That’s what Boris Johnson is planning on.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/53441670

In which case, to limit losses, the (lower) leagues should start in October too.

Of course, it's not guaranteed on two fronts: (1) we are in Wales, and Drakeford et al might say earliest for crowds in Wales is November; (2) any uptick in infection rates during late summer/early autumn will stymie things.

NearlyDead wrote:In which case, to limit losses, the (lower) leagues should start in October too.

Of course, it's not guaranteed on two fronts: (1) we are in Wales, and Drakeford et al might say earliest for crowds in Wales is November; (2) any uptick in infection rates during late summer/early autumn will stymie things.

Both points are spot-on. The first is the major issue for me. Johnson can say what he likes about stadiums - only applies to England.

Jonesy3 wrote:

NearlyDead wrote:In which case, to limit losses, the (lower) leagues should start in October too.

Of course, it's not guaranteed on two fronts: (1) we are in Wales, and Drakeford et al might say earliest for crowds in Wales is November; (2) any uptick in infection rates during late summer/early autumn will stymie things.

Both points are spot-on. The first is the major issue for me. Johnson can say what he likes about stadiums - only applies to England.

Point 1 - Obviously depends on infection rates etc, as he mentions.
Point 2 - If that is the case that Wales is different then we’ll either have to play behind closed doors or at another stadium then in England won’t we.

Exile 1976 wrote:

Jonesy3 wrote:

NearlyDead wrote:In which case, to limit losses, the (lower) leagues should start in October too.

Of course, it's not guaranteed on two fronts: (1) we are in Wales, and Drakeford et al might say earliest for crowds in Wales is November; (2) any uptick in infection rates during late summer/early autumn will stymie things.

Both points are spot-on. The first is the major issue for me. Johnson can say what he likes about stadiums - only applies to England.

Point 1 - Obviously depends on infection rates etc, as he mentions.
Point 2 - If that is the case that Wales is different then we’ll either have to play behind closed doors or at another stadium then in England won’t we.

Just play all our away games in the first half of the season, then all our home games in the second half. Easy!

Jokes aside, despite being more sensible and cautious here, we're generally following the same process as England, just a month or so later. So once a season is ready to start, I expect Wales will be open to the possibility of crowds in stadiums too.

Whether any of this is a good idea is a whole other conversation...

First Minister is on TV now. He said Welsh Government had not yet discussed allowing crowds back into stadiums as it was too early to do so. The only commitment he gave was to 'learn' from the pilots that will be happening in England.
Could be a problem for EFL and others if clubs in Wales can't have crowds while clubs in England can.

Jonesy3 wrote:First Minister is on TV now. He said Welsh Government had not yet discussed allowing crowds back into stadiums as it was too early to do so. The only commitment he gave was to 'learn' from the pilots that will be happening in England.
Could be a problem for EFL and others if clubs in Wales can't have crowds while clubs in England can.

We have also already seen local lockdowns being introduced. It would be bizarre in the extreme if some clubs were allowed spectators and others not.

My own view remains that it would have been better to have suspended last season, accept that a season, or at least a league season, was going to be lost and look to finish the season just gone and get back to normal in August 2021.

Stan 'Cassandra' Einstein?

It's difficult to see how 'stadiums' can be considered as an entity. Each would need to be considered on merit and until all twenty four are given clearance the League Two season couldn't commence. I suppose each would be given a different maximum capacity. What would that be for Rodney Parade? Home fans only and open up both ends, one seat in three in alternate rows (so one sixth) still might only be 1000. More likely is that the sport would restart but without crowds.

excessbee wrote:It's difficult to see how 'stadiums' can be considered as an entity. Each would need to be considered on merit and until all twenty four are given clearance the League Two season couldn't commence. I suppose each would be given a different maximum capacity. What would that be for Rodney Parade? Home fans only and open up both ends, one seat in three in alternate rows (so one sixth) still might only be 1000. More likely is that the sport would restart but without crowds.

