Perhaps we won’t have to wait so long to see St Andrew’s again after all.
I mean, they really can’t make it one rule for one and one rule for the others when you think about it, especially if they take into account the importance of it to a club’s well-being.
According to a report over the weekend from The Mirror, the F.A are looking into the idea of allowing 10,000 fans from each side to attend this season’s F.A Cup final at Wembley, spacing fans out so that they can stay at least 2 metres apart and still be able to enjoy the game.
Contrast this to previous reports that stated fans wouldn’t be allowed into grounds until 2021 at the earliest.
What does this have to do with Birmingham City?
Well if that plan goes off without a major hitch, then I don’t see any reason why the same scheme cannot be implemented across the rest of football, in order to at least keep some form of income coming through the gates, even if it is at a limited capacity.
Will the whole of the 2020/21 season be played behind closed doors?
Yes
No
I did kind of mention this before in a previous comment, but at the time it was just theoretical but now it looks as if the idea has some merit and is likely to be tested. Matchday income is a major source of income for the club, with a report from back in January suggesting that we make as much as £5.2m a year from it.
Keeping fans away from grounds is something that could seriously affect the future of a lot of clubs, so even though they aren’t getting the full whack of income from supporters if they let this plan carry on, at least they will be getting some form of income through, and it’s an idea that really needs to be explored down the football pyramid.
At the end of the day, you can best put it in the category of ‘something is better than nothing’.
