What Next? | Page 3 | Vital Football

What Next?

I'm up for a new way of doing things, for controls and restrictions. I would be positive about practical ways of bring back football at Priestfield but some things cannot be wished away.

We are still awaiting the first sporting event with paying attendance: 1,000 at The Oval which has a capacity of over 25,000. Games in Scotland, without fans, have already seen postponements due to positive tests and failure to follow codes. We have local spikes in areas with EFL clubs. It's no use starting with a surge of optimism only to see a host of individual problems sabotage the project. Confidence, meticulous preparation and good compliance will be essential.

Sorry but I think we have a way to go yet. The Brian Moore Stand issue has been raised but will it open at all? Aberdeen have trimmed £1M from the club wage bill with all those receiving £30K and above taking a 20% cut. They think that is a first step. It's easy for us to talk of players needing to be reasonable in their demands but they and their agents will take time to adjust. Some may end up walking away from football.

The first step is not boosterism and aspiration but the setting out of requirements and potential organisation for football in 2020 and beyond. This may yet include major restructure of the leagues. If we persist in talking big and doing little the prospect of clubs failing and leagues collapsing increases.
 
Leave every other row empty,
leave every other seat empty on the in use rows
.
you would have no one either side of you, no one directly in front or behind you.
The empty row could be used for those needing the loo, to avoid brushing past people.
this would allow 25% attendance,
Surely this is unnecessarily restrictive / cautious ?

By all means have some blocks like this - for older or cautious fans - maybe in the GRS.

But elsewhere, every row could be used - with alternate seats.
These areas would be 50% occupied.
Distances should be (approx)
- sideways 1.6m
- back of someone's head 0.8m

Assuming mask-wearing, I'm not too bothered about the back of my head !

And if a Club wants to go the extra mile with preparation, it could put family ST.s alongside each other.

Or perhaps "it's all too difficult" :(
 
For me I find it unlikely we will be able to play 46 games plus cup games in front of a crowd of more than say season ticket holders in the next twelve months.
I can see things ending similar to this season. Only worse with massive variations in games played.Have a second lot of promotion and relegation decisions on a lottery of points per game will leave the game in a right mess.
What I said on other threads !

Which is why the EFL should split the Divisions regionally. - at least 12 and 12 - but more cautiously 6+6+6+6.

It Covid continues to cast a shadow, fewer games will be played - but at least some competition can play out.
With 6 teams, Promotion and Relegation could apply every 2 1/2 months or so.

If it turns out that more games look like being played, results could be combined - firstly to 12 teams - then if things go really well - all 24.

Regional games bring the prospect of higher crowds - although that is a double-edged sword.
Travel costs should be cheaper. No hotels for the teams.

Surely anything would be better than......
Have a second lot of promotion and relegation decisions on a lottery of points per game will leave the game in a right mess.
 
Surely this is unnecessarily restrictive / cautious ?

By all means have some blocks like this - for older or cautious fans - maybe in the GRS.

But elsewhere, every row could be used - with alternate seats.
These areas would be 50% occupied.
Distances should be (approx)
- sideways 1.6m
- back of someone's head 0.8m

Assuming mask-wearing, I'm not too bothered about the back of my head !



Or perhaps "it's all too difficult" :(

No, it’s not all too difficult. But if you want to keep the separation then it’s best to have alternate rows and alternate seats.

You can’t go ruling that you need 1.5m side to side, but it’s ok to have 0.8m back to front! That’s making things difficult and harder to convey and monitor.

Somehow here in Oz they have managed to do it all pretty easily. Well, without too many advertised problems and issues. And that’s with different states having max crowds of a few thou, 10 thou and 30 thou.

Take a look at some footage if they show AFL over there. When they pan the crowds you can see it’s all pretty uniform and everyone 2 or 3 seats apart. Except some obvious family units sitting together with no spacing.

Surely if it can be done in such a backward country as Oz, then you smart Brits should be able to accomplish it. 😉
 
No, it’s not all too difficult. But if you want to keep the separation then it’s best to have alternate rows and alternate seats.

You can’t go ruling that you need 1.5m side to side, but it’s ok to have 0.8m back to front! That’s making things difficult and harder to convey and monitor.

Somehow here in Oz they have managed to do it all pretty easily. Well, without too many advertised problems and issues. And that’s with different states having max crowds of a few thou, 10 thou and 30 thou.

Take a look at some footage if they show AFL over there. When they pan the crowds you can see it’s all pretty uniform and everyone 2 or 3 seats apart. Except some obvious family units sitting together with no spacing.

Surely if it can be done in such a backward country as Oz, then you smart Brits should be able to accomplish it. 😉
Where there’s a will.........
 
Rochdale chairman is suggesting the EFL will very soon announce season to start on September 12th, with three weeks behind closed doors then fans (restricted number) from October 1st.
 
Logic says let paying customers in (you get money off them) ban season ticket holders (who have already paid) as you are not going to get any new reddies of them coming through the turn stiles. :whist:
 
Logic says let paying customers in (you get money off them) ban season ticket holders (who have already paid) as you are not going to get any new reddies of them coming through the turn stiles. :whist:

Classic 👍

The good thing about obviously letting restricted crowds be S/T holders only is that security will have more control and leverage. You don’t obey the distancing rules at a game, you won’t be in the ballot for the next game. Simple.
 
Rochdale chairman is suggesting the EFL will very soon announce season to start on September 12th, with three weeks behind closed doors then fans (restricted number) from October 1st.

