There is a strong Irish connection with a number of events that form part of a large scale experiment aimed at getting fans back into sporting venues.
Tomorrow Brighton and Hove Albion will play a pre-season friendly at the Amex Stadium on the south coast against Chelsea in front of 2,500 ticket holders.
Full social distancing will be applied and the learnings in terms of people movement will be analysed ahead of a month of similar events.
Harlequins will play Bath in Rugby while our own Lisa Fallon will take charge of London Bees in a Women’s Football friendly on Sunday against Lewes.
The St Leger Horse race meeting at Doncaster on 12th September is another event on the list.
“I know fans and their teams can’t wait to be reunited in stadia across the country but it’s imperative we take a cautious and phased approach to get fans back in safely,” said British Sports Minister Oliver Dowden.
“I’m pleased that infection rates have levelled off enough to resume the pilot programme and we will continue to work intensively with sports, medical and health and safety experts towards welcoming more fans back as fast as we can.”
The rollercoaster nature of Covid-19 though is evidenced by a last-minute threat to the Tour de France with Nice and the surrounding region that will host the opening stages being placed on red alert last night after a spike in the number of cases.
