Wednesday, 2 December 2020

All Quiet on the Sheffield Front

Cars parked in front of a football stadium


The devil is in the detail they say and for football clubs in Tier 3 areas that, sadly, means confirmation of no spectators at matches.

So in Sheffield this weekend, as expected, Sheffield United will host Leicester City on Sunday afternoon behind closed doors.

What has been a twist, given that the previous Tier 3 guidance allowed for supporters to attend games further down the pyramid, is that crowds are not now permitted below National League level.

That means Hallam FC will have to play Saturday’s FA Vase tie at home to AFC Blackpool with the front door to Sandygate firmly locked.

A strange situation in many ways as Hallam, along with hundreds of clubs around the country, had got their Covid-19 protocols firmly in place and were comfortably accommodating 300 spectators prior to the second lockdown.

Frustrating too, especially as those 300 people will be allowed to spend as much time as they like inside the Meadowhall shopping centre on Saturday afternoon.

The FA Vase itself risks becoming something of a farce as clubs are either coming straight into matches this weekend on the back of little or no training or having to make the difficult decision to pull out of the competition altogether, whether for safety reasons given the lack of competitive games or having to travel across tier boundaries or because playing behind closed doors simply isn’t feasible.

But all is not lost locally as matches below the National League System can take place in front of spectators so perhaps a bigger crowd than usual will be making their way here...

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