attend matches again after the government updated its guidance on recreational team sport events this week.

Clubs in the seventh tier and below, or below National League North and South, will now be allowed to invite spectators for the first time since the global coronavirus pandemic began.

In recent weeks, many local clubs have used their social media accounts to share the slogan “#LetFansIn” while two petitions supporting the cause have received more than 6,000 signatures.

The decision came after more than 30 MPs wrote to sports minister Nigel Huddleston calling for the “urgent return of fans to non-league clubs” stating many clubs could be “lost forever” if an exemption was not granted.

Former sports minister Tracey Crouch, who coordinated the letter with Dame Cheryl Gillan, tweeted: “Football has many wonderful layers, but non-league is often at its heart and soul. With fewer fans, it’s easier to make clubs Covid secure, but without them coming back soon their future is shaky. So #LetFansIn.”

Fans who attend grounds will still need to abide by social distancing rules, and spectator groups must be restricted to “discrete six-person gathering limits and spread out” to ensure “space for officials, coaches and substitutes”.

Clubs and facility providers must also support NHS test-and-trace efforts by collecting names and contact information at both training and matches.

To read the full FA guidelines go to bit.ly/2E9wLZN