The UK Government’s planned easing of restrictions will allow some English Premier League clubs to have fans return from December 2.
Arsenal and Liverpool are among the ten clubs who are permitted to have fans return while the other half of the Premier League including Manchester City and Manchester United will have to continue playing matches behind closed doors.
A four week national lockdown in England is due to end on Wednesday – it will be replaced by a three tier system of different levels of restrictions.
Regions have been placed into different tiers depending on a number of factors such as the number of COVID-19 cases in the area and the rate at which cases are increasing or decreasing.
Clubs in Tier 3 regions are not permitted to have supporters attend games – this includes Aston Villa, Burnley, Leeds United, Leicester City, Manchester City, Manchester United, Newcastle United, Sheffield United and West Brom.
Tier 2 regions can have a maximum of 2,000 supporters attend matches – meaning that Arsenal, Brighton, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Everton, Fulham, Liverpool, Southampton, Tottenham and West Ham will be able to have supporters return.
There are currently no clubs that are in a region where Tier 1 restrictions will be in place, allowing for up to 4,000 supporters to attend a match.
Thursday’s Europa League match between Arsenal and Rapid Wien at Emirates Stadium will be the first match in England with fans in attendance since March.
“All supporters attending the Rapid Vienna fixture and future games at Emirates Stadium will be required to complete an online health questionnaire and a track-and-trace form prior to the match,” said Arsenal in a media release.
“For the Rapid Vienna game all necessary documentation will be emailed to you once you successfully purchase a ticket and your e-ticket will only be activated when these have been completed. This is in conjunction with UK Government and Premier League guidelines.”
Liverpool will host Wolverhampton Wanderers on December 6 at Anfield and is encouraging fans who will be attending the match to take a COVID-19 test on the day of the game or the day before.
The club will be using a ballot to allocate tickets to fans who live in the Liverpool City Region. Mobile phone technology will also be used for paperless tickets for the match.