I agree inasmuch as the outcome you suggest is the most likely. My problem is without television, which allows the Premier League, Test cricket and elite rugby, to take place without crowds, how Tier 4 football will be financially viable is utterly beyond me.

Stan A. Einstein wrote:

excessbee wrote:It's difficult to see how 'stadiums' can be considered as an entity. Each would need to be considered on merit and until all twenty four are given clearance the League Two season couldn't commence. I suppose each would be given a different maximum capacity. What would that be for Rodney Parade? Home fans only and open up both ends, one seat in three in alternate rows (so one sixth) still might only be 1000. More likely is that the sport would restart but without crowds.

I agree inasmuch as the outcome you suggest is the most likely. My problem is without television, which allows the Premier League, Test cricket and elite rugby, to take place without crowds, how Tier 4 football will be financially viable is utterly beyond me.

People are being allowed inside pubs, restaurants, cinemas, gyms etc in England and Wales by beginning of August so, barring a spike (which would shut down those establishments as well) surely there is absolutely no reason why they can’t open stadiums at perhaps 30-50% max.
Failing that, no doubt each game will be available on line for ‘X’ amount and clubs will make some money back that way.

Exile 1976 wrote:

Stan A. Einstein wrote:

excessbee wrote:It's difficult to see how 'stadiums' can be considered as an entity. Each would need to be considered on merit and until all twenty four are given clearance the League Two season couldn't commence. I suppose each would be given a different maximum capacity. What would that be for Rodney Parade? Home fans only and open up both ends, one seat in three in alternate rows (so one sixth) still might only be 1000. More likely is that the sport would restart but without crowds.

I agree inasmuch as the outcome you suggest is the most likely. My problem is without television, which allows the Premier League, Test cricket and elite rugby, to take place without crowds, how Tier 4 football will be financially viable is utterly beyond me.

People are being allowed inside pubs, restaurants, cinemas, gyms etc in England and Wales by beginning of August so, barring a spike (which would shut down those establishments as well) surely there is absolutely no reason why they can’t open stadiums at perhaps 30-50% max.
Failing that, no doubt each game will be available on line for ‘X’ amount and clubs will make some money back that way.

My problem with that is that in Ireland, which has had a much lower death rate than the UK, phase 4 of the lockdown has been delayed as very quickly after easing lockdown cases started to go back up.

Boris the Idiot has a habit of telling people what he is going to do to give himself a short term popularity boost. Actually doing these things, not so much.

The PL and EFL have said they want the season to start in 'mid to late September', league stadiums have to pass an annual inspection and if those inspectors follow Govt guidelines then it's clear they won't sign off any stadium as safe for spectators.

So, ideally, we'd either want supporters watching from Day One (maybe social distanced and spread out as suggested above on a 20% capacity basis - for every one supporter sat watching 4 other seats are left empty) or we'd prefer to have away games for the first few weeks so and save our home games for when the club can get some income from paying fans. Of course, paramount to all this is getting a reliable, quality live stream service set up in time for the new season.....

Out of our typical home support of about 3800 last season, there will be an element of those fans who won't want to watch live football until they've had a vaccine, others will be self-isolating, others may have lost interest and, sadly, a few others may have died after being infected - I sincerely hope not but it's possible. And then you've got exiled fans or people like me who can't always spare time on Saturday afternoons to travel to watch games but would prefer to watch online and reduce time and travel costs. I hope the league can sort a satisfactory deal whereby clubs can earn £9-10 per supporter watching via live stream and clubs can then make a few extra quid by selling e-programmes, H/T draw tickets etc to help balance the books.

It will bring a whole new perspective to choosing what away games to watch -

Have I got the day off work? Yes.
Can I get there by train or car?
Check weather, will the game go ahead?
Check our opponents. Then check the rate of covid-19 infections in that area. Cup game away at Leicester? Best I give that one a miss.

Let's not forget that Rodney Parade is still a testing centre and unless that changes soon then no-one will be allowed there.

Training will start 6 weeks before season kicks off.
Squad of 17 players to pick from.