That sounds potentially more possible but I wouldn't expect 25% crowds straight off in October. It's not about how individually bold, can do, optimistic each of us is that will dictate the future. Collective confidence and health security will be much more important together with larger politics. Remember that the majority of people never attend a football match and an even bigger majority never attend a lower league game. It's not important to most people and they will kick back at the first suggestion football is threatening to increase infection rates.
 
That sounds potentially more possible but I wouldn't expect 25% crowds straight off in October. It's not about how individually bold, can do, optimistic each of us is that will dictate the future. Collective confidence and health security will be much more important together with larger politics. Remember that the majority of people never attend a football match and an even bigger majority never attend a lower league game. It's not important to most people and they will kick back at the first suggestion football is threatening to increase infection rates.
I still think that the country will continue to operate a two tier system.
Those who wish to be cautious and stay home as much as possible will do so, and the rest will get on with life.
It’s really all about assessing the personal risk.
If someone is getting on or in the vulnerable group, they will probably stay away.
Meanwhile thousands will attend games.
 
I still think that the country will continue to operate a two tier system.
Those who wish to be cautious and stay home as much as possible will do so, and the rest will get on with life.
It’s really all about assessing the personal risk.
If someone is getting on or in the vulnerable group, they will probably stay away.
Meanwhile thousands will attend games.

That may be the outcome but I personally don't think so. We need to live with it until we can retire it, or vaccinate against it effectively for sure. Willing something isn't to make happen as this PM has made only too obvious. We all assess risk all the time and rightly so but there is an overall risk to evaluate and manage too. Any and every fail of the protocols and codesw will bring postponements and limited shutdowns (happening already in Scotland and elsewhere).

Look at the towns with League One & Two clubs and imagine how many are prime cases to have local outbreaks and new restrictions. No individual will have any effect when and if that happens. The financial considerations are serious and do not affect clubs equally. Will we maintain the current penalty systems over non payment of salaries and administration? If we do this season could be even less competitive than last.

I'm all for trying to get crowds back as soon as possible but don't see it as a matter of individual choice. What will fans say if people over 65 are excluded? It would make sense for clubs.
 
That may be the outcome but I personally don't think so. We need to live with it until we can retire it, or vaccinate against it effectively for sure. Willing something isn't to make happen as this PM has made only too obvious. We all assess risk all the time and rightly so but there is an overall risk to evaluate and manage too. Any and every fail of the protocols and codesw will bring postponements and limited shutdowns (happening already in Scotland and elsewhere).

Look at the towns with League One & Two clubs and imagine how many are prime cases to have local outbreaks and new restrictions. No individual will have any effect when and if that happens. The financial considerations are serious and do not affect clubs equally. Will we maintain the current penalty systems over non payment of salaries and administration? If we do this season could be even less competitive than last.

I'm all for trying to get crowds back as soon as possible but don't see it as a matter of individual choice. What will fans say if people over 65 are excluded? It would make sense for clubs.
A interesting suggestion over 65s excluded??Won't that exclude a lot of the chairman of clubs?
 
I no longer have a season ticket so it is easier for me .But as things stand I would not go to matches.Much as I would miss it .I might attend a non league match with a tiny crowd. But it seems I will not be back to a league one match for a while .I could not take the chance of being part of a chain that could kill myself and many thousands of others .Work is different given the type of work I do.
 
Logic says let paying customers in (you get money off them) ban season ticket holders (who have already paid) as you are not going to get any new reddies of them coming through the turn stiles. :whist:


GFC might take a different view. Perhaps Season Tickets is the way forward ?

IF, the figures quoted from Facebook, suggesting we already have appx 2300 ST holders, are true then perhaps the immediate way forward for GFC might be to attract some more upfront paying customers.

Say, GFC has to play the rest of 2020 with a maximum permitted crowd of appx 33% of capacity. Say, GFC, quoting social distancing reasons, announce that the ONLY way to watch the Gills at Priestfield for the rest of this year(or even longer) is by way of season ticket and that season ticket seating will be temporarily re-modeled or customised to adhere to Covid restrictions.

Might just be a decent business case for GFC, Reasons:
It will allow, with specific seat allocation, household family groups to sit together whilst leaving family pairs and/or singles to sit with appropriate space around them. Advantage of customising household family groups is that it would free-up some space to allow the maximum number of pairs/singles into the stadium, utlising the circa 33% capacity to its limit.
It will also allow GFC to gain some more revenue up front - an extra 12 to 15 hundred ST subscriptions would help GFC put a good team on the field which would hopefully attract the non-ST holders back once "EFL normality" is resumed, say in January ?

PPPPP PPPPP PPPPP,
 
Officially announced: season beginning September 12. Doesn’t mention anything on what’s happening between then and October, when presumably fans will be let in. I remember Shrewsbury suggesting starting the season in October and Scally agreeing. Perhaps EFL have finalised a reimbursement package to cover the clubs during this period?

https://www.kentonline.co.uk/medway/sport/gills-get-start-date-for-new-season-230971/


Really good news, the Club can now start signing players !
 
At last some acual news, encouraging. I suspect like Trev that some sort of support package has been agreed to support clubs before crowds return. Fingers crossed infection rates stay low/decline and other sports don't upset the applecart by provoking outbreaks.

We should know soon whether Hanlan & Mandron are staying and who Evans is trying to sign. A bit of football news and speculation at last.